It's Febuary in 2012-
Last year we saw the overthrow of two repressive leaders  in Egypt and Libya. Neither of those countries have yet to become stable. In both cases the uprisings were supported by outside forces (including the US). Now it looks as though the leader of Syria is about to be deposed. Two major powers - China and Russia are tying to prevent that from happening (primarily for financial reasons).

I posted these thoughts on an online news source Daily Press News. It will be interesting to see next year how my perspective will be.

"Syria might be right in their belief that outside forces started the unrest- but regardless of how it started- it did start and has been increasing. Assad’s Syrian government, following Newtons theory of motion (An object in motion continues in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.) is attempting to stop the `continued motion of unrest' by using the `unbalanced force' of overwhelming violence. Questions that need to be considered: Is it the right of a government to use violence against (some of) it's own people in an effort to bring it's country to a greater state of equilibrium? Do foreign nations have a right to intercede on behalf of a minority group within a neighboring nation? Should the United Nations be allowed to become a Democratic World Government whose combined authority is greater than the internal authority of any of it's members?"

Saudi King tells Medvedev “No Point in Syria Talks”

http://www.dp-news.com/en/detail.aspx?articleid=112696

(DP-News - agencies)

Arabian Gulf- Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz told Wednesday the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that there was no point in the two countries discussing events in Syria after Russia blocked a resolution on the issue in the United Nations Security Council.

“The Russian friends should have coordinated with the Arabs before Russia used its right to veto in the Security Council,” Abdullah told Medvedev in a telephone conversation, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. “Now any dialogue about what happened is pointless.”

Saudi King told Medvedev that dialogue on Syria was "futile", hinting at the need for action to halt the rising death toll.

Russia should have "coordinated with the Arabs ... before using the veto" to block a resolution on Syria in the UN Security Council, King Abdullah said. 

"But now, dialogue about what is happening in Syria is futile," the king told Medvedev in a telephone discussion on the escalating crisis. 


Saudi King’s comments came as the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) said it was coming to the conclusion that foreign military help was needed. 

King Abdullah said Feb. 10 that the world’s confidence in the UN was “shaken” after Russia and China vetoed an Arab League plan to facilitate a political transition in Syria. The kingdom has joined other Gulf Arab countries in seeking to isolate the government of President Bashar al-Assad. 



“The advances within the last decade that Russia made into the GCC, with construction, tourism and energy sectors, may have been swept aside by this one veto,” Theodore Karasik, director of research at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, said in a phone interview. 

“In Saudi Arabia, there is a society-wide outrage that not only includes clerics but every-day individuals and the leadership.” Karasik added. 



Public anger in Saudi Arabia over events in Syria has intensified this month following the veto. 

The English-language Saudi Gazette and al-Sharq newspaper in the Eastern Province printed opinion pieces earlier this month supporting a boycott of Russian and Chinese products. 

Sheikh Saleh Luhaidan, former chairman of the Supreme Judiciary Council of Saudi Arabia, called on Gulf oil producers to stop selling oil to Russia and China, according to a Feb. 7 statement published on the online newspaper al-Marsd. 

During Friday prayer sermons last week, imams denounced the attacks on innocent civilians and warned that the conflict would have an impact on the Muslim world, Arab News reported on Feb. 18. 



Relations between Saudi Arabia and Syria became strained after the assassination in 2005 of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, a confidant of the Saudi royal family and a citizen of the kingdom. An initial UN investigation linked the killing of Hariri to Syrian officials. Syria has repeatedly denied any involvement. 



Syria has come under mounting international pressure as a result of Assad’s crackdown on protesters, which is nearing its one-year mark. Government forces have intensified efforts to stamp out the rebellion using mortars, artillery and tanks. 



The UN estimates more than 5,400 Syrians died last year as loyalist forces cracked down on protests that began in March. More than 8,500 people have been killed since the conflict began in March, Mahmoud Merei, head of the Arab Organization for Human Rights, said by phone from Damascus today.

