The World is Watching as the Dutch Decide Whether to Remain in Afghanistan

There was a huge upset in the Netherlands this past week, as the Dutch coalition government announced they will be holding early elections because they are unable to come to a unanimous decision on whether to keep 1,600 Dutch troops in Afghanistan past the Autumn 2010 pull-out schedule. Apparently, the Christian Democratic Party and the Christian Unity party are willing to agree with NATO that an extension of troops is needed because they are not convinced that the region will remain stable, and feel it is too early to pull out. However, the Labour Party does not see any importance in maintaining a Dutch presence in the region past the schedule agreed upon three years ago.

The Netherlands is still reeling from the unexpected, very quick downfall of the government over this issue. "What's shameful is that the government unity was unilaterally broken last week," said Jack de Vries, Christian Democratic Deputy Defense Minister. Without using so many words, he is blaming the Labour Party for refusing to compromise on the issue, and come to an agreement with his party. Public opinion on the Afghanistan issue is yet to be seen, but there is clearly a division about where the Dutch will stand. Local council elections are set to begin in two weeks.

Oprah Keeping Harpo in Chicago with Nate Berkus Show?

The buzz on some internet blogs is that Oprah may be working to keep Harpo in Chicago, by giving her friend and consistent guest on her show, designer Nate Berkus, his own talk show. Although, it looks like she will be giving the show to NBC instead of her native ABC network.

The reason for the commotion is that Harpo Studios has posted a whole bunch of help-wanted ads online at indeed.com for...basically...all the positions needed to launch a new show: senior producer, producer, associate producer, travel booker, etc, all listed under Harpo Studios, on The Nate Berkus Show (working title). Clearly, something is brewing! Does Nate have the star power to be the next Oprah?

Acupuncture

Sticking needles into "pressure points" would not be my idea of relaxation. And yet, I was up early Saturday morning to go to a spa that offers the service, just so I could see if it would work - as they say, you don't know what you're missing until you try.

I had lots of questions - Would it hurt? Where do the little needles go? How long does it take? What does it feel like?

There were no special instructions given when I made the appointment so I had no idea what to expect. But I wasn't nervous. The spa smelled like aromatherapy and incense. The receptionist spoke softly and slowly, reminding me of some hippies I met in Iowa a while ago, offering us tea and organic snacks. The acupuncturist took me into her office, a small room with a desk, a dim lamp and a doctor's table covered with a soft cloth, she asked me a few questions about how I feel about my health and life in general, what I do for a living, etc. Then she gave me a gown to change into and left.

When she came back, she told me to hold out my arms straight, then she moved the fingertips of one of my hands to different places (my head, my stomach, my heart) and she pressed down on my other outstretched arm, saying "resist me". She moved my fingertips to a few different places and explained that my energy around the area where my one hand was would affect my ability to resist the pressure she was putting on my other arm. Her results happened to be very similar to the areas I mentioned during the Q&A. Then she noted a few things she was going to focus on like stress and focus, and told me to lay down. It was at this point that I got really nervous.

She would feel out a point like the top of my head, then tell me what it represented, then tap in the tip of the needle. After a few she asked if the effects were "too much," which made me think there would be some massive influx or outflux (?) of energy that would bombard me. That never happened. Sometimes I couldn't even feel her putting in the needles, sometimes it felt like I was getting a shot at the doctor's office. She put one on the bottom of my inside elbow. Which made it impossible to put my arm down without shoving it in further, but there was no where to put my arms, so they just hung there. That part was uncomfortable. I felt the ones she put in my hands, they hurt, as did the ones in my feet. But the rest I didn't really feel.

Then she left me there and asked if I wanted the lights off. Hell no. I don't want to sit in the dark covered in needles I can't see. I asked her where my mind was meant to go and she replied that I should envision a world where there was no money, and I was free to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted - what would that life look like?

So I did. And did some more. And more. After what felt like forever (40 mins) she came back and started to pluck out the needles. There seemed to be more coming out than went in. She asked if she had forgotten any. I was really hoping she was joking. She wasn't. So I had to feel around to make sure I wasn't going to stab myself with a stray needle. Then she noticed one of the points had started to bleed, which freaked me out because these are supposed to be very superficial pricks. She said some acupuncturists (some - i.e. not her) say that happens when more energy needs to be released from a specific area. Maybe it was because she put it in too far. Just saying.

But I did feel a bit light-headed and much calmer when I left. As far as the stress issue went, it was definitely relaxing, but that might be because I spent 40 mins dreaming about my mansion in Ireland. As far as everything else, I think it was a bit hocus-pocusy. I could just get a massage next time. Although I really enjoyed the adventure of trying something new, and finding a new way to enjoy the spa.

The Madigan Shenanigan

Illinois politics is clearly some of the most corrupt in the nation. We are well aware. In a recent side-by-side comparison with New York state, New York Times columnist Gail Collins concluded that Illinois had the "most awful political culture."

But that doesn't surprise anyone who has had the good fortune of watching the evening news in the Windy City.

