Thursday 15 September 2011

AMERICAN SCHOCKING CRUELTY

Why Are Some Americans So Shockingly Cruel?

By John Thorpe
Benzinga Staff Writer

September 14, 2011 "
Benzinga" -- This will surely get taken out of context in my future political career, but I will say it now anyway: I am embarrassed, saddened, and yes, disgusted, by the behavior and beliefs of the majority of Americans.

A new report came out Tuesday, showing that the poverty rate in America rose to a whopping 15.1% in 2010. That means that nearly one in six Americans gets by on less than $11,139 a year, or $22,314 for a family of four. At the same time, the average CEO rakes in $11.3 million EACH.

In other words, you can grab any six people off the street, and the odds are that the average CEO makes 1,000 times as much money as one of them. He only makes 400 or 500 times as much as the other five. That is obscene.

And the sick part? The entire Republican Party and portions of the Democratic Party are completely OK with this arrangement. One sixth of our citizens live below poverty and the calls are for more tax cuts for the wealthy, more benefits for the wealthy, and less for the poor. It's disgusting and people should be ashamed.

Yes, ashamed. There is absolutely no reason for anyone, let alone one sixth of our citizens, to live in abject poverty. We are America and we can do better.

Letting people live in poverty is not the only issue where America is an embarrassment. We are unbelievably cruel and indifferent toward those same poor people, blaming them (and not the system) for their plight. The reality is, no one in this world gets ahead without help. Wealthy people have a natural advantage of a network of family and friends who can push them into the right school, teach them the right values, and help them get into jobs where they can succeed.

The poor do not have that advantage, and we blame them for it. We demonize them, calling them white trash or ghetto moms. We ignore the problems inherent in trying to raise children on minimum wage, working two or three part-time jobs and juggling child-care. We ignore their kids' natural disadvantage in terms of nutrition (try finding somewhere to buy fresh broccoli in an inner city sometime) and schooling (would you send your kid to an inner city school?). Then, after the kids come out behind, we blame the kids. We blame their choices, as if they ever had a choice.

And then we build another prison, and then another, and another. As Tupac said, "It ain't a secret don't conceal the fact/ the penitentiary's packed, and it's filled with blacks."

Why don't we spend this money on better schools, more teachers, better classrooms, more books, more programs? Why don't we do whatever it takes to make sure that every child in America, rich or poor, white or black, receives the same quality education? This is shameful. We are America and we can do better.

How about health care? Every other civilized country in the world provides universal health care for its citizens. Only in America would you have a scene like the one that unfolded at the Republican debate Monday night. While answering Wolf Blitzer's question as to whether he would let a 30-year-old man die, if he had no insurance and fell into a coma, Ron Paul was interrupted by a supporter who cheered "Yeah!" Let him die? This is what the Republican Party has become: the party of Let Him Die.

Or what about capital punishment. You know, that savage practice where the state murders someone to teach them that murder is wrong. It's the sort of thing outlawed everywhere outside the Third World. In America, it is not only legal, it's celebrated. When Rick Perry was asked at a debate about his record-setting number of executions (including one where the executed was clearly innocent), the audience at the debate cheered. CHEERED! They cheered the state-sponsored murder of citizens.

Or how about torture? One political party supports the use of torture against our so-called enemies. How long until they start torturing peace activists? I know I've received emails from readers suggesting that I should be taken to Guantanamo Bay and waterboarded for my beliefs.

Every day that Mitt Romney and Rick Perry and George Bush wake up, they should look in the mirror and feel nothing but shame and self-loathing for the policies they push. In a fairer world, Dick Cheney (and not millions of poor people) would be in prison, and a scumbag like Donald Rumsfeld would have to hide in Argentina to avoid the Nuremberg Trial awaiting him, in this life or the next.

But, no. They walk around freely, while millions of greedy Americans call themselves patriots, identify with the rebellious founding fathers who would tar and feather them, and wrap their selfishness in the flag. It's disgusting and it's about time the rest of us called them out for it.

You are not patriotic for sending sons and daughters off to die in some desert war. You are not patriotic for tying a yellow ribbon to your SUV, filled to the brim with the very oil those sons and daughters are dying over. You are not patriotic for saluting the flag while trampling every right taken away by the Patriot Act and its subsequent horrors. You are not patriotic for fighting against gay marriage. You are not patriotic for fighting to extend government's reach into the wombs of women everywhere.

You are not patriotic for cheering — yes, cheering — at the thought of Rick Perry executing hundreds of people. You are not patriotic for wanting poor people to die without medical care. You are not patriotic for wanting to shut down schools and hospitals to keep the size of government more to your liking.

