Obama, Hillary Clinton to campaign together

Former first lady will introduce Obama to her financial backers

MSNBC dated 8:40 a.m. PT, Fri., June. 20, 2008
CHICAGO - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama's campaign announced Friday that he will campaign with former rival Hillary Rodham Clinton next week, a step toward unifying a fractured Democratic Party after a bruising primary fight.

Obama's campaign said in a brief e-mail that the two senators and former opponents will campaign together for the first time on Friday, June 27, and more details would be forthcoming.

A day earlier, Obama and Clinton also plan to meet in Washington with some of her top contributors in an effort to calm donors who remain frustrated with Obama's presidential campaign. The former first lady will introduce Obama to her financial backers.

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Hundred of Gay Couples Wed in California 6/17/08

good positive upbeat article, nice pics
from NY times Jun 17th:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/us/17cnd-marriage.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Guantanamo

Supporters defending George W. Bush's decision to keep torturing prisoners despite the international rules of law and the recent U.S. Supreme Court's decision keep saying that somehow these prisoners do not deserve the right of habeas corpus or other basic rights to a trial that U.S. citizens automatically have because said prisoners are from foreign countries and because they are said to be (paraphrasing) "despicable monsters who support terrorism". What about the fact these prisoners are human beings who should have the right to fair trials which includes access to attorneys and the right to defend themselves? True, some must be guilty as charged but many appear to be hapless victims of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and are only guilty,perhaps, of being representative of a certain segment of Muslims sympathetic to Bin Laden and probably anti-American in their sentiments which by the way may be a sentiment held by more than a few billion or more people around the world. Even the likely guilty ones are humans who deserve a fair trial, Those in the know all seem to accept that Guantanamo is a place where prisoners are routinely tortured. This is the reason that so many of the incarcerated (43) have attempted suicide.

I heard Diane Feinstein ( 6/15/08) saying to her Senate colleagues that despite the fact that top of officials and former officials of the Bush establishment have gone on record saying Guantanamo should be closed and now the U.S. Supreme Court for the fourth time has gone on record against Bush, it does seem outrageous that nothing has changed. Let's face it, under Bush we are nothing but pawns of an awful tyranny that even the Democrats are unable or unwilling to bring to a conclusion, perhaps, out of fear of not looking patriotic enough or worse yet for crass political reasons which equate to make Bush look bad and they gain from this somehow during election season. History will have something to say about how politicians on both sides of the aisle lost their moral anchors and left the American rule of law and fairness denigrated and those Americans seeking a better image abroad and at home a kick in the pants.

New Thought: The more I think about it the more I wish the progressive and more liberal Democrats would leave the Democratic Party to start a new Progressive type Party or force the more conservative members out which is unlikely. The fact we only have two realistic choices is wrong. Of course, if this were to pass, it would weaken the Dems but perhaps, the same thing could happen to the Republicans with the more moderate and liberal types leaving the ultra conservatives and religious crazies to their own devices. In this case, we would have 4 major parties and might have to move to a parliamentary system where at least there would be more ideas floating around and the need for constant compromise and centralness of purpose and consensus less imperative. In this case, whoever was in charge might have to really think about what she or he was doing.
mmmmmmm? In all fairness, I must say the parliamentary system was no help to Toni Blair who acted same as Bush when it came to overruling the electorate.

I Was Shocked by Ignorance about Muslims and Obama

I was at a meeting today when a woman who said she would vote for Obama but that she was worried that he might be a secret Muslim. I said that Obama is a Christian but if he was Muslim what was wrong with that. Her answer was Muslims caused 9/11. And she also said Obama's Dad was a Muslim. I said it was not Muslims but a small group of a radical sect of Muslims who could be described as "terrorists" and who were involved one way or another in 9/11. I compared this group to a small sect of" born agains" who let us say believed the earth was flat. Does that mean that all Christians believe the earth is flat? Her answer was still he could be Muslim and that worried her.

I think too many people in this country are ignorant about the most basic ideas within the great religions. I blame this ignorance on the poor education in our public schools and also institutions of higher learning. There should be more information about the differences and commonalities among the major and also minor religions and regional aspects that play into religious and ethnic differences. As a Jew, I am astounded about how many of my Jewish sisters and brothers also know so little about the similarities between the Islamic Faith (particularly the rituals) and Judaisim. If Obama is to win this important election, his strategists need to keep responding to the jackass comments people are making about Obama and take them to task for making them. I think it was Rachel Maddow, the Radio and TV commentator, who said most recently "Embarass them".

Sharon Raphael

In Memoriam for Paula Gunn Allen: One of Our Best

-----Original Message-----
From: Alix Dobkin
Sent: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 5:58 pm
Subject: Paula Gunn Allen - R. I. P.

With great sorrow I pass on the news that we have lost another of the wimmin who have made such a difference in our Lesbian world. Our prayers are with Paula's extensive circle of friends and family.

From Paula's Memorial Website. www.paulagunnallen.net
Paula Gunn Allen, Ph.D., American Indian scholar and poet, joined the Ancestors on May 29, 2008 at her home in Ft. Bragg, California, after a long battle with illness.
Funeral services were held graveside on Monday, June 2, 2008, at 3:00 p.m. at Rose Memorial Park, Ft. Bragg). A memorial service in the San Francisco Bay Area is tentatively scheduled for mid-July. Updated information will be posted on this website. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made for the establishment of a scholarship in Paula's name. Please send them to:
Institute For Indigenous Knowledges
1536 W. 25th St. #120
San Pedro, CA 90732

for more information go to http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096417458

California's Supreme Court Ruling Allows Same Sex Couples to Wed

AGP Gay Marriage
Mercury News-San Jose
California's Supreme Court has just announced
that it will not stay the landmark ruling itmade last month, which overturned the state's ban on gay marriage. This latest decision means that same-sex couples could be able to wed in California as soon as June 17.
>
> Conservative groups opposed to gay marriage, joined by 1 state attorneys general, had asked that the ruling be stayed
until after state residents go to the polls in November and vote on an amendment to California's Constitution that would
effectively override the court's decision. Their argument was that allowing gay marriages to occur before the vote would lead
to legal confusion if the amendment passed.
>
> This is also most likely a political loss for gay marriage opponents, as voters on the fence about the issue may be swayed by
image of gay couples being happily wed, or by simply knowing gay couples who decide to get married.
>
> By a vote of 4-3, the same margin as in its original ruling, the court also denied a petition to rehear the case.