15 neighborhoods in Baltimore have a lower life expectancy than North Korea

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/03/1381214/-The-most-racist-areas-in-the-United-States?detail=facebook_sf

Student Hillel chief at Pennsylvania college resigns over censorship of civil rights veterans

http://electronicintifada.net/content/hillel-chief-pennsylvania-college-resigns-over-censorship-civil-rights-veterans/14391

***** Ethiopian-Israelis' protest against police violence is met with police violence Police use stun grenades, violence against protest in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square, sparked by video of two officers beating a black Israeli soldier.

http://972mag.com/ethiopian-israelis-protest-against-police-violence-is-met-with-police-violence/106280/

Israeli forces wound 4 Palestinian journalists

http://www.daysofpalestine.com/news/israeli-forces-wound-4-palestinian-journalists/

Palestinian resistance faction ‪#‎Hamas‬ on Sunday said it is ready to compete in the parliamentary and presidential elections and accused President Mahmoud ‪#‎Abbas‬ of hampering its conduct

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/18412-hamas-fires-back-at-abbas-says-ready-for-elections

Israel and the coalition of oppressors

http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/coalition-oppressors-1378786532

Eyewitness debunks claim of “attack” on Paris Jews by BDS activists

http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/eyewitness-debunks-claim-attack-paris-jews-bds-activists

SPDF Day 52-10: Full effort is full success, said Gandhi. The difference between the current outlook, future as hell, & a future worth living, is whether or not .......

Full effort is full success, said Gandhi. The difference between the current outlook, future as hell, & a future worth living, is whether or not 1, 2, 4, 8... people like you begin to truly live that out as did Gandhi, as did Martin Luther King jr., as did hundreds or thousands of '60's civil rights activists, as does Malala.... Currently, the epitaph on the human species will read millions paid lip service to full commitment and devotion, and virtually no one actually lived it. I judge no person. But I judge behavior, starting with my own, and unless and until we hold ourselves to the standard of the likes of Gandhi, King, Malala... There is no hope. When some of us do, & I would have no way of knowing whether you are, or are not, then we begin to create the possibility of some hope. Be well friend

***** SPDF. Day 52-10: Jimmy Carter calls situation in Gaza 'intolerable' eight months after warFormer US president, in Jerusalem with former Norwegian prime minister, says residents ‘cannot live with the respect and dignity they deserve’jimmy carter

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/02/jimmy-carter-gaza-israel-jerusalem

***** SPDF Day 52 minus 10: URGENT - FIGHT OBAMA'S PROPOSED TPP LEGISLATION.VID 2MIN. ROBERT REICH.

SPDF Day 52 minus 10: Hunger strike is most dangerous once food intake is attempted.As I have experienced and......

SPDF Day 52 minus 10: Hunger strike is most dangerous once food intake is attempted.

As I have experienced and said for almost a decade now, the long hunger strike is most dangerous once food intake begins. This is always the case, and in my personal experience, by far the most clear, in this 52 day fast.

Part of the reason that returning to the world of food is so particularly dangerous for me at this time is that it comes after 3 years of surgeries and chemo fighting cancer. But, never the less even on my hunger strikes before the cancer, that the time of reentry is the most dangerous time, was true.

Since the beginning of this Stop Palestines Death Fast I have gone from 175 pounds down to now 145 pounds. Four of those pounds lost since I began attempting to consume food 1 week ago Thursday afternoon, 10 days ago now. 

Remember this when you gain the courage and sanity, the humanity, to realize that you value the well being of others more than you value your own life... to be yearning to use this Death Fast weapon yourself, for the future of every one that you care about. The body, when switching from consuming itself for food to consuming external calories, is the most dangerous, the most tiring, and in some ways the most difficult part of the hunger strike.

This Sunday morning is my second day here at Georgetown University Hospital. They are keeping me here with this NG tube sucking what little body fluids enter my stomach for several reasons: 1, watching to see if emergency surgery is required, 2, hoping that by taking several days using this tube to fully decompress' my intestines that what was a full bowel obstruction may completely resolve without the need for surgery. 3, they prefer to not do surgery on weekends.