You are not patriotic for seeking to starve the elderly and keep the poor in poverty via tax cuts for billionaires. You are not patriotic for misquoting the Constitution and you are not patriotic for trying to Dixie Chick every liberal who comes along and calls you for what you are: American cowards, filled with greed and fueled by ignorance.

I am proud to be ashamed of you, and embarrassed (for you) that you will be proud I oppose you.

You can reach the author by email john@benzinga.com or on twitter @johndthorpe.

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Information Clearing House Newsletter
News You Won't Find On CNN
September 14, 2011
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Come On Folks!
I Really Need You To Get Behind ICH 

You Are Not Alone - Each One Teach One 

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"The crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant, vicious, remorseless, but very few people have actually talked about them. You have to hand it to America. It has exercised a quite clinical manipulation of power worldwide while masquerading as a force for universal good. It's a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis." - Harold Pinter, 2005 Nobel Lecture  

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"Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." -- Hermann Goering - (1893-1946) Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe, President of the Reichstag. April 18, 1946

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"The people never give up their liberties, but under some delusion." -- Edmund Burke - (1729-1797) Irish-born British statesman, parliamentary orator, and political thinker


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Take The Pledge
"I pledge that if any U.S. troops, contractors, or mercenaries remain in Afghanistan on Thursday, October 6, 2011, as that occupation goes into its 11th year, I will commit to being in Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., with others on that day or the days immediately following, for as long as I can, with the intention of making it our Tahrir Square, Cairo, our Madison, Wisconsin, where we will NONVIOLENTLY resist the corporate machine by occupying Freedom Plaza until our resources are invested in human needs and environmental protection instead of war and exploitation. We can do this together. We will be the beginning."   http://october2011.org/welcome  


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Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered In US War And Occupation Of Iraq "1,455,590"

Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America's War On Iraq:  4,792  www.icasualties.org/oif/  

Number Of  International Occupation Force Troops Slaughtered In Afghanistan :  2,712

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Cost of War in Iraq & Afghanistan
Total Cost of Wars Since 2001
$1,249,461,062,005  
http://www.costofwar.com/  

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Follow us on Twitter   Visit our blog 

Israel is Paying For War On Gaza
By Gideon Levy
During Hanukkah 2008, Israel attacked Gaza in Operation Cast Lead. Now it is eating the bitter fruit of that operation, which was the turning point in the attitude of the world and the region toward Israel and its belligerent and violent policies.   http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29125.htm 

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The September 11 Orgie
By Michael Parenti
If the authorities really feel as deeply about it as they say, then why don't they launch an investigation of the whole tragedy (not that dog and pony 9/11 commission engineered by George W.)   http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29126.htm 

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In Case You Missed It
Former U.S General Admits to America Foreign Policy Coup
Video
Former four star general and NATO commander Wesley Clark talks about the neocon plan to invade seven countries in five years.   http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29129.htm 

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The Decline and Fall of the American Middle Class
By Paul Harris
The ranks of the poor and low-income earners are growing and the rich are doing just fine - and no one is talking about it, much less doing anything about it.   http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29130.htm 

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Why Are Some Americans So Shockingly Cruel?
By John Thorpe
I am embarrassed, saddened, and yes, disgusted, by the behavior and beliefs of the majority of Americans.   http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29127.htm 

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Corruption?
5400 Lawmakers Have Become Lobbyists in the Last Decade
By Julianne Escobedo Shepherd
Lobbyists working for lawmakers working for lobbyists: it's not exactly what the founding fathers had in mind.   http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29128.htm 

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27 killed in bold attack at U.S. embassy in Kabul:
The commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan on Wednesday acknowledged the Taliban gained a propaganda victory in a 20-hour assault focused on the U.S. Embassy, which left 27 police, civilians and insurgents dead. But he insisted the attack was not a sign of vulnerability in the Afghan capital.  http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/World/20110914/kabul-attack-embassy-NATO-110914/ 

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Afghan police 'killers and corrupt':
The Age can reveal that only 80 men from Oruzgan province have joined the Afghan Army since 2009, and fewer are joining each year, figures show.  http://bit.ly/oFn6C0 

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Spanta hints at US bases in Afghanistan:
The United States may set up military bases in Afghanistan after the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement, President Hamid Karzai's national security advisor said on Tuesday.  http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2011/09/13/spanta-hints-us-bases-afghanistan 

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Afghan Children Being Sold Into Forced Labor:
Endemic poverty in parts of Afghanistan is forcing many poor families to sell their children in order to survive  http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan_children_being_sold_into_forced_labor/24326343.html 

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Suspected Taliban kill three Pakistani intelligence officials:
Suspected Taliban gunmen ambushed a security vehicle on Wednesday, killing three intelligence officials in Pakistan's north-western province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, police said.  http://bit.ly/qLCsAC 