New song: Rain is Coming

New song: Rain is Coming --->>>    Rain is Coming

February Album Writing Month

The FAWM challenge is simple: 14½ songs in 28 29 days. Why?

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." — Jack London

If it is inspiration you are after, then FAWM is your club. Each February, this website forges a collaborative community of thousands of musicians worldwide, from all walks and skill levels. We take on the challenge of writing an album's worth of new music in the shortest month of the year. We fawmersare a motley mix of music professionals, students, homemakers, and folks who work day jobs and rock nightclubs.

Doctrine of Sovereign Immunity :: FAA v. Cooper

A Washington Post article and Paul's response

Justices weigh whether Privacy Act violations allow for distress damages

By Robert Barnes, Published: November 30

Stanmore Cooper and the federal government each did something wrong. Cooper pleaded guilty for his actions and paid a $1,000 fine. Now he wants the government to pay.
An attorney for Cooper, a pilot who is HIV-positive, conceded to the Supreme Court on Wednesday that Cooper lied on official forms from 1994 until 2005 about his medical condition and the medication he was taking.
But San Francisco lawyer Raymond A. Cardozo said the way federal officials discovered Cooper’s omission — two federal agencies shared records — violated the provisions of the 1974 Privacy Act, a post-Watergate reform meant to “restore the citizens’ faith in their government .”
He said Cooper should be allowed to sue for the emotional distress he experienced from learning of the government’s actions. If not, he said, the government would be free to “silence” whistle-blowers and others by threatening to reveal private information about them.
Despite the dramatic subject matter, Wednesday’s hearing before the court was a subdued affair that more resembled a law school seminar.
The Privacy Act allows those who think their rights were violated to sue the government for “actual damages.” The justices must decide whether that means only proven out-of-pocket financial losses, or compensation for mental and emotional distress.
Assistant Solicitor General Eric J. Feigin said “actual damages” refers to financial loss. If Congress had intended to waive the sovereign immunity of the United States and allow unlimited emotional-distress claims, he said, “it would have and was required to state that waiver clearly and unambiguously.”
He was challenged by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor.
Ginsburg said an invasion of privacy is not normally associated with financial costs, but emotional ones.
“The person who is subject to this, to this embarrassment, this humiliation, doesn’t have out-of-pocket costs, but is terribly distressed, nervous, anxious and all the rest,” she said.
Even if the government argued that Cooper did not have a strong case, she said, its rule that emotional distress is not covered would also apply “in the worst case.”
That would be “where a government official spreads all kinds of false information, or even true but terribly embarrassing information about a person, does it deliberately,” Ginsburg said. “Let’s take that case, because your rule covers all of them.”
Feigin said that person might have a claim under other laws, but not the Privacy Act, which he said was passed to “impose a set of detailed substantive requirements about federal record-keeping.”
Cooper, a pilot since 1964, needed a license from the Federal Aviation Administration and an airman medical certificate to fly. His HIV was diagnosed in 1985, but he did not acknowledge the disease or the antiretroviral medications he was taking, which at the time would have disqualified him.
His condition was dire enough in 1995 that he applied for and received disability benefits from the Social Security Administration.
Around 2002, because of a case involving another pilot, the Department of Transportation started an investigation called Operation Safe Pilot and used disability payments to find pilots who had not acknowledged medical conditions.
Cooper was one of them, and he pleaded guilty to one count of making a false official statement. Then he sued the government, saying Operation Safe Pilot violated the Privacy Act’s prohibition against agencies sharing records without the person’s consent.
A judge in San Francisco said that the collaboration might have violated the act, but that Cooper had suffered no financial loss. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit reversed, saying that “actual damages” included emotional distress, and creating a conflict with other circuits.
When it was Cardozo’s turn, it was Justices Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Antonin Scalia who were most skeptical.
Alito said he was unclear exactly what emotional distress Cooper suffered. Under Alito’s questioning, Cardozo acknowledged that the distress would have to be a direct result of the Privacy Act violation, and not the embarrassment he may have felt because of the criminal charges.
Alito seemed unsure how humiliating it would be for Cooper “simply knowing that somebody in the FAA had access to his Social Security records.”
Scalia agreed that disclosing the information to the public would be different from sharing it with another agency, which he called “picky, picky prescriptions contained in the Privacy Act.”
The case is FAA v. Cooper . Justice Elena Kagan recused herself, apparently because she had worked on the case as President Obama’s solicitor general.
ww.washingtonpost.com/politics/justices-weigh-whether-privacy-act-violations-allow-for-distress-damages/2011/11/30/gIQA91cMEO_story.html


