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Beryl John-Knudson

Duluth, MN
Commenter for
5 years 24 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 03/21/13 at 08:09 am in response to Obama arrives in a Middle East upended since his 2009 visit

As Obama arrived a small comment was enthusiastically caught on tape; words by Netanyahu..."...Down to the last detail" ...what were the "details already set in motion?

Red carpet treatment? Policy commitments already in place? Settlements approved on land that essentially can be called a chop job, destroying any unity for the Palestinian?

So one could assume cynically or realistically, all was staged well, carefully planned, sans any duo-respect for the issue of the...

Posted on 03/22/13 at 01:37 pm in response to Jesus 'enters' legislators' gun control debate

Let's suppose one sees a fellow standing by the waterside, apparently part of a group of getting-to-know-you friends, a band of fishermen; twelve to be exact...and he's obviously the odd ball here, for he carries no rod, no staff even, and he's wearing a long robe and sandals and holding a sword.

I, a curious one, ask him, "What are you doing?"

HE answers..."I'm fishing, but if all else fails I'll turn this d...n sword into plowshares...wanna make something of it?"

I...

Posted on 03/20/13 at 03:48 pm in response to Minnesota senators' 'No' votes on Iraq War — and other 10th anniversary thoughts

It was a merciless sun that beat down on a group of figures in institutional dress; hobbled by chains, hands tied behind their backs - walking with bent bodies down a long fenced corridor...two guards with guns and snarling trained dogs guiding their process to a waiting interrogation room. Looking more closely familiar faces among the chained, shuffling fetal figures...Cheney, Rumsfeld, George W., Wolfowitz and a couple of others of the 'group' responsible or soon to be found responsible (...

Posted on 03/15/13 at 12:00 pm in response to Neocons and the Iraq War: Their view then and now 10 years later

Before and 'aft':

"Cost benefit analysis working out in favor...", and aft,"My bottom line is that I haven't..."

Well hit me with spread sheet, whatever but we are talking death and the human face; war in its substance, hey; not business, good or bad?

Here's another picture:

Early in the intervention/war/ exploited collateral considerations; following the bombings and the photos accompanying, I noticed a young girl among the war pictures. Maybe it was Getty pic....

Posted on 03/16/13 at 09:31 am in response to Neocons and the Iraq War: Their view then and now 10 years later

If one contemplates the lint in Hegel's navel ( the dead German fellow) too long and our administrative foreign policy and our underlying 'attitudes' toward other nations - Iraq, Iran, Syria; rogue states etc?...maybe it's time to check out how others see us after looking ourselves in the mirror and finding ourselves 'wanting'; with little change on the horizon?

Check out RT.com (Russia Today) UNFORGETTING IRAQ. Then suck in or suck out the video debate for it is interesting indeed,...

Posted on 03/16/13 at 11:10 am in response to Neocons and the Iraq War: Their view then and now 10 years later

"RT Cross Talk, Unforgettable Iraq, Pepe Escobar" ; some or all should get you there..plus a London Iraqi academic and an Israeli-Iranian make for strange bedfellows in a debate where we are not the heroic ones but worth listening maybe...

Posted on 03/14/13 at 04:19 pm in response to Adult adoptees should have unconditional access to their original birth certificates

I was unaware of this restriction on obtaining an adoptee's birth certificate.

As a member of an extended family in which we share the same parents but have different womb numbers, everyone has their original birth certificate...or maybe such a law does not apply to a neighboring state?

Contact with bio-parents and siblings was always a part of adopted brother, sister relationships...which seems to have worked well. and may account for the availability of those birth records...

Posted on 03/14/13 at 05:08 pm in response to 10 years after Iraq War: What do we have to show for it?

It was Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2003 Colum Lynch of the Washington Post dialogued with readers much like here...

"On Monday Jan.27,2003 Iraq: Weapons inspector Hans Blix reported to the UN Security Council Council that Iraq "appears not to have come to genuine acceptance" ...Blix and inspectors proposed the security council allow more time..."

Protest for that invasion was high in the minds of many - wrong country, wrong mission all wrapped in Cheney/ Bush lies, yes...Rumsfeld,...

Posted on 03/13/13 at 01:38 pm in response to A thoroughly modern choice for pope: yours truly

...then again maybe it was the Sistine Chapel?

Wherever or overheard from somewhere inside the conclave..."Eat your heart out Stevie my son...maybe next time"

Posted on 03/12/13 at 11:17 am in response to PR is winning the Content War

...and digital drones replace visible human forms in press rooms; processed robotics buzzing out copy-cat copy and headlines controlled by regulators; Centers processing information which are controlled by corporate or political sensitivities?

Was it the last century when J-schools started warping into a sub-structure, a sub culture under communications departments? Bad omen?

PR was once the bastard child of journalism...now it's a recognized source of communication?

Is...