Speedlinking 8/9/06

Say it ain't so, Joe! Lieberman has found out the hard way that the liberal base of the Democratic party is back in a big way. When MoveOn.org and Daily Kos started talking about getting rid of Lieberman in the early part of the year, not too many people thought it would really happen. But it did, and it was all about grassroots and netroots. Seems that Joe will run as an independent.

Meanwhile, back in the real world . . .

~ Tuff Ghost showed up briefly to announce he will be back to blogging soon. His voice has been missed.

~ Dave at Via Negativa has updated the Festival of the Trees site.

~ Tiel Aisha Ansari of Knocking from Inside has a post on current happenings in the online poetry world, including a link to my call for submissions.

There's a bit of a book theme in the next few, so hang in there.

~ The Zero Boss was tagged (by me) with the book meme, and he has posted his responses. Jay also has an interesting discussion about who is to blame for rape -- women who dress suggestively or men who don't understand what NO means. It's not a discussion really -- Jay takes a strong stand. And don't miss Jay's Sugar Rush.

~ I also tagged Mike at Unknowing Mind with the book meme, and he stepped up last night with his response. Bonus points are awarded for the cool picture.

~ Brad at Hardcore Zen has given in and provided a list of books that he has read, but he reminds readers -- again -- that you can't learn Zen from a book.

~ Tusar N Mohapatra at SELF Forum has provided an extensive list of Aurobindo books with Amazon links.

Whew -- survived the book rush. Now back to your regularly scheduled speedlinks.

~ Colmar posts another article from Victor Davis Hanson. Hanson concludes his argument with a demonstration of his keen grasp of the obvious:

Instead, there will be no peace in the general Middle East until Iranians and Arabs have true constitutional government, free institutions, open markets and the rule of law. Without these reforms, they will continue to fail, seeking easy refuge in the shreds of mythical ancestral honor — and this pathetic neurosis of blaming nearby Israel for the loss of it.

Yep. The real question that will haunt the West for decades to come is how to create the life conditions for this to happen. The neocons seems to favor military intervention, as if we can change their interiors with external force. The liberals seem to favor the carrot and stick approach. Both offer partial truths -- we need to set boundaries, but we also need to find ways to create an opportunity for these cultures to grow up. How do we do that is the question.

~ Will at thinkBuddha responds to Gareth's recent post at Green Clouds. The topic is ethics in relation to the two ideas of similarity and difference. Take a look.

~ Pandas, pandas everywhere. New panda cubs in China are the talk of the web.

~ James S. Robbins of The National Review thinks global warming is a good thing. Not quite sure whether this is satire or real. You tell me . . . please.

~ Elephants demonstrate a capacity for compassion. Damn, it sure takes scientists a long time to figure out the obvious.

~ Steven Goodman, a professor of Asian studies at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, is interviewed at Inquiring Mind on the topic of "crazy wisdom." It's from the spring of 2005, but it's new to me. Thanks to Clarity for the link.

And that's all I have for this morning. Have a happy Wednesday -- and remember at least once today to be grateful for all that you have.

crazy wisdom elephants global warming Sri Aurobindo Zen Book meme rape poetry Festival of Trees Joe Lieberman liberal grassroots Buddhism speedlinking Middle East