Friday evening is when they inserted the tube; within one hundred and twenty seconds almost 2 liters of fluid gushed out, and for the first time in, well, the first of now four obstruction episodes, that lasted for 2 hours beginning the prior Saturday morning, my stomach began to stop aching, and to be without the large distention, and to feel fairly normal.

My stomach continues to feel normal and to be without the distention. Unfortunately, now the pain is in my throat because of this NG tube. The pain meds that occasionally I accept from them barely touch the pain of swallowing which otherwise is an 8 or a 9.

Of the four extreme pain episodes that began last Saturday morning at 1:30 a.m., it is unclear to me and to the surgical team here whether they were four distinct obstruction episodes, or whether they were one episode of partial blockage that never fully resolved and finally became a 13 hour complete blockage. The reason that matters is because if we knew, it would inform whether surgery early next week is the best option. 

In my view, & I think that they concur, if it was four distinct episodes that each began within 18 hours of me attempting to take food, each time, then that would suggest that surgery now to remove the causal scar tissue is in order. If, however, it was one long episode that never fully resolved, then this 2 or 3 day reset, taking all pressure off of the intestines through the use of this NG tube, then that would suggest to forego surgery at this moment and see if I can return to a normal eating pattern without surgery. I suspect that that decision will be made by us today or tomorrow.

There may be hospitals in the country or the world that are as good as Georgetown (GUH), but I seriously question whether there are any that are superior. This Is an extremely competent kind, professional staff from the people in housekeeping, the technicians that continually take my vital signs and blood, the people that wheel me around the hospital for tests, of course the nurses, and the doctors, although at least one of the surgeons has the bedside manner of a stone. GUH is a testament to how entirely possible it is for a large group of people to live and maintain extreme humanity and caring. It is a miraculous blessing to my attempts to live the life we are all created to live, 1 completely committed to serving the neediest of humanity, as pitiful, and totally impotent, as my attempts obviously are. With whatever time I have left I expect to continue to miserably fail in my attempts, and to never ever fail to make the attempt. Full effort is full success, the only full success, there is none other, as Gandhi rightly said.

Thank goodness I had the presence of mind to grab my 7 inch tablet and a charger as I hobbled to the health care clinic after the first seven hours of this fourth episode on Friday, where they kindly called an ambulance for me and sent me off to the hospital. as a consequence, when I am NOT sleeping, or too distracted by pain, I can at least be fighting for my tormented, terrorized, tortured family in Palestine, online.

***** SPPDF Day. 52-10: Carter says Hamas leader committed to peace, Netanyahu notEx-president doesn’t meet PM, says it would be a ‘waste of time'; claims Mashaal is ‘not a terrorist’ and ‘strongly in favor of peace process’

http://www.timesofisrael.com/carter-says-hamas-leader-committed-to-peace-netanyahu-not/

The Silencing of Dorothy Thompson by the Zionist Crime Mob

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tIKJhs8IWyk

Seven-year-old boy is arrested in East Jerusalem, interrogated for hours, released at 3 AM

http://mondoweiss.net/2015/05/jerusalem-interrogated-released?utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_content=55450a1f04d3013e22000001&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

***** "Journalists have more freedom to report, but in general, the readership and audiences do not want to know what their governments are doing and what their peers are causing," she said.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1505/S00021/haaretz-journalist-warns-of-growing-dangers-for-news-media.htm

SPDF Day 52-9: chris hedges: is reals assault on casa is about ethniccleansing, and nothing else

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MDOZXK6pf0Q

***** Finkelstein, Gandhi: Violence Against Disproportionate Aggression Is Not Violence

http://www.countercurrents.org/barsocchini300415B.htm

SPDIF day 52 - 8: awaiting words from the surgeons .....

SPDIF day 52 - 8: awaiting words from the surgeons in the emergency room. the cat scan shows a full bowel obstruction. after 13 hours of extreme pain they have inserted an NG tube to drain my stomach. 'That is the fastest I have ever seen a stomach empty,' the emergency room nurse said. This large container is what came out in the first 90 seconds. 20 percent more has come out so far.

