Brighten Your Day

Miss B.'s noble endeavor with this delightful blog is:

...to bring you a little metaphorical sunshine each day, to help you stop for a second and remember that life is (still) beautiful and that there is goodness in the world and to build some fantastic exposure for those contributors that have been generous and kind enough to participate.

Wonderful prizes are donated and awarded to the most creative answers to the question of the day. Not only are the prizes fun, but the questions really make one ponder life with the intention of finding that silver lining. With the economy being what it is, and with no sight of an up-swing, having a break in the day to realize life is actually pretty good is a precious - and rare - gift indeed.

www.thebrightsideproject.com

Paradise Found?

An astounding discovery in East Turkey suggests that the biblical story of the Garden of Eden may have scientific backing, after all. While not a literal interpretation, the evidence is thought-provoking to say the least.

This discovery of standing T-shaped structures, similar to Stone Henge in England, has been dated to as far back as 13,000 BCE. In comparison, Stone Henge dates back to 3,000 BCE, and the pyramids of Giza to 2,500 BCE.

To read more about this astonishing story, as well as the theories about it being the “Temple of the Garden of Eden”, please read the full article here.

On a serious note.

I’m a big advocate for seeing all sides of an issue. I firmly believe that if you can’t see your opponent’s point of view, you will not resolve your conflict. Having said that, I have long admired Amnesty International for their work. However, recently I have become aware of some practices that greatly disappointed me. I felt I could no longer stay silent on the issue, and so have written AI a letter. Here’s what it said:

To whom it may concern:

I have long admired Amnesty International for all the good work you do. There are so many people in the world who are being horribly mistreated, and no one would be aware of their plight if not for your efforts. However, since my membership - and therefore my periodic receipt of your e-newsletters - I have discovered something that I find very disconcerting.

While your coverage of many conflicts seems quite well-rounded, in the case of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict you seem to have fallen into the trap many of the world’s journalists have fallen into: that of making Israel into the de facto “bad guy.” I’m not saying I agree with everything Israel is doing. Far from it. But there are many elements I am quite surprised you have not mentioned, and as advocates speaking out against humanitarian crimes everywhere I believe you owe your members coverage of these, as well.

For example, I have seen no mention of the fact that the Palestinian government - as instituted by the Oslo Accord - has been corrupt and mismanaged since day one. Yasir Arafat, for example, spent millions of dollars on construction. Not of schools and hospitals, as was promised and as he should, but on casinos. To add insult to injury, he built a casino across the street from a refugee camp.

There is also no freedom of speech in the Palestinian territories today. Journalists feel that in order to truly practice their craft they must rely on the foreign press. Anyone who speaks out against the government is beaten, jailed or shot. Academics with ideas on how to improve the lives of Palestinians are either punished or simply ignored, considered to have no “street cred” if they have not been jailed by the Israelis or killed jews.

Why have you not raised an uproar about Palestinian children being used as human shields, by Palestinians? Why have you not mentioned that UN facilities, schools and hospitals are used as Hamas weapons storage facilities in Gaza? Where is your indignation at Hamas declaring victory when thousands of their people have died? Where is your outrage at the fact that in Lebanon there is a law prohibiting Palestinians from working in 62 occupations? Where is your anger at the fact that in some other countries Palestinians must abide by a 6 p.m. curfew? And no, none of these countries is Israel.

in fact, to this day Israel is the ONLY country that admits Palestinian cancer patients into its hospitals for treatment. And they do so on a daily basis. Israel is the only country that has provided Palestinian with consistent humanitarian aid over the past 3+ decades.

To reiterate, I am not saying I agree with everything Israel is doing. There are many people on both sides of the conflict that should be held to account for wrongs they’ve committed. But I am truly appalled that Amnesty International, as an organization purportedly focused only on fighting crimes against humanity, fails to cover the crimes committed by Arabs against Palestinians, and by the Palestinians themselves against other Palestinians. For more information on this matter, I would suggest you look into Khaled Abu Toameh (Wiki here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khaled_Abu_Toameh). If President Obama saw fit to have a two-hour conversation with him to hear his point of view on the conflict, maybe it will be worth your while to hear him out, as well.

I sincerely hope my letter is read and not immediately dismissed. I hope that my faith in Amnesty International as an organization of real integrity and vision will be restored.

Thank you for your time,
Dani

The sad truth of the matter - as Mr. Abu Tomeh said in his address to UCLA Anderson students yesterday - is that the Western media just isn’t interested in a more balanced view of the conflict. It’s easiest - and most lucrative - for them to make Israel out to be the big baddie of the situation. He mentioned actually approaching journalists in cities such as Los Angeles and being told that they are simply not interested in covering a more balanced, comprehensive view of where the blame for the current Palestinian situation really lay. It’s a very unfortunate situation, and I hope that I, in some small way, can help remedy it.

Thanks for your support.

Government Accountability At Last

A friend sent me this link today:

http://www.recovery.gov/

I’d heard a speech in which President Obama said that there will be a new level of accountability in the government, that the citizens of the United States will be able to see where every penny of theirs is going in the economic stimulous plan. Didn’t think it’d happen quite this quickly, but then if there’s something I’m learning about our new President it’s that when he says something will happen, it does. When has that ever actually happened in politics? Reliably? Couple of thoughts on this brave new world of government’s accountability to its people:

1) President Obama (and those working in his administration) are friggin’ brilliant. If there’s one thing that’s been missing in the White House for a very long time it’s some integrity and transparency. Where the Bush administration took the attitude of “trust us, we have your best interests at heart. Really” the Obama administration clearly understands that we’re tired of secrets and that they have to earn our trust. And they’re doing what they can to do just that.

2) As someone said - I think it was on Twitter - yesterday, “It’s been so long since I’ve been proud and not ashamed of my President, I think I’ve forgotten what it feels like.”

Mr. President, YOU GO!

And a little p.s.:
Also brilliant that this administration is using the internet, and in smart, well thought-out ways. You guys are just awesome.