PAUL'S COMMENT:

The case actually rest more on the Governments use of: "the doctrine of sovereign immunity, which bars lawsuits for money against the government without its consent. " as claimed Eric J. Feigin, a lawyer for the government. "Such consent must be specific," he said, "and ambiguous consent is not consent." He continued: "If Congress had intended to … allow uncapped emotional distress claims, it would have stated it clearly," he told the justices. Feigin said, Congress "would not have taken lightly the possibility that the federal government would be exposed to more expansive damages for violating privacy interests." 
 
One of the reason's the Supreme Court took up this case is because it has further reaching implications then just this instance- as Justices Ginsburg said: "Even if the government argued that Cooper did not have a strong case," she said, "its rule that emotional distress is not covered would also apply `in the worst case'.”  
 
Feigin, might have sighted that the US military stands as an example of how a concept such as "actual damages" can be unambiguously addressed, even when dealing with the issue of emotional distress (as they do with such issues as PTSD and sexual trauma).  
 
As a side note to that point- in November's Men's Health, there was very moving article that discussed, among other things, how the military compensates for specific injuries (sight = $50K each eye for example). The article states that "each war has it's signature wound." then it states that in the Afghanistan war - the wound is more personal. "In 2010 the number of US troops in Afghanistan who lost at least one limb was double that of either 2008-2009..moreover the number of genital wounds tripled. As of the writing of that article (November 2011) the US Government did not see a need to compensate a soldier for the loss of their genitalia. 
 
Of course they don't want to `exposed the government to more expansive financial burdens brought on by wars'. And since the Government does not consent to compensate our soldiers for the loss of the genitalia (it is not covered), therefore under the `doctrine of sovereign immunity' (which is really on trial here) these soldiers have no recourse. Or do they? 
 
Justices Ginsburg is implying that one of the basic functions of the US court system is to deal with ambiguous laws and policies. Ambiguous laws and policies benefit only the politicians - not the people. 
 
I urge you, if you read this far, to read The Men's Health article- Titled: "Torn To Shreds" - and contact your congressperson and ask them to help take care of our military and deal with genitalia injuries.


=Paul Grant (follower of Basho)

Andy Rooney dies

Andy Rooney dies at 92; curmudgeonly commentator on '60 Minutes'

Andy Rooney, CBS News' longtime resident curmudgeon whose whimsical and acerbic essays on "60 Minutes" turned the rumpled writer into an unlikely — and reluctant — TV celebrity, died Friday night, only weeks after retiring from the show. He was 92.

RIP Andy,

When I was young and first saw you on 60 minutes, I thought you were funny. I thought you had a gift for satire. You made me laugh out loud many times. And when you paid respect to someones passing, you could bring tears to my eyes.

Through the years you have taken positions I wholeheartedly disagreed with, and other times took on issues I found far to mundane for your pundency. Through this though, I could see a consistency of thought (one that I myself did not agree with) and appreciated it as independent and not tied to the ebb and flow of popular opinion as so many other commentators.