The latest debacle (aside from the Scott Lee Cohen disaster (really? withdrawing from the Lieutenant Governor race in a tavern??) and the Betty Lauren-Maltese round-the-clock coverage) was Michael Madigan pulling his political weight to suggest that the Lieutenant Governor position be scrapped all together. At first glance, this suggestion seems almost logical from a man who has not been so logical of late (front page allegations that clients of his law firm benefit from legislation he advocates and pushes through the House of Congress as Dem speaker) but when you dig a bit deeper, (and I mean just a bit, because it's glaringly obvious) you find his motives may be tainted by something other than pure undying love of servitude to the state. If the LG job was done away with then who would be next in line should the Governor be indicted (as has happened twice now), die in office (also twice) or otherwise unable to perform his/her duties? The Attorney General. And who might the Illinois Attorney General be? Lisa Madigan, Michael Madigan's daughter.

Ah. There it is, the corruption we have become so used to that we actively search for it.

Google Buzz

Google is trying to keep up with the current societal demand for social networking. We all need to be connected all the time. Buzz is actually pretty interesting. It takes the best part of Facebook (status updates and picture sharing) and puts it right in your inbox. So you can click on the Buzz button and be INSIDE of your social networking site instantaneously. No new sign-in required. From there, you can see what everyone is talking about/linking to.

Gripes: I don't like that you are automatically following people when you first sign in. I didn't choose to follow my old boss from 5 yrs ago, but clearly omnipotent Google thought I should.

Also don't like: you are not notified when people start following you. It is obviously very important you know who's listening before you say you hate your job or something sensitive.

Also: This is just ANOTHER place to keep track of who you're talking to. It is starting to look like every website is going to include some form of interactive networking. Is cyber-socializing the mandatory new feature of next generation websites?

Sarah Palin, "hands" a $100,000 speech to the Tea Party

Sarah Palin wrote her $100,000 speech notes ON HER HAND. Then she criticized President Obama for using a teleprompter. Keep 'em coming Sarah!

I propose a new word- Palinized: Having inexplicable notions of grandeur; defending hypocrisy with lots of incomprehensible words

Scott Lee Cohen is Out

The Illinois Democratic Lieutenant Governor nominee who has been hounded by scandal since the day after he won the Democratic primaries last week, has stepped down, tearfully.

The next step is for the Democratic Party’s State Central Committee to elect a replacement. The process is, apparently, quite complex. Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ) has a blog that sums up the process pretty well, noting that some things we just do not know yet.

My HuffPo article: Jeff Haas and Bill Ayers discuss new book

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/08/jeff-haas-bill-ayers-disc_n_453332.html


"Back [in the 60's] segregation was normalized so it's easy to say 'If I would have been alive I would have been right there.' But would we have been?" Bill Ayers, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, posed the question Thursday night to a standing room only audience in the back room at Barbara's Bookstore on South Halsted.

Ayers, ironically, was himself a left wing radical and founding member of the controversial group Weather Underground during the Vietnam War. He recently returned to the spotlight as questions arose over his connection to then-presidential-hopeful Barack Obama, nearly costing Obama the election.

Ayers joined a panel of activists at different levels of career revolutionism, to discuss the legacy of Fred Hampton and to promote Jeff Haas' book "The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and Chicago Police Killed a Black Panther." The panel was hosted by Barbara's Bookstore in honor of Black History Month.

Haas' book recounts his personal story of growing up a privileged white man in Atlanta, then coming to Chicago after graduating from law school. He learned of the Black Panther movement as a young lawyer working to get Hampton released from prison. He succeeded, only to have Hampton assassinated on December 4th, 1969, in what he worked for years to prove was the work of Chicago police and the FBI, tracing all the way up to its director, J. Edgar Hoover. Haas co-founded The People's Law Office and worked to uncover the covert and often illegal government program to obtain secret evidence on activists, COINTELPRO.

Ayers was moderator of the panel that included Haas, headliner of the evening; LaDonna Redmond, Chicago community activist and co-founder of Graffiti and Grub; Dr. David Stovall, a University of Illinois at Chicago professor in Educational Policy Studies; and honorary guest Bill Hampton, Fred Hampton's brother.

In his southern drawl, Haas began the discussion by giving a substantial recap of the events leading up to the incident that shocked Americans and enraged civil rights activists over 40 years ago. He read an excerpt of the book describing his visit to a church on Chicago's West side to hear Hampton speak, quoting him:

"If you ever think about me and you ain't gonna do no revolutionary act, forget about me. I don't want myself on your mind if you're not going to work for the people. If you're asked to make a commitment at the age of twenty, and you say I don't want to make a commitment at the age of twenty, only because of the reason that I'm too young to die, I want to live a little longer, then you're dead already."

The panelists discussed the legacy of Fred Hampton, hoping to encourage people to get involved in defending civil rights.

"We are all living in a living history," Redmond said. "If we want peace, don't ask what Obama did, ask what you did."

Afterward, Haas signed copies of his book and signed mine:

"Tell truth for power. Keep the struggle for justice alive."