The speaker has lived the life in the Middle East. Born and raised in Lebanon, she knows and tells the real story of how life changed in her country after Arafat and his Palestinian Liberation Organization settled there and began their rule of terror.

Although the sponsoring organization for this speech in the video below, the Heritage Foundation, appears to be an organization with whom I (and I imagine most if not all readers of OpEd News) will have political disagreements, Gabriel tells a compelling story any open minded critical thinker should hear.

I have become familiar with the inexplicable reaction of intolerance and closemindedness of many in the "Progressive" movement, who refuse to even read or listen to differing perspectives.

If this was not so destructive (and Regressive), I would find it amusing that people who define themselves as "Progressive" are so inclined to censorship and single viewpoint propaganda. For that is, in fact, the definition of propaganda: the presentation of a single and biased point of view to the exclusion of other viewpoints that would enable and require critical thinking and analysis.

And it is this virulent unwillingness to hear differing perspectives that keeps the Progressive movement from winning important political battles. It bespeaks a lack of the kind of critical and strategic thinking, and the ability to perceive and consider the Big Picture, that is required to succeed in difficult and challenging power struggles.

So - in the hopes that most readers are interested, intelligent, thinking people, I post this different perspective.

Here is a speech where you can hear Ms. Gabriel's story.

Here is an interview at Duke University with Ms. Gabriel.

According to Wikipedia: Brigitte Gabriel (born 1965) is a human rights advocate, journalist, author and activist. She is the founder of the American Congress For Truth and ACT! for America.

According to Gabriel's website, her mission is to:

• Keep citizens informed through action alerts, issues and legislation

• Educate millions of citizens about our enemy, and what they can and must do to protect themselves and their country

• Arm activists with information to get involved and take action

• Motivate citizens to become active in decisions affecting national security and the American way of life

• Network organizations with like-minded goals to bring change

• Empower citizens to have a voice in their government

• Fearlessly speak out in defense of America, Israel and Western civilization

Gabriel was born in Lebanon and raised as a Christian. She is a favorite among conservative radio stations in the United States.

Nancy Tobi is cofounder, former Chair, website editor for Democracy for New Hampshire (DFNH), and Chair of the NH Fair Elections Committee. Nancy is the author of numerous articles on election integrity, including "The Gifts of HAVA: Time to Ask for a Refund," "What's Wrong with the Holt Bill," "We're Counting the Votes: An Election Preparedness Kit," and "Hands-on Elections: An Information Handbook for Running Real Elections, Using Real Paper Ballots, Counted by Real People". Her article about election reform fallacies is included in the April 2008 book "Losers Take All" edited by Mark Crispin Miller. . . read more

‘Oh my god!...’ you might say (unless of course such an epithet should alternatively be expressed as “Oh my not-god’!) ‘…what is the world coming to when the very essence of what it means to be a human being is available only in scripture or its designated alternative?’

What about the amazing idea that ethics is implicit everywhere? In the way we teach science, maths, English, geography – even Boolean algebra - woodwork, design, physics and Italian.

Every communication we make to each other reflects a world view – and every world view communicates how we think we should live our lives.  . . read more

Reviewing the false claims of religion, I do not wish, as some sentimental materialists affect to wish, that they were true. I do not envy believers their faith. I am relieved to think that the whole story is a sinister fairy tale; life would be miserable if what the faithful affirmed was actually the case. . . read more

Shivaratri came on Monday, and I spent the day fasting and praying to the god of destruction, Shiva. Many have asked me what the point is of praying of all things to a god of destruction. What's wrong with you? Don't you like creation?

Yes. I like creation very much, maybe too much. Gods and goddesses of destruction have been worshiped for the longest time, and one may pause to wonder why in the world one would be. It is a given that in the natural universe there is a cycle of creation, and then a cycle of destruction. In the spring, the flowers come back. The fields bloom, and butterflies fill the air. The trees become green, and birds lay their eggs. Creation is building to a crescendo only to begin dying away in the fall. Nature is full of such lessons. Forests become too dense, and then fires engulf them in flames. Bunny rabbits produce too many bunnies, and foxes have lots of nice bunny dinners. Through the eons ice ages have come and gone bringing destruction of whole species with it. After the retreat of the ice age, new species come into existence. Scientists tell us that suns build up and then they too eventually die away. Some become black holes. Our universe started with a big blast, and will someday fall back in on itself.

As the Lord Buddha said, "The only thing that stays the same is that fact that all things change."

