SOME JUSTICE TAKES ITS OWN TIME

US fines Israeli agent in spy case
Ben-Ami Kadish was spared
a prison sentence[Reuters]

"A US court has fined an 85-year-old former army engineer $50,000 after he admitted passing classified documents to Israel.

Ben-Ami Kadish apologised on Friday, after pleading guilty in December to acting as an unregistered agent of Israel during the 1970s and 80s.

"It was a mistake. It was a misjudgment," he said during sentencing at the court in New York.

"I thought I was helping the state of Israel without harming the United States," he said.

Prosecutors had recommended Kadish be spared a prison sentence.

But US District Judge William Pauley raised questions over why the authorities had waited so long to bring charges.

"Why it took the government 23 years to charge Mr. Kadish is shrouded in mystery," Pauley said.

"It is clear the (US) government could have charged Mr. Kadish with far more serious crimes."

Kadish reported to Israeli agent Yosef Yagur, who has been linked in court documents to the case of Jonathan Pollard, a US citizen who is serving a life sentence for a 1985 charge of spying for Israel."

While I am sympathetic to the need to keep the Israelis as American allies, this article brings to question where allegiances have lain over the years. With all humanitarian intent, it has been wrong to deprive the Palestinian people of a spot of land to call their own. It is difficult for me to watch the rages and battling when the devastation it brings to each generation is unacceptable. A generation of children are being brought up with hatred, vengeance and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder)as they fight for life and some understanding as to why the world is being so cruel to them.

The mid-East has so many personal, political and hidden agendas amidst the pretended overt hypocritically, rational ones. What yet unborn generation will see the world in a more friendly, peaceful state? will it even be on our planet?

SONIA SOTOMAYOR

History has proven that there have been some great leaders of movements. However, when the leader goes, so often does the movement. Leaders are creative; followers are not. There have been some great Republican leaders. Unfortunately, there are none at this time. Rove led in the dirty tricks department and got his man into office. Those debasing lies about people shown on TV screens doesn't work any longer. There is just too much ability to pull up video to prove the lies too quickly now. The technique will only work with the few whose minds couldn't be changed with their eyes viewing reality.

From Washington Diary: Justice Sotomayor we read: "Presidents serve for eight at years at most. The nine justices serve for life, should they wish to. By placing someone on the bench, a commander-in-chief can try to make his influence felt well beyond his time in office."

Her greatest detractors are the uneducated bullies who fear intelligent, assertive women. On May 4th, an article in the New Republic states the case, in my mind, as to why she is an excellent selection. Another article in the New Republic on 5/27 gives a more complete picture of Sotomayor. The article is titled A Boring Bench?

Will we allow the xenophobic and misogynists to push her out? I certainly hope not. She may prove the country a winner rather than either party....if we will just give her the chance.

ROBOT REAL

Robotics is getting more and more interesting and efficient. It is like learning a new language in some ways, a language of movement.

"Researchers predict that one day, robotic companions will work, or assist humans in space, care and education. ... Peter Jaeckel, who works in artificial emotion, artificial empathy and humanoids at BRL, said: 'Realistic, life-like robot appearance is crucial for sophisticated face-to-face robot-human interaction.' "

Who knows, even the blow-up doll may come to real life after all!

THE SUPREME COURT NOMINATION IS FINALLY MADE

Obama chooses a Supreme Court nominee...a woman and a Latino with an impressive background which suggests she is most suitable for the Supreme Court.

At last a decision is made. Amusingly, the Republicans have commented less on her suitability, but rather whether they will lose the Latino vote if they actively oppose her. "Many conservatives came out fiercely against Ms. Sotomayor as soon her name was announced, denouncing her as liberal and promising Mr. Obama a tough nomination fight."

Needless to say, the reaction by the Conservatives to her nomination makes it all the more apparent that they are not at all interested in the good for the country, but rather, whether they will will the political power struggle for total control

She worked as a prosecutor in New York before becoming a judge and later an appeals judge on the Second Circuit, covering New York and neighbouring states.

"Mr Obama highlighted the fact that she would be the only member of the Supreme Court to have had experience as a trial lawyer." was written in an article from the Scotsman. "However, her appointment will not change the political balance of the court, which is conservative, as she replaces another liberal, Judge David Souter, leaving the court with five conservatives and four liberals.

More intriguing is that she would bring to six the number of Catholics serving on the court, along with two Jewish members and one Protestant, possibly impacting on decisions on issues including abortion and gay marriage."

Stay tuned to watch and hear how this Catholic, "too liberal", Supreme Judicial Court nominee will handle her religion with the Constitutional demand that there be a separation of Church and State.

YOU CAN'T AND EAT AND STAY HEALTHY TODAY

What else must we eliminate from our ingestions? A new article states: "Bisphenol A has been shown to interfere with reproductive development in animals and has been tied to serious disease in humans."
"Scientists have demonstrated for the first time that polycarbonate containers release the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) into liquid stored in them.

BPA has been shown to interfere with reproductive development in animals and has been linked with cardiovascular disease and diabetes in humans."

As nearly as I can figure, there is nothing that is good for you, not even bread and water. If the bread is from white flour it is without nourishment and will hurry you along to obesity and diabetes and cause all the difficulties and discomfort of too much yeast. It may contain pesticide residues. The water may have come from a tainted water source or have chemicals put in it to purify which might be toxic to us though someone who could be wrong has decided it isn't. Now we are told, if we buy water, the plastic bottles it comes in will make us ill. We should also believe that much of the water we buy as pure spring water may not be. It may come out of a tap and be no different than the water our utilities supply us.

As someone who discovered my sensitivity to MSG (I get hives from it), I did a Google search on foods to avoid. The results were terrifying. I may never eat again! Certainly I should avoid all food I have not personally grown in my organic garden...that is, if I could have an organic garden. It would also require cooking, which I sometimes avoid equally as MSG. Since I neither wish to be fatter nor scratch myself to death, I am very careful about reading labels. I pull out a magnifying glass, read labels carefully, and later discover that I will have to spend hours looking up chemical names. I scratched for a very long time, thinking I had not had MSG, only to find that autolyzed yeast is the equivalent. Learning that Parmesan cheese is 1% MSG by weight was startling. At the end of a day, a little of this and a little of that adds up just like calories do to too much.

Even gnawing at the woodwork is no longer a choice. I may be ingesting lead paint particles! There is no hope, alas!!!

NEW LAWS

A new law was passed, signed by President Obama, to make the credit card companies more responsible to their subscriber's and borrowers. The sad part of it all is that the need for new letters, documents, forms, etc is still present and likely to continue for a fairly long time. In fact, it is unlikely that there will be much relief to the consumer in less than a year.

Euthanasia has always provided man a problem. We are kinder to animals than to people. When it is clear that continued living will soon lead a long, painful route to death after the worst possible quality of life, we have had this route forced on everyone for religious beliefs that are far from universal among us.

Oregon, a progressive state in their handling of medical expenditure priorities and offering euthanasia with legal support. The state of Washington has now had their first assisted suicide.

"Buried in a housing law signed this week by President Barack Obama are protections that will help thousands of renters stay in their homes — at least for awhile — after their landlord has been foreclosed on.

The law allows tenants to remain in their foreclosed rentals through the end of their lease and then 90 days after that before being forced to vacate by the lender. Renters without leases will have 90 days, a significant improvement over what most received before: almost no notice at all."

National Parks will allow visitors to carry a concealed, loaded firearm. The law will take effect next February. It is a grave disappointment to those of us who feel that those with neither need for that kind of self-protection not opportunity to harm others is necessary.