Tidbits - November 29, 2011

 * Re: The People's Library of Occupy Wall Street Lives On
  (John Crawford, Laurel MacDowell) 
 * Re: Dancing on the Super Committee's Grave, Singing
   Halleluyah (Richard Levy)
 * Re: Israel and "Pinkwashing" (George Fish)
 * Quote of the Day
 ==========

 * Re: The People's Library of Occupy Wall Street Lives On

 As an independent publisher for 35 years with West End
 Press, I'm very moved by the service of these librarians and
 outraged at the actions of the authorities--as if Hitler had
 descended on New York. There are some crimes that must never
 go unnoticed, and this is one of them.

 John Crawford

 ===

 I recommend A Universal History of the Destruction of Books:
 From Ancient Sumer to Modern Iraq (N.Y. Atlas and Co. 2004,
 2008)by Fernando Baez. Originally written in Spanish it was
 translated into English by Alfred Macadam.In his
 introduction Baez writes, 'There has never been a single
 cause for the destruction of a book or a library: there are
 dozens. Even so, and beyond the circumstantial anecdotes
 that exonerate or condemn, at the root of book destruction
 is the intent to induce historical amnesia that facilitates
 control of an individual or a society."

 Later he writes, "We should not forget that numerous
 fundamental human rights are violated in bibliocausts: the
 right to dignity, the right to a complete written memory for
 individuals and nations, the right to identity, and the
 right to information."

 No wonder William Scott felt badly and so many others
 including myself were shocked by the incident.

 Laurel MacDowell

 ==========

 * Re: Dancing on the Super Committee's Grave, Singing
 	Halleluyah

 Robert. What a great piece. We will distribute widely.

 Richard Levy

 ==========

 * Re: Israel and "Pinkwashing"

 Unfortunately, it's true:  while certainly Israel violates
 certain key human rights of Palestinians, reactionary
 Islamic Palestinian and Arab forces violate the human rights
 of women and gays through their misogynist, homophobic
 reading of Islam, ample support for which can be found in
 the Koran as surely as the misogynist, homophobic stances of
 the Christian Right can find ample support in the Bible.  (I
 being one of the very few non-Arab leftists who's ever read
 the Koran, shameful considering that several excellent
 English and other Western-lauguage translations are readily
 available.)

 George Fish

 ===

 I've been asked to forward comments on a recent article by a
 Ms.Shulman (which I haven't read), authored by someone who
 describes himself as "a founding member of New Jewish
 Agenda, long-time member of Peace Now, member of the Meretz
 Party, and contributor to J Street who has wearied of what
 he terms the 'left's double-standard on Israel and obsession
 with Zionism'."

 He says, "Again, the double-standard as applied to Israel.
 Sadly, legitimate criticisms of Israeli policy and society
 get lost in the one-sided, obsessive hatred of Zionism.  Let
 the advocates of GLBT rights try to have a pride march in
 Cairo, Riyadh, Damascus, Tehran!  Anywhere in the region but
 maybe Beirut.  Then let's see what Ms. Shulman has to say."

 Again, I haven't read the Shulman article, but I was asked
 to forward this.  The man quoted above isn't the first to
 perceive a double standard.  To me, the Israel/Palestine and
 whole Middle East questions are arouse strong passions on
 both sides of the multitude of complex issues.  Sometimes
 rhetoric is extreme where much more temperate words might
 far better facilitate real communication.

Greg King

= = =

* Quote of the Day 
November 29, 2001

'We urge the British government to stop its attempt to make
public-sector workers pay more and work longer to receive a
smaller pension when they retire. The government's plans will
impact women the most, who already suffer from lower
pensions. This attack on the people who provide patient care
at the National Health Service, teach school children, and
provide essential public services is unconscionable.'

Rose Ann DeMoro,Executive, Director of National Nurses United
(NNU), in a letter to be delivered to Sir Nigel Sheinwald,
Great Britain's  Ambassador to the U.S, on Wednesday November
30 when U.S. nurses, joined by other unionists in Washington
and several other cities, will hold noon rallies at the
British Embassy in Washington and at British consulates in
Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Orlando, and San Francisco in
support of UK nurses and other public workers slated to stage
the biggest strike in the country in a generation

NNU 
November 29, 2011

http://tinyurl.com/d9rr57o

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