He also realized that as in Nature our lives have an ebb and flow. In life there will be a springtime and a fall. It is better to accept the changes that will occur than fight against them. Do not become too attached to the springtime, and do not become too aggrieved in the fall time. The cycles have their purpose, and they don't care too much for our petty desires. Sometimes the weeds need to be burned to clear the farm, and sometimes, tired old ideas need to be dropped.

While participating in this cycle of clearing, we need to look within to find what attachments we have that needs clearing as well. Sometimes we hold on to things, ideas, ways of doing things that are really not beneficial. We hold onto these things even though the hanging on is destroying us. It is like clinging to a boiling pot of water even though our hands are being burned. The cycle of destruction (Shiva) reminds us to let go of such things. The old crops have been harvested and let's make way for the new one.

In these dark times, it is easy to become so transfixed by the headlights that we forget to move out of the way before being run over. This too is a time of destruction. It is a time when old ways of doing things become outmoded. We need to look within as we go through these dark times to see what it is that we too need to let go of. What have we been clinging to needs to be released. It is a time of great change, and people mostly do not like change. It can be painful, but it is an opportunity to cut deeply into the rot to clean it out. It is a time to fully purge the stench. Yes. We cling to the old, the worn-out, and it is painful to let go.

The Chandi Path and the Book of Job tell us that it is during these dark times that we look within so deeply that the attachments are completely cleared. If we finished the book of Job, he would have sat down and prayed or meditated. He would have seen that god did not hate him, but it was simply a cycle of destruction. He would have realized that he is, as much a part of nature as flowers are, and he would have realized that god did not mean any personal harm to him, just like the winter has nothing against the daisies that bloom in summer. He is hurting, because he can't let go. Shiva clears these attachments that we have and helps us let go for a higher purpose. We stop holding onto the boiling pot. We let go of things we had no control over. Instead of hating god and hating other people, we just let go, and see the cycle for what it is. We can keep rotating on that big wheel being hurt every time the destructive cycle comes into play or we can step off the wheel and calmly see it for what it is.

Shiva is also seen as the god who leads us to enlightenment; the old ascetic who must lead us up the most difficult piece of the mountain. Jai Shiva!

You can read more from Starla at her blog, Shankari Kali

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Chinese occupation of Tibet. It also marks 50 year of systematic and brutal genocide of the Tibetan people and their culture by the Chinese government. It marks 50 years of exile and generations of Tibetans born disenheartened and disenfranchised

from their homeland. It marks 50 years of the ecological rape of Tibet which was previously a pristine environment. And it marks 50 years of ineffectual political apathy from the rest of the world despite 'crowning' Dalai Lama as a major world identity.

And from every nation on this planet which regards itself as a democracy it marks 50 years of our fellow human beings being censored and imprisoned for something as simple as holding a picture of Tenzin Gyatso - the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet. How can that be considered a crime?

Tibetans are not perfect people - they are not some mythical creatures from Shang-Ri-La. Within their society there is all the nasty paraphernalia of humankind but also all its wonder and courage. And I think they have suffered for not being seen as flesh and blood people like all of us. The West has embraced the Dalai Lama as some sort of post modern icon and adopted Tibetan Buddhism with incredible spiritual fervour and I was particularly rankled by an attitude suggested to me by some American academics who also classify themselves as Buddhists - that Tibetans had to lose Tibet so that the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Buddhism could be brought to the rest of the world - I personally find that to be spiritual imperialism and colonialism. How can it be justified that that the Tibetan people have to suffer geonocide, torture, rape and repression to this very day to satisfy the bleating spiritual yearnings of the western world.

I am not a Buddhist - but I love my Tibetan community here. I love them for what they are with all their faults and frailty and also indomitable strength. Just as they love me.

And the only thing which I am 'enlightened' about - that I am 100% sure of is that the Tibetan people deserve their country back.

So on March 10th, these people who have been in exile for 50 years will get up early as they always do and look to the astounding, soaring beauty of the Himalaya thinking my country,my home, heart and soul are somewhere in the weeping earth of Tibet - just over those mountains - and they will still be holding the hope that there will be one spectacular,shining ,brazen dawn when exile is over and they walk back in to be the nuturing, spiritual and political custodians of the roof of the world. For their sakes, for all our sakes - for the sake of the soul of humanity - for the sake of the planet we live on.

What is odd about the fidelity vow is that it flies in the face of good marketing. You can't sell an ideology by making it restrictive in its compass. The Catholic church is particularly good on such social matters as pastoral care and particularly bad on anything to do with contemporary political relevance (street cred, if you like). Sounds to us that George and his boys need a new advertising agency PDQ.  . . read more