You were a man of your own making, courageous in your actions, and thoughtful in your opinions. And though you sometimes seemed to get especially perturbed about this or that- I think those familiar with you knew that really you were always more filled with love and appreciation than any anger.

God Speed.

:Based on Numerology: My Soul Urge

Boy with a mask (self portrait series) by Paul Grant (follower of Basho)

Based on Numerology ( according to  http://www.aryabhatt.com/numerology/soulurge.htm#5)

My Number is 5 -> and therefore I am:

5

The 5 soul urge or motivation would like to follow a life of freedom, excitement, adventure and unexpected happening.

The idea of travel and freedom to roam intrigues you. 


You are very much the adventurer at heart. 


Not particularly concerned about your future or about getting ahead, you can seem superficial and unmotivated.
In a positive sense, the energies of the number 5 make you very adaptable and versatile. 


You have a natural resourcefulness and enthusiasm that may mark you as a progressive with a good mind and active imagination. 


You seem to have a natural inclination to be a pace-setter. 


You are attracted to the unusual and the fast paced.


You may be overly restless and impatient at times. 


You may dislike the routine work that you are engaged in, and tend to jump from activity to activity, without ever finishing anything. 


You may have difficulty with responsibility. 


You don't want to be tied down to a relationship, and it may be hard to commit to one person.


Seems pretty `spot on.'

Last night, Troy Davis was executed

Last night, Troy Davis was executed. Despite the lack of physical evidence, despite the recantations by seven of nine eyewitnesses, and despite a global campaign by more than a million people insisting there was simply too much doubt, Georgia put this man to death.

But in this moment of sadness and anger, it's up to all of us to make sure that Davis' struggle does not die with him. That the fight to fix a criminal justice system riven by racial and class disparities, and to stop our country from executing the innocent, is made stronger because of his example. 

As Davis wrote in a letter when he was facing execution in 2008:

"... no matter what happens in the days, weeks to come, this Movement to end the death penalty, to seek true justice, to expose a system that fails to protect the innocent must be accelerated. There are so many more Troy Davis'. This fight to end the death penalty is not won or lost through me but through our strength to move forward and save every innocent person in captivity around the globe. We need to dismantle this Unjust system city by city, state by state and country by country."

Though President Obama was reluctant to weigh in on the controversial execution of Troy Davis on Wednesday, his predecessor Jimmy Carter wasn’t so shy. Carter issued a statement partly reading, “If one of our fellow citizens can be executed with so much doubt surrounding his guilt, then the death penalty system in our country is unjust and outdated. We hope this tragedy will spur us as a nation toward the total rejection of capital punishment.” Davis was executed in Georgia, which is Carter’s home state. The former president pledged to redouble his efforts to fight capital punishment 

On taxation

I do not believe that in our greatly advanced culture that we should run our country based on the thoughts and beliefs of a handful of wealthy men who lived more than 200 years ago, regardless of their importance to our countries founding. 

I do believe that if we are to base our political stance on the the thoughts and beliefs of the founding members of our society, then we should rely only on the thoughts and beliefs that are quantifiable and not speculative.  This means that when you argue from the so called founding father’s perspective, that you `show me’ where a given position is spelled out.

I think that it is clear that through manipulative legislation the wealthiest do not pay thier proportional share in taxes. Warren Buffet, the third wealthiest person in the world according to Forbes Magizine, called on the United States Congress to raise taxes on the wealthiest .

Buffet used himself as an example, showing that his tax burden was only 17.4 percent of his taxable income  (He earned seven million during the year.), and that was a lower proportion than any of the other 20 people in his office whose tax burdens range from 33 percent to 41 percent, he said.

How can that be? According to Buffet, the mega-rich continue to get extraordinary tax breaks. Many of the wealthiest people in our country earn thier income not through labor, but through capital gains and dividends which are taxed at a much lower rate. 

Herein lies the conflict. Every GOP presidential candidate has spoken out against raising any taxes. Candidate Michele Bachmann said that if elected she would abolish the capital gains tax,( which Buffett said should be increased) and amend the tax code so every American pays income tax.