I am in the Washington Hospital Center, run by the same MedStar that runs Georgetown that has done most of my surgery. The surgeon here recommends, & I concur, that if they have a bed it makes sense to transfer me to Georgetown so that the surgeon that did my original work can do this work as well. Otherwise if they do surgery it will happen here. 

It seems that they will watch to see if the bowel obstruction, a kink, resolves itself. There is a preference to avoid surgery because more surgery creates more opportunity for scar tissue to create this problem again. But they share my view that this is the fifth occurrence in the last 7 days, and I had several episodes before the hunger strike but not as acute as these more recent episodes.

The thought of having this the sword of Damocles hanging over my life is pretty unpleasant. So I lean toward surgery, but I will rely on the advice, any strong advice, of the surgeons.

My Dr, a very competent young man shares my suspicion that 52 days without food created the conditions for my pre existing scar tissue from earlier operations to expand. I have no regrets. None. I was preferring to be able to pay the full price of my life to save even one Palestinian. To my horror I discovered that no one cares. Yes, no one cares. The price of this incident now, the last 13 hours of pain, and many such incidents in the future, I have no regrets. I am aware of no personal price I would not pay to save even one Palestinian....
  10 p.m. update: will be transferred tonight to Georgetown University Hospital, the site of most of my cancer surgery. No final word on whether a will watch me or perform surgery.

Back in the emergency room. Extreme pain since 7 this morning. 12 hours now. My hunch.....

Back in the emergency room. Extreme pain since 7 this morning. 12 hours now. My hunch is that 52 days without food allowed the scar tissue from my cancer operations to lay traps around my intestines causing obstruction. Awaiting results from the CT scan an hour ago.

***** must read. Must read. Must read. In Baltimore violent protests are correct.

http://www.salon.com/2015/04/28/baltimores_violent_protesters_are_right_smashing_police_cars_is_a_legitimate_political_strategy/

Gallery: Seattle teens make solar powered tiny homes for area homeless

http://inhabitat.com/seattle-teens-make-solar-powered-tiny-homes-for-area-homeless/sawhorse-revolution-impossible-city1/?extend=1

***** A damning new report claims that the American Psychological Association collaborated directly with the Bush administration to bolster its ethical and legal justifications for America's torture program.

A damning new report claims that the American Psychological Association collaborated directly with the Bush administration to bolster its ethical and legal justifications for America's torture program.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/07/first-do-harm

***** SPDF Day 52-7: The Average Hipster Employs 27 Slaves Each Day.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/29/hipsters-free-slaves_n_7172402.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

***** the problem is really structural, the [Democratic Party's] turn towards neoliberalism. Still, the Clintons are very important early architects of that — both of them, together. Hillary was very much a part of it; and this is the Democratic Party they’ve created.

http://www.salon.com/2015/04/30/the_personification_of_neoliberalism_doug_henwood_explains_why_hes_still_not_ready_for_hillary/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

Religious Zionism: Neither Zionist nor religious Denouncing a peace seeker as a traitor is just the latest example of faux-religious messianics hitching a ride on Judaism.

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.654193

Nov '14: In the most sensitive period of our history Netanyahu and Likud (anti-Zionists) are trying to turn us into an inseparable part of a tribal, nationalist, messianic, violent region.

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.628660

SPDF Day 52-7: Released from ER and Hospital this afternoon.... more

SPDF Day 52-7:  Released from ER and Hospital this afternoon.

Admitted to ER at Howard University (I survived) 7am after sitting on the toilet floor since midnight pouring sweat, shaking in stomach pain.  Finally called the ambulance.

Diagnosis, twisted, obstructed, small intestine.  The only comment on me going to the ER was, 'WHY DID YOU WAIT FOR 6 HOURS TO CALL US???? DON'T DO THAT AGAIN.'  I won't.

Cause?  The senior surgeon who admitted me and attended me each day, surrounded by his gaggle of interns, at mid day today, when I asked, 'What did I do to bring this on?,' thinking it was what I ate, how I ate, the 52 day fast... he said, 'No, it was nothing you did, and you have no restrictions now.  It is all the cancer surgery in your abdomen.  It unavoidably causes scarring, and this often, frequently, usually(?) sets up the condition for such small intestine obstructions as I had.

