A Christmas Post: Christmas Story: Christmas Day in the Morning

A Christmas Post: Christmas Story: Christmas Day in the Morning: From Denny: As an American high school kid living in Taiwan I was introduced to the author Pearl S. Buck. She grew up as a Christian missionary kid in mainland China during the 1930's and was one of the very first Westerners to bridge the cultural gap between China and the West in understanding. Buck wrote a lot of stories, recommended by both the local Taiwanese and the Christian missionaries, and I read them all back then since there was no TV in English. I read a lot of books, even took to reading the Encyclopedias when I ran out of material! :)

While this author may be considered simplistic and out of fashion at the moment, she still deserves a read in my mind. Why? One of the subtle cultural nuances that crept into her writing was the Chinese sentence structure: extreme sheer simplicity. Sometimes, later generations who have not lived abroad fail to pick up those intense subtleties and so write off her writing, failing to realize they are missing an opportunity to get inside the head of Chinese culture by reading about the smallest things in Life written in a simple way.  Parents with teenagers will definitely appreciate this story.

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Let your love light shine!

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A Truth Journal: Egypt In a Nutshell: Muslim Brotherhood Are Terrorists, Opponents To Peace

Suspects are rounded up near a burnt annex building
at the Rabaa Adawiya mosque in Cairo on Aug. 15.
 Photo: Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters

A Truth Journal: Egypt In a Nutshell: Muslim Brotherhood Are Terrorists, Opponents To Peace: From Denny:  Violence erupts in Egypt.  The knee jerk reaction is the Pentagon howls about what they might be in jeopardy of losing.  The Pentagon never does get their priorities right.  So, President Obama hurriedly does the Pentagon's bidding and rushes out onto the international stage to make their case before he fully understands Egypt.

The State Department is collectively wringing their hands that Egypt might become another Syria with years of civil war on the horizon.  And the rest of the world is shaking their head at the inept policies coming out of the American government that seems to be rudderless in addition to clueless.

Here are the principle players in this international drama:  the Muslim Brotherhood, the people of Egypt who want a secular government and peace with their neighbors, the Pentagon and Big Business defense contractors.

Here is Egypt's current situation in a nutshell summary...

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Wear your Peace Crown to "be the change you want to see in the world."

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Good News: Rush Limbaugh Kicked Off Philadelphia Station

Rush Limbaugh - Caricature (Photo credit: DonkeyHotey)

From Denny:  It appears some conservatives have awakened to getting rid of Rush Limbaugh.  OK, actually it's really about boycotts and their profits they don't want to lose. Those darn liberals were just too effective at putting pressure on the advertisers. :)

One of the largest radio markets in the country is Philadelphia, the "city of brotherly love."  The dominant conservative talk radio station there, WPHT, an AM station, has jettisoned "The Rush Limbaugh Show" in favor of a native son, "The Michael Smerconish Show."  Normally, Smerconish's show is time-delayed but with the removal of Limbaugh, Smerconish can now broadcast live in his home market.

You might recognize Smerconish from his guest hosting of Chris Matthews' Hardball show.  I like the guy immensely as he is of agile mind and a balanced moderate opinion, you know, most of America.  Matthews could retire and Smerconish would make a great sequel.

Rush Limbaugh: Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire About Advertisers Status

Rush Limbaugh Cartoon by Ian D. Marsden of marsdencartoons.com (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

From Denny:  I'm with Jon Stewart.  Rush Limbaugh just keeps on giving the comedy material, serving it up on a silver platter. His latest gambit is to now challenge the logic about his advertisers' performance since they left his show or if they stayed.

Normal people call it irrational logic, you know, an oxymoron attempt by Rush.  Sometimes, this guy is just too much fun to lampoon.  It's as silly as the research scientists who decided after lengthy study that, "People die six months before or six months after their birthdays."  That stupid study must have been underwritten by Limbaugh.

What he is arguing now is that the advertisers who stayed with his show are increasing their sales but those advertisers who spurned him because of the Slutgate Controversy are failing miserably.  What an insufferable self-centered ego.  He's full of bluster, that's for sure.

Does America's favorite BS Artist know how stupid that sounds?  Better yet, does he offer any proof of his claims?  Of course not.  And that is always the point about Rush Limbaugh.  He never possesses any real hard data or facts to back up his baseless claims for whatever he is "discussing" via monologue.

Rush Limbaugh: 3 Funny Colbert, Stewart Videos, Late Nite Jokes

From Denny:  Did you hear?  Today another advertiser turned tail and ran away from Rush Limbaugh.  This time it was Kohler, manufacturer of those stylish faucets and other kitchen and bath fixtures.  That makes 143 advertisers, with about 9 left in his smelly pervert corner.


Of course, I'm sitting in a diner having lunch today in the red state of Louisiana, with the channel tuned to the ridiculous Fox News, and who is featured?  


You guessed it, Fat Boy Blowhard Rush Limbaugh.  The amusing thing is that the love affair with Fox News and Rush Limbaugh is waning even here in the deep South.  "Can I Tell Ya?" that the only person watching the screen was the liberal blogger in the room.  Everyone else was treating Rush like he is so last year fashionista.

Can The President Control Gas Prices? Yes, If He Learns How

Obama laughing with aides.jpg (Photo credit: edalisse)

From Denny:  As usual this White House gets things as ass backwards as the backward Republicans by just skimming the surface of political issues instead of drilling down into the details to achieve success and truly move the needle.

The Obama White House goes at everything from a frontal assault, never considering good old-fashioned guerrilla warfare, something women well understand and have practiced out of necessity for centuries.

