Simple Song of Freedom

Today is Yom Ha'Atzmaut - Israel's Memorial Day. It is quite fitting this observance comes at the conclusion of this particular week. We mourn those affected by the horror of the events at VA Tech and most recently, today the hostage (and gunman) killed at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston; while we are at it, we can add in the absolute crimes of humanity happening in Darfur and in too many places around the world. Today also marks 8 years since the Columbine HS massacre. My heart is so heavy with the thought of the sheer amount of suffering in the world brought on by our fellow human beings.

However, tomorrow is the 18th anniversary of the uprising in Tiananmen Square. 100,000 students from more than 40 universities gathered at Beijing's Tiananmen Square to voice their discontent with China's authoritative communist government, and call for greater democracy. Ignoring government warnings of violent suppression of any mass demonstration, the students were joined by workers, intellectuals, and civil servants. The picture that summed it up...





Towards the end of his life, Bobby Darin wrote a song called Simple Song of Freedom, whose lyrics remain relevant to this day.

Come and sing a simple song of freedom
Sing it like you've never sung before
Let it fill the air
Tell the people everywhere
We the people here don't want a war

Hey there, Mister Black Man can you hear me?
I won't dig your diamonds or hunt your game
I just want to be, someone known to you as me
and I will bet my life you want the same

So come and sing a simple song of freedom
Sing it like you've never sung before
Let it fill the air Tell the people everywhere
We, the people here, don't want a war

Seven hundred million are you listening?
Most of what you read is made of lies
But speaking one to one, ain't it everybody's sun
To wake to in the morning when we rise?

So come and sing a simple song of freedom
Sing it like you've never sung before
Let it fill the air
Tell the people everywhere
We, the people here, don't want a war

Brother Yareshenko are you busy?
If not would you drop a friend a line?
Tell me if the man, who is plowing up your land
has got the war machine upon his mind

Come and sing a simple song of freedom
Sing it like you've never sung before
Let it fill the air Tell the people everywhere
That we the people here don't want a war

Now no doubt some folks enjoy doin' battle
Like presidents and ministers and kings
But let us build them shelves where they can fight among themselves
and leave the people be who like to sing

Come and sing a simple song of freedom
Sing it like you've never sung before
Let it fill the air
Tell the people everywhere
That we the people here don't want a war

Let it fill the air
Tell the people everywhere
That we the people here don't want a war

The Holocaust - Denial Ain't Just a River in Egypt

How appropriate something like this came up on the first evening of Passover...

My deep rooted anger about this is infinite.

An excerpt from an article at the UK website www.somethingjewishuk.co.uk

Link to article

"A small number of schools in Britain are dropping teaching the Holocaust for fear it may offend some pupils, a Government funded report by the Historical Association has found.

According to the report, teachers have taken Holocaust education out of the classroom for fear it may inspire some Muslim pupils to express anti-Semitism.

The report revealed that teachers are worried about having to deal with "anti-Semitic sentiment and Holocaust denial among some Muslim pupils"."

HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT????? How about MY family that "had to deal with it"? Let's ask my cousin Cecile, who at 2 years old watched as her entire family was taken away to the camps. The only reason she survived was that a Christian family in the same building grabbed her from the staircase and shoved her in their armoir so that she wouldn't be found. The only other survivors from her family were her mother and sister who made it through the camps.

Or maybe we should ask the families of the 9/11 victims how they feel about "not offending" these students.....

How dare they - TEACHERS, ignore a significant part of global history in order not to offend. It is their JOB to impart knowledge and by not addressing this portion of HUMAN history are doing their students a great disservice - not to mention pissing off a lot of people.

I can't write anymore....... my head is about to explode.

New York, New York... WAS a Helluva Town

Enough already... STOP chipping away at my beloved City and what little is left that makes it so special. I'm not going to go into why this Festival means so much.... anyone who lives in the City can tell you. No smoking in bars... Shut up... I smoke - and now this.

I hope you choke on your fucking zeppole

To sum it up:

Little Italy residents upset by the raucous annual street fair voted this month to pull the plug on the historic feast, recommending that Community Board 2 move to nix the 11-day gala.

"No one likes San Gennaro who lives here," said Sean Sweeney, a member of the community board's street events committee, which voted against issuing permits for the feast.


So.... after 80 years of the Festival.. all of a sudden it's a nuisance....

and huuumm - I wonder what part of Italy Mr. SWEENEY's family is from.... maybe a visit from Tony Soprano is in order :-)

On a very special Maury…. Who the Baby Daddy?

Once in a while a news story comes along that completely and utterly has me in tears laughing from the surrealism of it. Such was the breaking story about Al Sharpton’s ancestors allegedly being owned by the family of that paragon of tolerance…. Strom Thurmond. Sharpton is demanding DNA testing to see if they share the same blood-line.

You be the judge - Is there a family resemblence? I want *that* family reunion as an HBO special!

You remember Strom…. that ancient Senator from South Carolina who conducted the longest filibuster ever conducted by a United States Senator in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

One 1948 speech included the following:

“I wanna tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that there's not enough troops in the army to force the Southern people to break down segregation and admit the nigra race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes, and into our churches. “ Shortly after Thurmond's death on June 26, 2003, Essie Mae Washington-Williams publicly revealed that she was Strom Thurmond's illegitimate daughter. She was born to an African American maid, Carrie "Tunch" Butler (1909–1947), on October 12, 1925, when Butler was 16 and Thurmond was 22.

Apparently, he had no problem admitting himself into (as he would say) “them”.

Next... on a very special episode of Maury.......