R.I.P. Studs Terkel.

Broadcaster, activist, author, and historian of the common person Studs Terkel died today. 
He was 96.
An American treasure.  And one of my heroes.
“When an elder dies, it is as if a whole library has burned down.”
- African proverb 
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Friday peace blogging, special pre-election edition!

Yes, it’s back!

John and …

Chloe and Lisa and …

Nate (and friend) and …

Thailand Chani and …

Paul and …

Utah Savage and …

Michael and …

Mike’s pal, Ben, and…

The Pagan Sphinx and …

Beartrand!

(NOW ACCEPTING MORE PICS!  SEND YOURS IN SOON!  Many, many thanks to Fran for her help getting this going again.)
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The “slaughter in YOUR pocket.”

How We Fuel Africa’s Bloodiest War by Johann Hari
(The Independent / UK) October 30 – The deadliest war since Adolf Hitler marched across Europe is starting again – and you are almost certainly carrying a blood-soaked chunk of the slaughter in your pocket.  When we glance at the holocaust in Congo, with 5.4 million dead, the [...]

PHINALLY!

The long summers of our discontent are over.
Somewhere up in Heaven, Momma Agitator and her dad are doing the happy dance.
Me?  I can’t stop laughing.  But first there were tears of joy last night.
What else canst thou say?
This:

Poem.

The Healing Time
Finally on my way to yes
I bump into
all the places
where I said no
to my life
all the untended wounds
the red and purple scars
those hieroglyphs of pain
carved into my skin, my bones,
those coded messages
that send me down
the wrong street
again and again
where I find them
the old wounds
the old misdirections
and I lift them
one by one
close to my [...]

“Republicans Summon Ugly Old Ghosts.”

Just in time for Halloween…
by Joseph Galloway
(McClatchy Newspapers) October 26 – This is an autumn of great discontent as not just the United States, but the entire world trembles on the brink of an economic recession that may bring the kind of pain that’s known only to the oldest among us.

With days to go before [...]

The war at home, v. 14.

BOSTON (Reuters) October 27 – Authorities in Massachusetts are investigating a gun fair where an 8-year-old boy died after accidentally shooting himself in the head with an Uzi submachine gun while under adult supervision, police said on Monday.
Christopher Bizilj lost control of the weapon on Sunday at the Machine Gun Shoot & Firearms Expo at [...]

“There’s no ’suspending’ in baseball!”

Argh.
If last night’s World Series game had been played back in the day, the Phillies would be planning a parade this morning. 
But that was back before Major League Baseball was taken over by network television and a cynical boob named Bud Selig.  Back when the rulebook actually meant something.
So the Phils lose a great start [...]

Feds crack skinhead plot to kill Obama, black students.

This just broke:
WASHINGTON (AP) October 27 – Law enforcement agents have broken up a plot by two neo-Nazi skinheads to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 88 black people, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives said Monday.
In court records unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Tenn., federal [...]

Brother Pitts nails it, again.

Capital Punishment is Wrong, Unfair
by Leonard Pitts
(Miami Herald) October 27 – This is a rewrite.
In the column originally prepared for this space, I said that Troy Davis was scheduled to die Monday – to be killed, actually, by an executioner for the state of Georgia.
But – stop the presses! – that’s no longer accurate. On [...]

WASSUP?

Those “Wassup?” guys are back… eight years later…

True.
(H/t to Sue J for this.)

The curse of Sarah?

The hockey curse of Sarah Palin continues.
A couple weeks back, GOP Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin dropped the puck for the Philadelphia Flyers’ home opener against the hated New York Rangers, and not only did the Flyers lose that game, but they went on to lose their next six in a row, their worst start [...]

Three.

Phils 10, Rays 2.
Phils up, three games to two.
Joe Blanton pitched a great game, and smacked a homer, right after I got done dissing his hitting style, or lack thereof.
Serves me right.  I’ll eat that crow.
One more to go, boys.

Uh-oh.

Is this the October surprise I’ve been so worried about?
U.S Special Forces launch rare attack inside Syria
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) October 26 – U.S. military helicopters launched an extremely rare attack Sunday on Syrian territory close to the border with Iraq, killing eight people in a strike the government in Damascus condemned as “serious aggression.”
A U.S. [...]

Two.

After a long rain delay, the Phightin’ Phils played some long ball and some small ball and beat Tampa 5-4 early this morning, on a walk-off infield single by catcher Carlos Ruiz.
So.  Sweet.
My role model/hero /homeboy, the ancient wonder Jamie Moyer, came up big on the mound, and lots of players contributed to the offense.
The same [...]

How very mavericky.

Uh-oh time.  A real issue for folks to talk about.
Palin pipeline deal curbed bids
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) October 25 – Gov. Sarah Palin’s signature accomplishment — a contract to build a 1,715-mile pipeline to bring natural gas from Alaska to the Lower 48 — emerged from a flawed bidding process that narrowed the field to a [...]

Cool (smart) Saturday sounds.

Richard Thompson: “Hots For the Smarts.”
I concur.

Court of Appeals Issues Stay in Troy Davis Case.

Good news:
(Atlanta Journal-Constitution) October 24 -  The federal appeals court in Atlanta on Friday stayed the execution of Troy Anthony Davis, who was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection Monday evening.
“Upon our thorough review of the record, we conclude that Davis has met the burden for a stay of execution,” the court said [...]

Friday peace blogging, (final) special edition.

Suzy and…

Suzy’s family (circa 2001) and …
that’s all.
Thus ends Friday peace blogging, blogger edition. 
No further submissions have been received.
Peace out, friends.

Blessed is this peace-maker.

(New York Times) October 23 – Barbara G. Harris, 72, looked her troops in the eye. Staring out at mohawks on one side of the room, salt-white bobs on the other, she said in her delicately firm way: “Hold your ground. You have every right to stand there, and if anyone tells you differently, tell [...]