DT1
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You know, it's not like I wanted to be right about all of this...
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Post by DT1 on Dec 29, 2005 11:21:48 GMT 4
"who could bring me Heaven... Heaven's already here." -Collective Soul
You are always welcome,my friend.
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DT1
Moderator
You know, it's not like I wanted to be right about all of this...
Posts: 428
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Post by DT1 on Dec 29, 2005 11:30:41 GMT 4
RE drive out the Chimpy McFlightsuit regime: I just found,dear readers, yet another policy which we are being LIED TO about: NEWS RELEASE December 20, 2005 CONTACT: Jamie Court (310) 392-0522 ext 327 Alaska Drilling Proposal Lacks Limits On Exports To Other Countries,Could Be Biggest Giveaway To Big Oil In American HistoryWashington, DC -- The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) warned today that even if oil companies were to secure the right to extract more crude oil from protected wildlife refuges in Alaska the oil could be exported for use in other countries under legislation pending before the US Senate. "Destroying the Alaskan wilderness so that oil companies can make more money in Singapore isn't in the interest of the American public," said FTCR president Jamie Court, who has tracked the oil industry's use of exports to drive up domestic gasoline and heating oil prices. "The drive to open up Alaska to oil company derricks has no guarantees that the crude oil will be used in America. This could be the biggest giveaway to Big Oil at the expense of America and Americans in United States history." Earlier this year FTCR reported on Department of Energy data showing that oil companies exported 1.5 billion more gallons of liquid heating products in the first seven months of 2005 than during the same period last year. That amount is about 20 times greater than the size of the entire North East Strategic Reserve for heating oil. At the same time, the Energy Department numbers show that imports are falling. With a severe winter, that's a recipe for big profits for oil companies and impossible choices for consumers. For more information on FTCR's research on gas prices and the oil industry's manipulation of supply visit: www.consumerwatchdog.org/energy/gasprices/ - 30 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ It seems that drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge(stress on the REFUGE part)has nothing to do with National Security.Big suprise.They would have us think that Senator"Bridge To Nowhere"Stevens(R-Alaska)was acting alone when he slid that ridiculous Legislation into the Defense Bill.I am astonished at the lack of public outcry. The truth is that for about forty years,factions of this government (the ones Reagan reffered to as"the crazies")have strived mightily to get this done,and the American People don't think it's a good idea,and we tell them NO. Now it seems they no longer feel the need to listen... Let them frame the debate.Let them attempt to make it plausable to destroy an inestimable treasure for less than a year's worth of gas.It will be good for our Homeland Security,or our freedom,or something. I am no longer listening. IMPEACH INDICT CONVICT Please follow(and pass along) this link: www.impeachpac.org/
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
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Post by michelle on Jan 9, 2006 20:51:14 GMT 4
STATE OF EMERGENCY; Four Weeks to Make History! Almost 3 weeks left until Bush's state of the union address on Jan. 31. Make your plans now to participate in protests all across the country- go to worldcantwait.org to: ***Contact your local chapter to buy a bus ticket to DC Feb. 4 ***find a protest in your area Jan. 31, the night of Bush's state of the union address. Check out worldcantwait.org for the latest news and events:- Jan. 12 Evening of Conscience benefit for World Can't Wait at Oakland's Grand Lake Theatre. - In DC, WCW volunteers disrupted a press conference of the anti-choice "Concerned Women for America". - "Justice Sunday III" rallied Christian fundamentalists to demand Alito's confirmation while protests against the imposition of theocracy took place outside. - Tribunal indicts Bush for war crimes at the White House on Jan. 10. Debra Sweet, National Coordinator of World Can’t Wait Drive Out the Bush RegimeSpeech to Chapters and OrganizersJanuary 7, 2006 The future is on the line and you are in the right place. The world urgently needs us to drive out the Bush regime. To this end, the world needs powerful protest by the American people - nation-wide on Tuesday, January 31st to drown out and denounce Bush’s State of the Union, declaring BUSH STEP DOWN because we are in a state of emergency, and then the following Saturday bringing this demand right to the seat of government, to the seat of power, in Washington DC: BUSH STEP DOWN AND TAKE YOUR PROGRAM WITH YOU. As scandals break and crimes of this Bush regime are revealed before millions, the possibility of driving this regime from power becomes ever more real, but also ever more urgent, with exponentially increasing stakes. It is not every day that major newspapers run editorials