Woo Hoo! Rafah Border Reopened

This actually happened a little while ago but I heard a report reminding me of it yesterday. It's particularly gratifying to hear since I spent a few days in Rafah while volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement.

The man who eventually agreed to let my affinity group stay over in his house and take turns listening for tanks (as described in an earlier post) took us within a few hundred feet of the border. He cautioned us not to step out from behind the building for fear the guards in the tower would shoot at us, so instead I peered at the no man's land through my camera. Our host-to-be also commented bitterly on how the "peace" agreement between Egypt and Israel had created this oppressive situation, where previously people could move freely.

I should email my friend Emad, whom I also met in Rafah and who put up me and Joe Bailey the night before (IIRC), to share my happiness about this turn of events.

I just left Sen. Rand Paul a message thanking him for his efforts to counter the so-called Patriot Act's infringements on our liberties.

An Independent Candidate for City Commissioner

This past Thursday evening, the Green Party of Philadelphia voted unanimously to nominate Richie Antipuna as their candidate for City Commissioner. Richie has been an activist based in the Kensington area for some time; his cable TV show brought attention to the "Kensington Strangler" killings before authorities or other media were taking them seriously, to name just one of the community issues he's worked on. He now has a network of supporters based in all parts of the city and elsewhere. I look forward to helping elect him.

It should not be hard to stir up interest in his campaign in my new neighborhood of Germantown, as many feel that the outgoing district councilwoman, Donna Reed Miller, engaged in a lot of electoral dirty tricks. The City Commissioners' job is to ensure that elections are run fairly, so having someone independent in that office would revive confidence in the electoral process.

You can view Richie's show at http://blip.tv/the-richie-antipuna-show

Starting on a New Diet

The other day I started trying to practice a calorie restriction (CR) diet. The point of this is not to lose weight (I'm not currently overweight or not by much anyway), but to increase one's likely longevity and overall state of health by keeping fasting blood glucose levels low. Too soon to see results (I haven't gotten a glucose meter yet), but the striking thing is how different the same physical sensation can seem depending on one's attitude toward it. Previously hunger would tend to make me anxious, based on a supposition that it's evidence of a condition threatening to my well-being. But now that I understand moderate hunger is actually a sign of a healthful condition, it rarely disturbs me at all.

Call to Stop War Spending!

This courtesy of USLAW (US Labor Against the War):

This week, the House is expected to debate and vote on the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) - the bill authorizing spending $553 billion for the Pentagon and another $118 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It is time we brought our troops home from Afghanistan and stopped wasting billions of dollars we need at home. The last thing Congress should be doing is authorizing endless war, but that's exactly what the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act does.

Call Congress today, using this toll free number 1-888-231-9276*. The calls started yesterday, and we want to keep pressure on Congress until the vote which is expected on Thursday.

Out Candidate Almost Wins, World Almost Ends

OK, the latter is an exaggeration. But Sherrie Cohen, whom I helped get on the primary ballot and then did phonebanking and leafleting for in the last days of the campaign, was first runner-up in Philadelphia's City Councillor-at-large race, falling just 1600 votes shy of winning a seat. And it was her first run for office. Not bad!

I also made myself a new reusable placard to show the End Timers leafleting on May 20. Unfortunately I only found one of them, but the sign evoked favorable comments from others and sparked a good conversation on the subway ride home. Among the slogans were "It's never too late to kick the faith habit" and "Reality speaks to us through our senses and NO WISE ELSE."

Sorry for Being a Stranger

It's been a while since I posted much here, on account of my no longer having Internet access from home, and being preoccupied with matters related to my having to move.

I'm not wired from my new home yet, but now that the move is accomplished I hope to post more regularly again.