Getting gas prices down to normal has not been a priority for this White House for three years and, now, years of ignoring the obvious has backfired.  Americans are furious at the lack of inaction and the high prices as evidenced by the recent polls.

Dennys Global Politics: Egypt: Revolution Loses Meaning As Women Denied Rights, Role in Society

photo by Fatma Naib

Dennys Global Politics: Egypt: Revolution Loses Meaning As Women Denied Rights, Role in Society: From Denny:  Egypt held so much hope for the world when the Arab Spring broke out last year, toppling the regime.

Then reality set in.  The very women that protected the men who marched, the very women who gave medical aid and money to help the revolution, were turned upon and denied their respect and freedom.

The protesters took it all and gave nothing in return by denying women a seat at the table while they restructured the national government.  The former male protesters and the Egyptian military council refused the concepts of generosity, kindness, partnership and equality.  To the women, the protesters and the military are no different than the regime:  all deny freedom and equal rights to women.

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Dennys Global Politics: Egypt: Humiliating Virginity Tests Performed On Female Protesters

Female protester in Tahrir Square, photo by MAHMUD HAMS

Dennys Global Politics: Egypt: Humiliating Virginity Tests Performed On Female Protesters: "From Denny: It turns out the Egyptian peoples' hope that the Egyptian Army would be an honest and respectful government broker is an illusion as this country transitions to a democracy Middle Eastern style.

Early on as the protesters agreed to talks with the Egyptian Army to take over as a transitional government it was the protesters who sidelined women and women's rights. That's when they lost this blogger as an advocate for I saw it as just more of the same cultural garbage women are expected to tolerate, especially in the Middle East.

Now more ugly news out of the Arab world. Is it any surprise that women are yet again treated to more degrading acts of cruelty and humiliation? I am very disappointed in this protest movement. What good is freedom if you hold captive over half of your population, declaring them unfit for leadership or the rights to make their own decisions?"

Visual Insights: Dennys Photo Gallery: Invisible Women Around The World

Visual Insights: Dennys Photo Gallery: Invisible Women Around The World Remember International Womens Day is 8 March 2011

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• Women in Peril: Ivory Coast Protesters (thesocialpoets.blogspot.com)

Women in Peril: Ivory Coast Protesters

From Denny: The defiant leader of the Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, ordered his forces to fire upon thousands of unarmed female protesters. Six were killed. In this culture, when women march as protesters it is considered a last resort against an unrestrained Army.

Photo: A main square in the Abobo neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, today now littered by piles of burning trash. Road blocks by supporters of Alassane Ouattara have prevented normal traffic in this once bustling area. Barricades were erected by locals in an effort to limit incursions by security forces and militias loyal to the Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo.

Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP

It was a horrible day of barbarism when Gbagbo ordered tanks to attack the protesters and then the soldiers opened fire upon the unarmed women yesterday. The women were demanding Gbagbo cede power and protesting his refusal to leave office. You see, another man won the presidential election on 28 November 2010, yet the former leader refuses to give up the office.

From Patrick Achi, spokesman for the internationally recognized new government of Alassane Ouattara, "Indeed, we anticipated everything short of imagining that one could shoot live rounds at unarmed women, all the more with tanks."

This three month long struggle for the new government to take office has resulted in almost 400 killed. Firing upon unarmed female protesters shocked the nation, shattering a cultural taboo, a belief system that assumed soldiers could never stoop so low as to fire upon a women's march.

The organizer of the women's march, Sirah Drane, age 41, said the protesters were gathered at a traffic circle in Abobo. She was about to address the crowd when the tanks rolled into the square.

She told of the horror: "That's when we saw the tanks. There were thousands of women. And we said to ourselves, 'They won't shoot at women.' ... I heard a boom. They started spraying us. ... I tried to run and fell down. The others trampled me. Opening fire on unarmed women? It's inconceivable."

For some time now the international community has been pressuring Gbagbo to step down, recognizing the newly elected leader as the legitimate government. Yesterday's killings elicited an immediate rebuke from the American government.

From U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, "The moral bankruptcy of Laurent Gbagbo is evident as his security forces killed women protesters."

From the U.N. Security Council: "We are deeply concerned about the escalation of violence in the Ivory Coast and that it could lead to a resurgence of civil war there."

It was just last week when the Gbagbo security forces shelled the Abobo neighborhood. You can see why the locals put up barricades against them. It was shocking to see how Gbagbo's Army was willing to use war-grade weapons upon unarmed civilians.

Since this most recent level of aggression, the new government of Ouattara has been forced to arm for self-defense. What was once a peaceful resistance is now an armed one. Ouattara's camp is led by rebels from the north as well as soldiers who have been defecting from Gbagbo's Army.

A veritable parade of delegations from African leaders have visited Abidjan, Ivory Coast's commercial hub, to convince Gbagbo to leave office. Of course, Gbagbo is defiant, rejecting all suggestions and proposals, even offers of amnesty.

Gbagbo lost the election in November by 500,000 votes. He grew angry at the United Nations, ordering them of the country, accusing them of meddling in state affairs. Read that as Gbagbo was unable to spin the election results in his favor.

Please remember these women - and this country - in your prayers.

International Womens Day is 8 March 2011.

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Italy: Women Fed Up With Whoring Bersculoni

Image via Wikipedia

From Denny: Billionaire Berlusconi may finally be on the road of The Long Goodbye much like Egypt's Mubarak. Tens of thousands of women, with husbands and boyfriends, have been protesting Bersculoni and his latest sex scandal for two weeks now. There is only so much embarrassment a country can take and Italy is fed up with Bersculoni, his arrogance and his cavalier depravity. The status quo is about to change.