Is this the position  on taxation that the  founding members of our society had in mind? 

I suppose it is possible that the Republican's position is  brought about by poor education and not an underlying attempt to cajole campaign contributions from the wealthiest. I know that some argue that the Republicans (and some Democrats) are not arguing from any patriotic philosophical position,  considering that most of the positions taken by the Republicans seem incentivized by money: They get money from Wall Street when they vote to deregulate Wall Street.  They get money from the oil companies by continuing to vote them tax breaks despite the fact that oil companies are making billions in profits. They get money from the military industrial complex continuing to support outrageously large military budgets and the `need’ to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If  I could show you what the founding members of our country actually thought about taxation, then would the true patriots in our country back our founding members beliefs? Or, more likely, will it be revealed that the majority of all politicians are not actually patriots but merely actors and actresses playing a part and speaking from a script  written for them by nefarious demons who call themselves strategist?

So for all who seek to know if Mr. Buffet's beliefs, or the Republican politicians beliefs, on taxation are more in line with the beliefs of the founding member’s beliefs, I offer you this from a letter written on October 28th, 1785 from Thomas Jefferson to James Madison.

Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, the third President of the United States and one of the most  influential `Founding Fathers’ , wrote this about taxation:

“Another means of silently lessening the inequality of property is to exempt all from taxation below a certain point, and to tax the higher portions of property in geometrical progression as they rise.”

Simple. Mr. Buffett is right, the tax burden on the wealthiest needs to be raised. Past legislative loopholes created only to benifit the most wealthy must be removed.

Farmer in the dell??

Ok, so I was asked by a curious five year old who was wondering what the word `dell' means in the song: "The farmer in the dell-The farmer in the dell-Hi-ho, the derry-o-The farmer in the dell. "

 I admitted (reluctantly) I din't know. So I pulled out my phone and Googled it = "Dell= a secluded hollow or small valley usually covered with trees -Middle English delle; akin to Middle High German telle ravine -First Known Use: 13th century."

" OK, now we know." My (almost) five year old nephew answered when I read him the definition.

"Now we know," I agreed.

My nephew smiling jubilantly sang out,- "Hi-ho, the derry-o-the farmer in the dell. "

Then I clicked on the Wikipedia link. As I scanned quickly, I came upon this unusual story:"There is also a Thai version to the same tune but with a slightly different story. The three verses roughly translate to "Why does the frog have a stomach ache? Why does the frog have a stomach ache? Because he has been eating wet rice. Why is the rice wet? Why is the rice wet? Because it has been raining. Why has it been raining? Why has it been raining?, Because the frog has been croaking."

"Wow!" my nephew said, as he tried to read the text on my phone screen. "Did the frog burp?" he asked.

 I shrugged and said "probably"; which made my nephew giggle. 

Then we began singing the song in earnest- now with new feelings and insights.

There is so much potential hope in the future generations.

Obama turning to the dark side

Bradley Manning being mistreated, says Hillary Clinton spokesman
PJ Crowley; says Pentagon is being 'ridiculous and stupid' by subjecting WikiLeaks suspect to punitive conditions in jail (1)

YET:


Obama Defends Detention Conditions for Soldier Accused in WikiLeaks Case (2)

(This coming from the man who promised to close Guantánamo Bay Prison within one year of his term - a place that Amnesty International released its annual report calling the facility the "gulag of our times. Obama, now in office, changes his position and signed an executive order that moved to set into law the already existing practice on Guantánamo of holding detainees indefinitely without charge. What happened to the `change we can believe in' ??)

1.http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/11/bradley-manning-clinton-crowley-comments
2.http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/us/12manning.html?_r=4&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1299949248-9Poaci537Ekt+sensgZO0A

Creationem-photography: Shiva pose posted in Illiterate Magazine online

The Shiva Pose

This is from a collection of works that I made (6) for a group show called “Bike Art” held at Altered Esthetics's in Minneapolis Minnesota . All the art in the show had to have bicycles in it. Each of my works showed people doing yoga poses while on bicycles.