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Blasts across Iraq kill 26, injure 70:
Some 26 Iraqis were killed and another 70 were injured, including soldiers, in armed and explosive attacks across western and southern Iraq on Wednesday.  http://bit.ly/r4UVxU 

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Clashes kill 12 in "liberated" southern Yemen city:
Fighting between the Yemeni army and militants in and around the southern provincial capital of Zinjibar killed at least 12 people on Wednesday, just days after the government declared it had "liberated" the city from Islamist fighters.  http://reut.rs/oxuPcn 
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7 civilians killed in Yemen airstrikes north of capital:
Yemeni military airstrikes on anti-government tribesmen killed seven civilians, medical officials said, as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across the country on Tuesday to protest the latest attempt by their president to evade pressure to step down.  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44504372/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/#.TnD4LVudDzw 

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Col Gaddafi 'in Libya and readying forces':
"The fight is as far away from the end as the world can imagine. We are still very powerful, our army is still powerful ... we have huge areas of Libya under our control," he said. "We are gathering our forces."  http://bit.ly/orWzTU 

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Message from Libyan resistance movement: Video -

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Leave now or be killed:
Besieged Bani Walid residents told to flee:
NTC forces give civilians two days to escape as Gaddafi's detained son Saadi is moved to Niamey, Niger's capital.  http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/09/2011913142437846240.html 
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Gaddafi Asks U. N. To Defend Sirte From Nato Attacks:
Muammar Gaddafi has asked the U.N. Security Council to protect his hometown Sirte, still controlled by loyalist troops, from what he described as NATO's "atrocities"  http://bit.ly/qYJDYI 

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Gaddafi UN "message" - can't surrender Libya to colonialism:
Moamer Gaddafi said Wednesday in a reported message to the United Nations that his hometown of Sirte was facing "unprecedented destruction and terrorism" from NATO, dpa reported.  http://en.trend.az/regions/met/arabicr/1931832.html 

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Revenge Feeds Instability in Libya:
Rebels Burn Abandoned Homes in Loyalist Town as a Transitional Government Leader Stands By; 'Tawergha Is No More'  http://on.wsj.com/nc0PnV 

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Empty village raises concerns about fate of black Libyans:
What happened to the residents of Tawergha appears to be another sign that despite the rebel leadership's pledges that they'll exact no revenge on supporters of deposed dictator Moammar Gadhafi, Libya's new rulers often are dealing harshly with the country's black residents.  http://bit.ly/rhlOJ8 

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US envoy in Tripoli praises NTC over security:
Jeffrey Feltman says interim leaders are getting Libya's many armed groups under control during visit to capital.  http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/09/2011914132633648113.html 

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Syria Blames Gangs as Death Toll Rises:
As clashes between the Syrian military and protesters rage, residents continue mourning dead relatives.  http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/09/14/166885.html 

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Syrian forces hunt defectors in northern province of Idlib:
Syrian security and military forces intensified a house-to-house arrest campaign in the north-western province of Idlib on Wednesday, hunting down army defectors, according to opposition activists.  http://bit.ly/pcxQYJ 

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Syrian opposition forms military battalions:
In August, the Free Army said it established its first battalion in the northeastern city of Homs, a stronghold of the Sunni insurgency.  http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2011/me_syria1147_09_13.asp 

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Why many Syrians still support Assad:
Despite deepening international isolation, Mr. Assad's supporters at home are likely to wield significantly more influence over his course going forward.  http://bit.ly/pkJXXF 

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Israel fears settlers in West Bank are using terror tactics:
 Shin Bet, Israel's domestic intelligence agency, says that Jewish extremists are forming new "terrorist" groups that are deliberately targeting Palestinians and Israeli peace activists, intelligence sources were quoted as saying yesterday.  http://ind.pn/o90hPl 

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U.N. experts say Israel's blockade of Gaza illegal:-
Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip violates international law, a panel of human rights experts reporting to a U.N. body said on Tuesday, disputing a conclusion reached by a separate U.N. probe into Israel's raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship.  http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/un-experts-say-israels-blockade-of-gaza-illegal/ 

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Israel warns PA of harsh consequences:
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has warned of what he calls harsh consequences if the Palestinian Authority goes ahead with its plan to seek UN membership as an independent state.  http://www.presstv.ir/detail/199084.html 

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U.S. Scrambles to Avert Palestinian Vote at U.N.:
The administration has spent months trying to avoid casting its veto in the Security Council to block membership of a Palestinian state.  http://nyti.ms/nXdHbs 

