September 18, 2009 archive

——–

Cross-posted at Daily Kos and MyDD.

——–

Senator Specter addressed the floor yesterday about his letters to the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.  (This is what I get for flipping on C-SPAN late at night!  ; – )

U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) today spoke on the Senate floor regarding his concerns about sending additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan without greater clarification and assurances that an increase in force is “indispensable” to the defeat of al Qaida and homeland security

Nobody in this country is going to care, and I’m sure this will never see the light of day here, either, but I just have to applaud this:

British trade unions to boycott Israeli goods

Britain’s Trades Union Congress has approved a call for a targeted, consumer-led boycott and sanctions campaign against Israel and to work closely with a radical anti-Israel group.

The decision was announced on Thursday at the 6.5-million member labor federation’s annual conference in Liverpool.

The new policy calls on the British government to condemn the “Israeli military aggression and the continuing blockade of Gaza,” and to end arms sales to Israel, which it said totaled £18.8 million in 2008.

It also advocates a ban on import of goods originating in settlements and an end to the European Union’s preferential trading terms for Israel.

Yeah, right, a “radical anti-Israel group”.  If you’re most of the people in Israel, especially the ruling politicians and the media, anyone who objects to anything Israel does, no matter how heinous, is a “radical anti-Israeli”.  

I wish this boycott would spread.   It already seems to be right down the old Memory Hole, the way the IDF committed atrocity after atrocity in Gaza, and continues to threaten World War Three with its belligerence against Iran.  

Israel is probably the greatest threat to world peace, and it’s all because it has blind, unequivocal support from the United States.  

Cross posted at DailyKos, ePluribus Media and Tikkun Daily.

Abstract: Current research in the cognitive sciences and neurology abounds in astounding theories on the locus of long-term memory; the ability of the brain to repurpose sections to recreate neural pathways totally destroyed by strokes, head injuries, or severe mental disabilities; and the intricate interplay of powerful emotions and complex neural coding in ‘reliving’ past traumas.

Drawing upon findings on the use of mirror boxes to threat phantom limb pain, on the role of our senses in unconsciously triggering highly emotive memories capable of transporting our consciousness beyond time/place constrictions, and the always miraculous studies of neurologist Oliver Sachs, herein is a different take on treatment for conditions such as chronic pain, strokes, and mental and affective disabilities.(Note: if possible, go to diary end to play music as you read)

There is this one story in Oliver Sach’s Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain which remains readily retrievable in my memory. A story so utterly mind-boggling, so counter-intuitive, so, as it were, against the grain, that it has  hunkered down in my hippocampus, leaving an indelible imprint in the very cellular structure of my brain.

The Chapter “Pitch Imperfect: Cochlear Amusia” begins with a quote from Shakespeare’s Troilus & Cressida: “Untune that string/And hark, what discord follows!”

Here’s a paraphrase.

An aging renowned composer and conductor visits Sachs to discuss the ever-increasing difficulties in his music pursuant to his increasing hearing loss, accompanied by the loss of absolute pitch. Sachs, along with auditory specialists, concur that the problem is irreversible, due to the natural die off of some of the 4500-odd hair cells within the ear’s Organ of Corti. The musician learns to compensate, composing and directing in lower registers (even when these variations grow from 1/4 to over 1 full octave in discrepancies) and soon discovers he can make contextual ‘auditory’ corrections when working in full orchestra as opposed to with solo cellos, violas, or trombones. He begins to entertain the notion that his problem may be more in his brain. Some time goes by before Sachs receives a letter from the composer, informing him that he has regained his sense of absolute pitch, that once again he can accurately compose, hear and direct music. The change occurred after he received a commission which involved his total immersion in the composition of complex orchestral pieces. Sachs concludes that, despite the non-functionality of significant parts of the musician’s auditory processing facilities, becoming totally immersed in music for an extended time, reactivated his cellular musical memory, which resides inside the brain.

Yet another fine example of Racist douchebaggery has occurred as an assault on a Mother in Georgia, and the resulting charges (or lack thereof) is a second assault.

Racist motherfucker West was leaving “CRACKER Barrel” and whipped the door right into Tasha Hill’s 7 year old daughter’s face, and Tasha pulled her back just in time. Then she politely said ‘Excuse me sir, you need to watch yourself you almost hit my daughter in the face.’

So he called her a “fucking black nigger bitch,” and proceeded to beat the shit out of her. He punched her face threw her down and kicked her on the ground.

ALL IN FRONT OF HER DAUGHTER, who was traumatized enough to feel like it was her own fault for wanting to eat there.

LETS ANALYZE THAT: When a child feels like she should have known better than to eat in a White Racist Establishment to protect her Mom, it is utterly fucking sickening. What kind of World is this?

LET ME ANSWER: A white-privileged racist world that needs to be DESTROYED. No child should have to endure a world like that.

WED: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/…