Each image begins as a photograph and then undergoes transformation using Photoshop, then reprinted, the new image undergoes transformation using pastels, then is scanned - and printed again as a photograph.

The process is to create a `work’ , rather than just take a photograph (which is capturing an image). I call this concept  of creating a `work’, using a camera as only one tool in a process and not the end means : “creationem-photography”.

In my classification system there are three uses for a cameras ability to capture:

1.A photograph is a predetermined picture, where there is forethought and, perhaps,  posing. The photograph is a capture of physical reality in time and space.

2. A snapshot, which is a happenstance picture . Where the camera is used to record something not specifically planned on. The snapshot is a capture of physical reality in time and space..

3. Creationem-photography, which is the using of either a photograph or a snapshot and manipulating it to create something new and different and unreal.

I do not judge any of the classifications to be higher or lower. The sucess of each process can only be judged by the final work. I would be interested to hear other peoples views about  this.

The friend who posed for the original `photograph’ was 7 months pregnant.

My artist statement

When I got to college,(Loyola) my freshman adviser said that I didn't necessarily need to pick my major right away, that regardless of my major I would need to get through a lot of core classes first. But I told him I knew what I wanted to study, and I knew what I wanted to be. I wanted to major in Theology, and I wanted to be a Jesuit priest. Seven years later, still a full time student taking only classes that interested me - I had a fateful conversation with the director of the initiate of the Jesuits. He told me that, in his opinion,I wasn't a `good fit' , and that I might make a fine priest in another order (he suggested the Carmelites.) This was devastating to me. When I told my closest friend, I was embarrassed and dreading telling my family. My friend shook his head and said it was clear to everyone who knew me that I was already a priest and an alchemist. Suddenly I woke up. It was kind of like the scene in the first Matrix, when Neo goes to see the prophet and she tells him that he is not the `one'. Being told that he wasn't allowed him to better fulfill his destiny. Sacerdos, is a general Latin term used to refer to priest - or people whose lives deal with a relationship to the sacred. It originates from root for sacred.  My creative work is the work of a sacardos, and my life is dedicated to developing a relationship with the sacred.

Dead Sleep a novel by Greg Isles

Just finished Greg Isles- `Dead Sleep'. It was a long, though  gratifying novel.


(Note- 'long, though exceptionally gratifying novel' might often be used to describe the work of any of Salman Rushdie's novels- this by comparison is more contained, though less informant (less generally unknown `general' information conveyed through the story. I think I agrree wit T.S. Elliots dictum that great literature both educates and  entertains { I however at this moment cannot find that quote}I did discover that there is an actiual term for this "edutainment" see Wikipedia definition  here. Could be a title for a nonfiction book. )







This book could make a good movie- it involves a twin sister who discovers a painting of her thought dead sister. The painting is from a series called `sleeping woman'. The women appear as though be painted of corpses. This series of paintings become a major clue in the disappearance of many women in New Orleans. then the FBI are called in.

Shiko-me

Shiko-me


Always searching for the cause of my problems -karma and such, cause and effect- both conventional and unconventional. I am open to the seemingly impossible.






The "ugly ones," personifications of the calamities that can affect people, such as accidents, curses, epidemics, illness, misery, misfortune, and poverty. They inhabit the region under the earth called Yomi-T'su-Kuni, the "land of darkness." When they rise up from the underworld to annoy humans they assume the form of demons, usually female.

The Shiko-Me can usually be deflected with an appropriate prayer or an offering to Kamu-Nahobi, the "god-who-puts-things-right."