My SAINT of a primary care doc, devoted to we homeless, saw me when I returned from the hospital, and has called my cancer team to find out if they want the surgeon that did the liver section to see what is going on?  And, she wants me to get the colonoscopy they've been trying to get me to schedule, which I will.

For now, tho I've been given no restrictions, I'm trying to avoid eating any C.R.A.P. (Carbonated, Refined Shugars, Artificial sweeteners or colorings, Processed) (the Farmers Market is open with subsidies for we economically poor), chew vvveeerrrryyyy carefully, watch portion size, hydrate.

I'm taking some gut-beast-feeding farmers market sauerkraut each day, and Greek Yogurt for the gut as well (sorry sister cows) :-(  . 

Tho the extreme pain has subsided, the nature of the pain and feeling of vulnerability has not.  Feels pretty wounded, and vulnerable.  I'll see what happens.  They emphasized I need to be ready at short notice to back to the hospital.

I needed to be on Captal $$$ Hill with the Free Palestine Vigil this week... that didn't happen.  Whether I can get to the White House Sat and Sun... I pray so... will have to see what my body says.  Pretty messed up.  Of course, I'll make every second count for Palestine, on line, that I can, regardless.

SEE IT: Los Angeles man builds tiny house for homeless woman, plans more of them

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/los-angeles-man-builds-tiny-house-homeless-woman-article-1.2204641

Jon Stewart and his wife bought a farm, plan to create an animal sanctuary

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/30/1381442/-Jon-Stewart-and-his-wife-bought-a-farm-plan-to-create-an-animal-sanctuary?detail=facebook_sf

Israelis Are Surprisingly United About Which US President Has Helped Their Nation the Least

http://www.ijreview.com/2015/04/309119-israelis-surprisingly-united-u-s-president-helped-nation-least/

The Wire's David Simon has a solution to Baltimore's problems: 'End the f***ing drug war'

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-wires-david-simon-has-a-solution-to-baltimores-problems-end-the-fing-drug-war-2015-4

SPDF Day 52-7: National park zoning used as pretext for ethnic cleansing of East Jerusalem

http://electronicintifada.net/content/national-park-zoning-used-pretext-ethnic-cleansing-east-jerusalem/14476

For the American right, Israel embodies the values that Obama’s U.S. no longer does By Peter Beinart

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.654191

SPDF Day 52-6: Neil deGrasse Tyson: I think our extinction is assured, unless we have a more enlightened approach to our relationship with Earth.

http://www.vox.com/2015/4/28/8489725/neil-degrasse-tyson

Colombian Journalist Wins Courage Award After Kidnapping, Torture and Rape While Covering Arms Trade

http://m.democracynow.org/stories/15180

***** A high school English teacher quit her job to run a food truck. But this isn't an ordinary one.

http://www.upworthy.com/a-high-school-english-teacher-quit-her-job-to-run-a-food-truck-but-this-isnt-an-ordinary-one?c=ufb1

Obama’s role model to journalists — Dorothy Thompson — turned against Zionism and was silenced

http://mondoweiss.net/2015/04/journalists-thompson-silenced

SPDF Day 52-6: still in the hospital. Will keep me until at least tomorrow morning....

SPDF Day 52-6: still in the hospital. Will keep me until at least tomorrow morning. Restarting me on a liquid and soft diet beginning this afternoon. they are fairly certain there was a obstruction, kink, in my small intestine. They are hoping that it is resolving itself and that surgery will not be required.

SPDF Day 52-6: Israel Evacuates Surrogate Babies From Nepal but Leaves the Mothers Behind

http://time.com/3838319/israel-nepal-surrogates/

Albert Einstein: The ideals which have lighted me on my way and time after time given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. Without the sense of fellowship with men of like mind, of preoccupation with the objective, the eternally unattainable in the field of art and scientific research, life would have seemed to me empty. The ordinary objects of human endeavour—property, outward success, luxury—have always seemed to me contemptible.

The ideals which have lighted me on my way and time after time given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. Without the sense of fellowship with men of like mind, of preoccupation with the objective, the eternally unattainable in the field of art and scientific research, life would have seemed to me empty. The ordinary objects of human endeavour—property, outward success, luxury—have always seemed to me contemptible.