You Paid for This...

"A Lebanese youth shows the body of a baby after it was recovered under debris of a destroyed building, attacked late Monday by Israeli forces, in the southern Beirut suburb of Chiah, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2006. The raid on the Muslim southern suburb next to a Christian neighborhood killed at least 16 people, police officials said, as Lebanese civil defense rescuers were still working on recovering the bodies of citizens believed to be trapped under debris and concrete late Tuesday." (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

"A Lebanese man mourns during the mass funeral of Lebanese civilians at the southern town of Ghaziyeh, near the port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2006, after they were killed when Israeli airstrikes flattened three buildings Monday killing fifteen people. Israeli airstrikes hit near a funeral procession in south Lebanon on Tuesday, sending some of the 1,500 mourners running in panic and killing at least 13 people in nearby buildings, witnesses, hospital officials and the town's mayor said." (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

"Women, who lost family members in Monday's Israeli air strike, cry during a funeral ceremony in Ghaziyeh village, south Lebanon, August 8, 2006." (Ali Hashisho/Reuters)

I would like to ask them if they share in the United States' vision of peace.

"Lebanese mourners pray over the wrapped bodies of Lebanese civilians during a mass funeral in the southern town of Ghaziyeh, near the port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2006, after they were killed when Israeli airstrikes flattened three buildings Monday killing fifteen people. Israeli airstrikes hit near a funeral procession in south Lebanon on Tuesday, sending some of the 1,500 mourners running in panic and killing at least 13 people in nearby buildings, witnesses, hospital officials and the town's mayor said." (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

"Lebanese mourners carry the bodies of civilians as others hold a banner during a mass funeral in the southern town of Ghaziyeh, near the port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2006. Arabic writing on the banner reads 'This is the democracy of America and Israel: Massacres and Destruction.' "(AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

"Lebanese Red Cross volunteers and civil defense rescuers carry the body of a child after it was recovered under the debris of a destroyed building, attacked late Monday by Israeli forces, in the southern Beirut suburb of Chiah, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2006. The raid on the Muslim southern suburb next to a Christian neighborhood killed at least 16 people, police officials said, as Lebanese civil defense rescuers were still working on recovering the bodies of citizens believed to be trapped under debris and concrete late Tuesday." (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Have you ever seen a family member's head that looked like this:

YOUR tax dollars paid for the above...and the below:

An Israeli air force fighter jet takes off from Hazor base in southern Israel August 8, 2006.

"A member of the Palestinian community living in Chile holds a rosary at a square in Santiago, Chile, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2006, during an event dedicated to the victims of the Israeli offensive in Lebanon." (AP Photo/Santiago Llanquin)

Pray, in whatever way you know how, and don't stop making noise. Don't ever let a racist or classist comment slip by. Don't ever let a Mc Cainist, Fox-ist, Bushist, Hilaryist lie be allowed to rest. The people of Lebanon will not rest tonight.

Shattered Lebanese Lives

"A damaged frame with a picture of Lebanese victim Hanadi Sleiman, 35 is seen in the rubble of her destroyed house that was struck by Israeli ware plane missiles at the village Budai West of the city of Baalbek, Lebanon Friday, August 4"
- Associated Press

Israeli's claim that Iran supplies the weapons for Hezzbollah. Where do the Israeli's get their arsenal from? And they say nothing is made in the USA anymore.

Mothers Day Prayer

Pray to whoever you kneel down to:

Jesus nailed to his wooden or marble or plastic cross,

his suffering face bent to kiss you,

Buddha still under the Bo tree in scorching heat,

Adonai, Allah, raise your arms to Mary

that she may lay her palm on our brows,

to Shekinhah, Queen of Heaven and Earth,

to Inanna in her stripped descent.

Hawk or Wolf, or the Great Whale, Record Keeper

of time before, time now, time ahead, pray. Bow down

to terriers and shepherds and siamese cats.

Fields of artichokes and elegant strawberries.

Pray to the bus driver who takes you to work,

pray on the bus, pray for everyone riding that bus

and for everyone riding buses all over the world.

If you haven't been on a bus in a long time,

climb the few steps, drop some silver, and pray.

Waiting in line for the movies, for the ATM,

for your latté and croissant, offer your plea.

Make your eating and drinking a supplication.

Make your slicing of carrots a holy act,

each translucent layer of the onion, a deeper prayer.

Make the brushing of your hair

a prayer, every strand its own voice,

singing in the choir on your head.

As you wash your face, the water slipping

through your fingers, a prayer: Water,

softest thing on earth, gentleness

that wears away rock.

Making love, of course, is already a prayer.

Skin and open mouths worshipping that skin,

the fragile case we are poured into,

each caress a season of peace.

If you're hungry, pray. If you're tired.

