Tidbits & Reader Response
August 13, 2011

-  Stop the Attacks on The Freedom Theatre (Constancia Dinky
   Romilly)

-  Re: Drew Westin's article "What Happened to Obama"
   (Ray Markey)

-  Re: The Legal Duty to Create Jobs (David Arocho)

-  Arizona Border Fence Causes Flood and Self-Destructs - as
   Predicted (Bryan Gerhart in ColorLines)

==========

Stop the Attacks on The Freedom Theatre

Dear members and supporters of the arts community,

We hope you will endorse this statement and forward it
widely. To endorse, please send an email to
[log in to unmask] with the word "ENDORSE" in the
subject line. In the body of the email, please include your
name, city, state, country, occupation (actor, filmmaker,
director, or if you are not in the arts, you can put "arts
supporter") and organizational affiliation, if any.

Thank you!
Friends of the Jenin Freedom Theatre)


We the undersigned, members and supporters of the arts
community, deplore the recent attacks in Jenin on The
Freedom Theatre, its people and property. The Freedom
Theatre is a beacon for artistic expression, offering youth
in Jenin a safe space in which to express themselves, and to
explore their creativity and emotions. The Theatre has the
following admirable goals:

-       To raise the quality of performing arts and cinema
in the area.

-       To offer a space in which children and youth can
act, create and express themselves freely, imagining new
realities and challenging existing political, social and
cultural barriers.

-       To empower the young generation to use the arts to
promote positive change in their community.

-       To break the cultural isolation that separates Jenin
from the wider Palestinian and global communities.

To our dismay, the Israeli military attacked The Freedom
Theatre in the Jenin Refugee Camp at 3:30 a.m. on July 27,
2011, hurling rocks at its building and damaging windows.
During this raid, they arrested Adnan Naghnaghiye, the
Theatre's facilities manager, and then went to the home of
Bilal Saadi, the President of the Theatre's Board in Jenin,
and arrested him after damaging his home.  Charges against
them have not been made public.

On August 6, 2011, while at a checkpoint crossing with
members of the Theatre's acting troupe, soldiers of the
Israeli military arrested, handcuffed and blindfolded Rami
Awni Hwayel, a 20-year old third-year acting student.

Calls to the military authorities to get information about
all three have yielded no information.

We call on the Israeli government either to make public any
charges against the three Freedom Theatre personnel or
release them immediately. In addition, we insist that the
Israeli military pay damages for the destruction to the
Theatre and to Mr. Saadi's home.

We call on all supporters of the arts everywhere, including
our fellow artists and supporters of the arts in Israel, to
support The Freedom Theatre as an inspiring source of
cultural understanding and artistic hope and to demand that
attacks against it cease.

Friends of the Jenin Freedom Theatre
P.O. Box 592
Tarrytown, NY 10592
[log in to unmask]
917 991 5653

If you live in the United States you can call the office of
the Israeli Ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, at 202 364
5500 to make your demand in person. The email is
[log in to unmask]

Constancia Dinky Romilly
<[log in to unmask]>

==========

Re: Drew Westin's article "What Happened to Obama"
(portside post - In Decrying Obama's Centrism, Drew Westen
Ignores Role of Race)

The August 10 posting of Tom Hayden's cogent response to
Drew Westin's "What Happened to Obama" article that appeared
in the Sunday New York Times never gave a link to that
article. Since many readers of Portside don't read the New
York Times they have no way of judging whether or not his
points are valid. We should post Westin's article.

Ray Markey

[ Portside:
    
It's http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/opinion/sunday/what-happened-to-obamas-passion.html?_r=1 ]

==========

Re: The Legal Duty to Create Jobs

This article is typical of what we have been reading here at
PortSide over the last few weeks.  The basic message is
stated early on: the government SHOULD.  It was a favorite
saying of Dr. Albert Ellis, "Stop shoulding."  He regarded
this as the hallmark of neurosis.  It is a lesson that
progressive seem to reject over and over again.  Just as in
personal relationships "shoulding" only perpetuates a
dysfunctional pattern of behavior, so in society and
especially politics "shoulding" only perpetuates inaction
and paralysis.  Typical of the rhetoric of so-called
progressives, they are quick to call on government to take
action and then are just as quick to denounce the action
that government subsequently takes.

It seems to me that what is needed is a pragmatic plan of
action that the common citizen can take to bring about
change.  That, in turn, calls for grassroots hard work, and
the intellectual progressives apparently see that as beneath
them.  As Dr. Ellis would say, they prefer to whine.  That
makes them feel important, wise and self-righteous.

The Wisconsin actions to recall Republican representatives
that did not represent the people's interests seemed a good
start.  Unfortunately, its focus was a negative one, aimed
at removing a few troublesome senators without charting a
positive course for change.  We need to build a cadre of new
leadership, one not tied to any fixed ideology, but focused
on correcting the imbalances that threaten to totally
overthrow the bastions of liberty that still exist in the
United States.  I would like to see more articles with that
positive focus here at PortSide.  More thought focused on
HOW rather than SHOULD.

David Arocho

==========

Arizona Border Fence Causes Flood and Self-Destructs -
as Predicted

by Bryan Gerhart
ColorLines
August 12 2011, 5:30 PM EST

http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/08/rain_knocks_down_40_feet_of_border_fence_in_arizona.html

Mother Earth has spoken. Amidst recent reports that detail
just how harmful the United States border barrier is to
local wildlife and their habitats, rainwater knocked down 40
feet of the fence in Arizona last Sunday night.

The stretch of fence that washed away was part of a 5.2 mile
mesh barrier that was built between 2007 and 2008. Though it
is the first time this particular fencing has fallen, it
came as no surprise to officials at Organ Pipe Cactus
National Monument, where the fence is located. When Organ
Pipe expressed their concern with the proposed design for
the barricade before its completion, Border Patrol
unsurprisingly issued a final environmental assessment that
said they found that it would have no significant impact.
They added that, despite the claims of Organ Pipe officials,
it would not cause flooding. They were wrong.

Lee Baiza, Superintendent of Organ Pipe Cactus National
Monument, told the Arizona Daily Star, "The fence acts as a
dam and forms a gradual waterfall...The water starts backing
up and going higher. The higher it gets, the more force it
has behind it."

It only took 2.5 inches of rain to wash away the fence, and
because Baiza says bursts of strong rain are common in the
area, it probably wont be the last time such an incident
occurs. Matt Clark, the Southwest representative for
Defenders of Wildlife, says this is an example of
consequence of Homeland Security's disregard for expert
advice in an effort to quickly erect border fences.

Along with flooding, border barriers have other disruptive
impacts on the environment. According to a study by the
University of Texas in Austin, the fences divide wildlife
habitats and populations, including those of several
endangered species. It notes that small-range size is
correlated to a greater risk of extinction and shows that
the fences cut down range by 75 percent in some cases.

The study recommends creating additional openings or
removing the barrier in key areas of connectivity between
the United States and Mexico. If people don't do it, maybe
the weather will.

___________________________________________

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