Do Egypt & France Have a Good Plan? & Other News, Actions

One baby & child after another GONE & the others "radicalized"...what security is this?

Has Egypt & France come up with a plan to stop the bombing in Gaza? Read...
here Let's pray & hope & keep on each doing all we can to act toward peace in Gaza & Israel & wherever we find ourselves.

Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) has some great suggestions for Obama, an ACTION ON PEACE IN GAZA/ISRAEL along with some positive/helpful quotes from Helena Cobban ...See the online version of this newsletter
here

*From FCNL: Recommendations to President-Elect Obama*

As Barack Obama prepares to take office, what should his priorities be? FCNL's staff members have been asked to provide advice to the Obama transition team at many levels. Read suggestions - including opportunities for bipartisan change in 2009: here

*Take Action: Urge Gaza Ceasefire and U.S. Diplomacy*

While world leaders mount urgent efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza, the U.S. government has supported the Israeli assault with U.S.-supplied weapons. Urge your member of Congress and the president to demand determined U.S. diplomatic efforts to quickly restore a ceasefire.

*From Helena Cobban: Less U.S.-Centric World Awaits Obama*

Writing in the Christian Science Monitor, Helena Cobban discusses the accelerating shift from a U.S.-dominated world to one in which more diffuse global power is shared by China, Japan, and other non-Western countries: here *Quote of the Week: "We no longer have a civilian-led government"*

"It is hard for a lifelong Republican and son of a retired Air Force colonel to say this, but the most unnerving legacy of the Bush administration is the encroachment of the Department of Defense into a striking number of aspects of civilian government."

~ Thomas A. Schweich, a diplomat in the Bush administration, who offers four steps that President-Elect Obama will need to take to reverse this trend. Read the article in the Washington Post: here

We Cry and Nobody Hears Us From the National Catholic Review...read article & see the comments here

US Push for Cease-Fire with Video on Palestinian Children: here

New Craze Among Israeli Children: Shrapnel Collection!
here

See the following & more at Bill of Rights Defense Committee bordc dot com
1/6, Moazzam Begg, The Independent (UK), Why Guantanamo detainees deserve asylum in Europe

1/6, Dan Froomkin, Washington Post, Waking From a Bad Dream

1/6, Henry K. Lee, San Francisco Chronicle, U.S. judge revives lawsuit over Bush wiretaps

1/6, Associated Press, Judge: Government hiding evidence in Gitmo case

1/5, Jane Perlez, Raymond Bonner, & Salman Masood, New York Times, An Ex-Detainee of the U.S. Describes a 6-Year Ordeal