Pray to Gandhi and Dorothy Day.

Shakespeare. Sappho. Sojourner Truth.

Pray to the angels and the ghost of your grandfather.

When you walk to your car, to the mailbox,

to the video store, let each step

be a prayer that we all keep our legs,

that we do not blow off anyone else's legs.

Or crush their skulls.

And if you are riding on a bicycle

or a skateboard, in a wheel chair, each revolution

of the wheels a prayer that as the earth revolves

we will do less harm, less harm, less harm.

And as you work, typing with a new manicure,

a tiny palm tree painted on one pearlescent nail

or delivering soda or drawing good blood

into rubber-capped vials, writing on a blackboard

with yellow chalk, twirling pizzas, pray for peace.

With each breath in, take in the faith of those

who have believed when belief seemed foolish,

who persevered. With each breath out, cherish.

Pull weeds for peace, turn over in your sleep for peace,

feed the birds for peace, each shiny seed

that spills onto the earth, another second of peace.

Wash your dishes, call your mother, drink wine.

Shovel leaves or snow or trash from your sidewalk.

Make a path. Fold a photo of a dead child

around your VISA card. Gnaw your crust

of prayer, scoop your prayer water from the gutter.

Mumble along like a crazy person, stumbling

your prayer through the streets.

pray for peace - by ellen bass

"A Day Without Immigrants"

WWJD? Jesus Would Boycott

Sleazy government dogs (I know, it's redundant; and insulting to dogs) tried to dissuade the Latino population, and their supporters, from leaving work and school yesterday to participate in a general strike. Happily the people didn't listen. My family marched proudly with over 200,000 people yesterday on International Worker's Day in San Jose, California.

KQED Radio's Peter Jon Shuler singled me out to ask how I felt about being one of the few white faces in the crowd. I told him that I was disappointed. I noted that the biggest showing of non-Latino protesters came from the San Jose Catholic Diocese. One of my statement's that wasn't included in his final on-air report was that Bush perpetrates his Christian-Jihad overseas and his Un-Christian immigrant stance at home. 

Other faces of protest:

Deka Amed, a Somalian immigrant and now a U.S. citizen, watches as she participates with thousands of other demonstrators at a rally in downtown Seattle. Activists called on immigrants outside of Latino communities to take a vigorous role in the country's immigration debate.
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson

Tonantzin Castro holds a placard during a rally
in downtown Los Angeles.
REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Moroccan immigrant Hicham Diyani holds an hunger strike with his lips sewn together in a church in Glain, near Liege in Belgium May 2, 2006. Alsylum seekers began occupying churches throughout the country, on a hunger strike calling on the Belgian government to give them the right to live and work in Belgium and to reform asylum seeking procedures.
REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

Earth Day - Shmearth Day

My friend, we'll call her Candice ('cause that's her name), who drives an obese SUV, asks the question, "How many trees do I need to plant to make up for my flights back and forth to Maui?" Off the top of my head I'd say 5000 trees, Candice. That should keep you preoccupied - and thereby limit your exorbitant shopping/driving/consuming/spewing/selfish activities.

Paris is Burning .... Encore !!

A protester throws a stone next to a burning car, during clashes with riot police, following a demonstration in Paris, France, against the 'First Job Contract', or CPE, Saturday, March 18, 2006. More than 500,000 students and workers marched in Paris and other French cities Saturday in the biggest show of anger yet at a jobs plan that has led to street violence and threatens to weaken the government. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Also, see Sunday, March 19.

More protesting in Rennes, France.
Photo: Vanou

Brokeback Mounts Criticism

I've been reading complaints, by gay men, that the leads of Brokeback Mountain are not in fact gay. They feel strongly that gay actors should have played the roles. One of the writers who railed against the film is John Scagliotti. He was a classmate of Ang Lee's (director of Brokeback) at NYU. John's critique could be perceived as simple jealousy, as he has not had the successes of his former classmate; or it could be a legitimate frustration with an industry that does not value documentary films, such as his own 2003 release Dangerous Living - Coming Out in the Developing World.

Still, I feel that this 'gay only' position neglects to realize a powerful by-message of the film: that straight men, who are known for being female magnets, are not afraid or ashamed to be cast as gay lovers; and by taking on these roles, with sensitivity and feeling, further breaks down the barriers that exist between the straight and gay cultures. It also sends a message to male homophobes who might be admirers of Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal --who've played such roles as a battling knight and a marine sniper, respectively.

Willie Nelson gives a vote of confidence with his song "He was a Friend of Mine" in the movie, and aditionally recording "Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly (Fond of Each Other)".

If only gays played gay parts, and recorded gay songs you would have a very segregated and exclusionary group. That doesn't seem very progressive.