I was chosen for jury duty on September 10.   The rest  of the prospective jurors were allowed to leave and resume their lives and for some of them, I guess, their jobs in the nearby World Trade Center.  Having to submit to the inevitability of jury duty, I left  the [...]

I. History of Nowruz Imagine it’s the fifth century before the Common Era, on a plain bejeweled with a magnificent palace complex and flowing gardens, with the coffee brown Zagros mountains in the distance, and a sky the color of lapis lazuli. Colorful tents and scents all around, wafting in [...]

Holi (pronounced ho-lee), also known as Phagwa, is marked at the transition from the Hindu months Phalguna to Chaitra. The Hindu calendar being lunisolar, this date changes every year. In 2010 it fell on March 1st. Besides India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, it is observed by the South Asian diaspora [...]

This morning as I was watching last night’s Craig Ferguson Show that we tape since we can’t stay up that late, his monologue struck a chord with me. He stated that he’s been feeling rather depressed lately, and I have to admit that so have I, and I wonder if [...]

February 1, 1979. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s fourteen year exile was finally coming to an end. From Neauphle-le-Château where he had spent only a few months after being kicked out of Najaf by Saddam Hussein (accounts differ on the Shah’s role in this) he had chartered an Air France 747 and [...]

The last month in Iran has been full of little clues and a few intrigues. I will try to pare them down. This update has been long coming, and before I become even more overwhelmed, I’ll try to do my best. The beginning of the Gregorian year, January 1st, 2010, [...]

We all have seen the horrific images and most of us are keeping up in our own way with the situation in Haiti. I am sure many of us have reached in our pocketbooks to send what we can. We must dig down deeper and send more. The first lady [...]

I would like to preface this post by stating that I am not denying that global warming or climate change is occurring presently. I have no opinion on whether or not climate change or global warming is man made or a natural phenomenon or both. The point of this post [...]

Once again, God has been motivated to blog and has been kind enough to share it with us. Makes me feel appreciated for being a Deity Virgin when we met and not having any Gods before him…though I was always concerned that he might prefer someone with more experience and [...]

 “Throughout the history of the human race, even up till the present moment, one of the most potent forces which men use to rally oppressed peoples together, in their drive towards freedom and emancipation from their oppressors, is religion. Men who have successfully led their enslaved peoples from bondage and [...]

The 7.0 Earthquake in Haiti will be absolutely devastating to the people of this country.
The Haitian people have been living in filth, severe poverty, hunger, and political corruption. They have been eating mud pies for over a decade. The US government has been playing kick the can with Haiti for over 30 years. While… the Haitian people will somehow survive through this I urge all of to donate and help the Haitian Nation to become a self standing government and help the people get through this horrific crisis.
Haiti needs to be Corruption Free.

NBC Today show has the following link for donations, if only it is $5.00 or $10.00 here is their link:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/34835478/ns/world_news-haiti_earthquake/

I also urge all of us from the Planet Community to contact President Obama and your members of Congress to stand up and quit putting the political band-aid on Haiti and help them.

Thank you Everyone for your support.See MoreHaiti earthquake: How to help – Haiti earthquake

As a veteran of one war, I can see similarities in how we are conducting this war.  We’re really doing nothing different that what we did in Vietnam.  We have developed and use the same formula in every major conflict since the end of World War II. Here is the [...]

I came across this story and considering Rahm Emanuel’s history with his support of Israel his criticism of Israel is certainly a hell freezes over moment for me. In a recent meeting with Yaki Dayan, Israel’s Consul in Los Angeles, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel reportedly expressed his [...]

 It would appear that the “Powers To Be” have just been waiting for the chance to implement the mandatory use of  Full Body Scanners at every major Airport… Can’t you just picture Dick Cheney making this statement to all the “spooks in the bunker”, ” All we need is one lonely, impressionable [...]

Ashura 1388 – December 27, 2009, begins over 1,300 years ago. During the three year reign of Yazid I (680-683 CE) of the Ummayad Caliphate, one man refused to swear allegiance to the caliph, he was Hossein, son of Ali, the father whom Shi’as believe the Prophet Mohammad designated to [...]

This is the news of the morning: Jet passengers overpower would-be bomber A Nigerian man on an Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight allegedly tried to blow up the airliner, which landed safely. The suspect is badly hurt. Authorities consider it a terrorism attempt. Reporting from New York – In what was described as [...]

30 Azar 1388 — December 21, 2009. The epicenter of the clerical establishment of Iran, the city of Qom, about a hundred miles southwest of the capital, was shaken by demonstrators mourning for the recently deceased Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri. In the words of Shirin Ebadi, “the father of [...]

Since the 13 Aban demonstrations nearly a month ago, the international nuclear debate has been ratcheted up, and the domestic scene of the Islamic Republic of Iran keeps lurching further into the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ blood-soaked hands. From Maziar Bahari’s article, written after his experiences of being arrested and [...]

13 Aban 1388 / November 4th, 2009 began with an early morning 4.9 earthquake near the southeastern port city of Bandar-e Abbas. But, 850 miles away to the north in Tehran, there were other tremors brewing beginning around 9:00 AM.

In surprising news President Barack Hussein Obama has won the Nobel Peace prize in the first year of his presidency. While the president is under constant attack at how from the right wing he has already begun to transform the world, especially America’s image around the world. This prize is [...]

The comparisons of the Afghan War to Vietnam are pure hyperbole. The list of reasons are numerous but when you compare the total cost in human life lost in both wars there is simply no comparison. I think it’s incredibly disingenuous and disrespectful to compare the two wars considering what [...]

I have to admit from what I see going on at the State Department I was wrong to think Hillary Clinton was the best choice as SOS. OK to let myself off the hook a bit I did support her as the #1 candidate with one caveat. I did say [...]