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Israels Useful Idiot:
Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen: We must stop Palestinians' 'dangerous scheme':
 Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is behind a bill that would cut U.S. funding for UN organizations who support recognition of Palestine as state.  http://bit.ly/r0eVDf 

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Erdogan to Abbas: The time has come to wave the Palestinian flag at UN:
Turkish PM meets with Palestinian president to discuss international support for Palestinians' UN statehood bid.  http://bit.ly/o9rNCQ 

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Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood criticizes Erdogan's call for a secular state:
"Do not be wary of secularism. I hope there will be a secular state in Egypt," Erdogan said. He stressed that people have the right to choose whether or not to be religious, adding that he is a Muslim prime minister for a secular state.  http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/09/14/166814.html 

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U.S. 'Not Encouraged' by India, South Africa, Brazil at UN: -
"Whether in the context of Libya, or Cote d'Ivoire or Sudan even," Rice said, the countries have taken positions "that one might not have anticipated, given that each of them come out of strong and proud democratic traditions."  http://bloom.bg/qkLvoG 

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CIA boosts covert operations in Somalia:
These operations allegedly include the rendition of suspected jihadists seized in East Africa and spirited to an underground CIA interrogation center in Mogadishu and using mercenaries to train Somali assassination teams to hit al-Shabaab, the main insurgent group and which is linked to al-Qaida.  http://bit.ly/raRVMF 

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Paronia in the USA:
Racially profiled and cuffed in Detroit: .
I thought flying on 9/11 would be easy. - But then armed officers stormed my plane, threw me in handcuffs and locked me up.  http://bit.ly/p377I1 

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New York-to-Phoenix Flight Diverted to St. Louis:
US Airways flight 457 landed at Lambert Airport just before 8 a.m. after crew became concerned about the activities of three male passengers, all three of whom were Israeli citizens.  http://bit.ly/rhsNP5 

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Witness: Suspicious Men on Plane Were Federal Marshals:
Meyers said both men were in the bathroom on board the plane for some time and when they were confronted by airport personnel, they identified themselves as federal air marshals. But because they didn't have any paperwork confirming that, they were removed from the plane in handcuffs.  http://bit.ly/orVx30 

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Vote on austerity plan sparks clash in Italy:
Demonstrators, some armed with smoke bombs, clashed with police in Rome near Parliament on Wednesday night as Italian lawmakers prepared to cast a final vote on a package of new taxes and spending cuts designed to fend off a financial crisis threatening much of Europe.  http://bit.ly/qFnurZ 

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Greeks Vow to Rebel Against New 'Monster Tax':
The Greek government's new real estate tax, a desperate bid to meet its budget goals and secure fresh foreign aid, will hit the population hard. Greeks have almost their entire wealth invested in property -- and are more worried about the tax than about the prospect of a national insolvency or leaving the euro.  http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,785993,00.html#ref=nlint 

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UK unemployment increases to 2.51m:
According to the official figures published on Wednesday, the rate of unemployment in Britain has faced its largest increase in nearly two years.  http://www.presstv.ir/detail/199149.html 

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UK Unions Plot a Winter of Discontent:
Unions Ballot More Than a Million Workers for Biggest General Strike Since 1926  http://bit.ly/oAiTBN 

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Decline in U.S. Household Income Raises Stakes for 2012 Presidential Race:
US yearly median household income at its lowest level since 1996. No income growth in 15yrs as inequality at 1929 level  http://bloom.bg/q1aEjW 

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Maintenance of low wages key to US auto profits:
"I was making more money as a door greeter at Wal-Mart than I am now"  http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/sep2011/auto-s13.shtml 

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Retail Sales in U.S. "Unexpectedly" Stagnate:
Retail sales in the U.S. unexpectedly stagnated in August as a lack of employment and limited income growth restrained demand, highlighting the risk the economy will stall.  http://bloom.bg/qa5fWR 

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Why A Working Class Revolt Might Not Be Unthinkable:
The loss of 8.75 million payroll jobs since the recession began should be a national emergency. But it's not, and the question is why. Why has deficit reduction taken precedence over job creation?  http://www.antiwar.com/ 

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The GOP's Genius Plan to Beat Obama in 2012:
Republican state legislators in Pennsylvania are pushing a scheme that, if GOPers in other states follow their lead, could cause President Barack Obama to lose the 2012 election-not because of the vote count, but because of new rules. That's not all: there's no legal way for Democrats to stop them.  http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/09/gop-electoral-college-plan-beat-obama-2012 

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SAT reading scores fall to lowest level on record:
SAT reading scores for the high school class of 2011 were the lowest on record, and combined reading and math scores fell to their lowest point since 1995.  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/09/14/national/a100251D61.DTL 

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"Let us be peace and joy"
Tom Feeley
 

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