Cat Dancers by P.T Deuterman

Just finished "Cat Dancers" - Cam Richters series, book 1.
An interesting escapist read - mystery thriller by P.T Deuterman.
The basic story line involves a strict judge (the {cop} main charachter's  ex-wife, and presentlly on again, off again lover.) letting two confessed murderers off on a technicality. TNo one is happy about this. vigilantes take matters into their own hands. The vigiliantes turn out to be a small group, whose initiation into the group involves getting very close a mountain lion armed with nothing but a cheap disposable camera and take a picture of the lion's face. That initiation right, two charachters that are dogs, the use- though not over use- of modern technology, the developed attitude of not carrying about ones own death, the catch 22 aspect of so many jobs - all made this an interesting read, with an unusual end.

Boy in Blue - a photoprojectus

Blue Boy
a photoprojectus
by Paul Grant (follower of Basho)

Jim Webb won't seek reelection

Webb won't seek reelection

Virginia Democratic Senator Jim Webb plans to announce today that he won't seek reelection, the Senator confirmed Wednesday.

Webb appeared likely to face a rematch with former Senator George Allen, whom he beat in a bruising 2006 contest. He had expressed ambivalence about the prospect of another run, and has said he never planned a life in politics.

Keeping Webb -- a Vietnam veteran, former Reagan defense official, and author -- in the Senate had been a top priority for the Democratic leadership, with no Democrat of Webb's prominence, and his centrist politics, openly exploring the race.

My response:

I first learned of Mr. Webb from reading his Vietnam novel “Field's of Fire”.

In that book , he explored how soldiers from different backgrounds -each with their own baggage- faced the unknown, and emerged with new identities. It seems that Mr. Webb's time in Congress was similar (at the least in terms of how he was perceived entering office, and now leaving).

One of his characters, in that book, came to a decision based on his belief - that regardless of circumstances, doing the right thing, even though it may seem to many others to be wrong and even non courageous, was the only way that he could live with himself. This to me,  seems to mirror Mr. Webb's political life in the past few years.

I believe Mr. Webb would have expected sideline quarterbacks to criticize him - they (we) were not in the battles and could not know all of the circumstances. 

By not running for this term, he is not running away. He is standing up, and not selling out his conscience as he would need to to raise money for a campaign battle. I did not always agree with his beliefs, but I respect his integrity, and I thank him for his service.

Smith, Ben; "Webb won't seek reelection" (February 9, 2011) Politico, http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0211/Source_Webb_wont_seek_reelection.html#comments Last retrieved February 9, 2011.

Obama vrs. Pallin

Sarah Palin Blasts Obama's Handling Of Egypt

Commented Feb 8, 2011 at 10:15:20 in Politics

“If Pallin should know that Obama `doesn't knows' who will be Egypt's next leader - because, if all goes to plan the next leader will be chosen in the elections in September. 

Pallin would/coul­d know that HillaryCli­nton has accomplished an agreement that President Mubarak will not run in September.

 She would/could know that Hillary has been working out a way for a transition in which Mubarak will not be embarrassed (easier to get him to agree) - that the plan is Mubarak will leave Egypt ( for health concerns) to visit a special hospital ( probably in Germany) during which time Mubarak will retain his title, but transfer his powers over to the Vice President. 

Palin would/could know that the US is orchestrating this maneuverer because if Mubarak just leaves- the next in the chain of power in Egypt is Fathi Surur (the Speaker of the Parliament­) - who the US doesn't want. If the transfer of power (but not Presidential title) goes to the Vice President Omar Suleiman, ( former intelligence chief) -whom the US feels is more pro US, ( Suleiman in 1995 oversaw `suspected militants' captured by the US and secretly transferred to Egypt for cruel and unusual questionin­g.) 

Pallin would/could also know that the `upset' Egyptians would find both of these solutions bad. Pallin would/coul­d also know that in the US's eyes Mubarak simply hanging in till September.

 Pallin would/coul­d also know, therefore- that no one knows how it will work out in Egypt.