accusing the President of impeachable offenses – and as this is happening, it must be seized upon. Millions of people want this President gone from office, and we must reach out very broadly, uniting with many, many diverse sections of people, and ensure that this moment of political vulnerability for the regime does not pass. We need to get to the people who don’t see how this can happen, who don’t see any other way, and let them know there is a vehicle. It is bad when the president spies on millions. And when he does secretly and above the law. And when he lies about it. But when he is caught – and he neither apologizes or even attempts to deny it, but instead throws back threats against those who expose this, and brags that he has secretly sanctioned this spying over 30 times – that regime is illegal and must be driven from power. And it can – if we unleash the very broad and spreading outrage and sense of betrayal in powerful protest that demands that Bush Step Down. If not – this unrestrained power of the executive, in the service of fascist police state – gets ratified. It gets legitimized. And it gets used to further silence and break any opposition. It is unspeakable when people are tortured. Even worse when it is done systematically to large swaths of people including known innocents. But when all of this comes to the light of day – and the president and his legal advisors don’t even bother with perfunctory punishment – but instead set about changing the legal definitions of torture to sanction these acts – this regime is morally bankrupt and must be driven from power. And it can be – if all those who don’t want to be a nation of torturers politically confront this regime when Bush speaks at the end of the month. If not – this torture becomes condoned by the American people. It becomes our sinister gift to the children of every country that is cast under the cold shadow of the U.S. empire in its pursuit of endless war. It is bad when abortion doctors are killed. When clinics are bombed and women are harassed and shamed for making basic and fundamental decisions about our lives and whether to bear children. It is bad when gay people, like Matthew Shepard, are dehumanized and killed and when all others are gruesomely reminded that they are reviled. But when this hatred and bigotry, and the gruesome horrors of the Bible taken literally become the basis of law in the country, from the highest offices and court in the land – the regime must be forced out. And it can – if we tap the will of the majority against all this concretely demanding that Bush Step Down and take his program with him on Tuesday, January 31st across the country and on Saturday, February 4th in Washington, DC. If not – the whole, historically new and still very fragile, concept of treating women and gays like human beings, like full and equal participants could be defeated and we’ll see a return to the most ignorant and brutal nightmares which millions struggled to ensure would never happen again. It is bad when, in 2006, racism still so deeply stalks the lives of Black people and other oppressed nationalities, that police brutality is rampant, and nearly 2 million mainly Black and Latino people are warehoused in prisons, and daily racist humiliations are unrelenting. But when hundreds of thousands are left to die and then permanently dispossessed and displaced and this is seen as an act of God and an opportunity for development by the man now leading the “redevelopment” – this is the stuff of genocide. As is the program of “Abstinence Only” being pushed Bush’s modern day Christian Ayatollahs who refuse condoms to those most stricken by the AIDS pandemic – throughout the U.S. and Africa and around the world. A regime that does these things must be stopped! And it can be, if we move now while people still remember their shock and anger and direct this towards truly massive protests against Bush’s lies and bring this right to the capital. I could keep going – talk about the round-ups of tens of thousands of immigrants, talk about Guantanamo, talk about the attacks on science, on critical thought, on evolution, on tolerance, on academia, on non-fundamentalist churches, and the dangers of global warming – like the predictions of storms the size of 50 Katrina’s to hit Bangladesh in the next decade due to the melting ice caps – all of which this regime is hastening. But the point is, as it says in our Call for The World Can’t Wait, “The Bush regime is setting out to remake the world, very quickly, in a fascist way, and for generations to come.” This is a comprehensive program – and it demands a comprehensive answer. The whole regime is illegitimate. It is immoral. And it is indictably criminal. We must drive it out. READ THE REST: tinyurl.com/ctpmr
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on Jan 21, 2006 0:07:28 GMT 4
FRIDAY 01/20/06 THE WORLD CAN'T WAIT
Check out our full page ad in TODAY'S NY Times on page A9 in NY edition. This ad includes prominent new signatories to our Call, including US Rep. Maxine Waters, Susan Sarandon, Rev. Al Sharpton, Harry Belafonte, Sean Penn, Jessica Lange, Major Owens, 11th Congressional District, D-NY; Niles Eldredge, curator of the Darwin Show at the Museum of Natural History, NYC; Lewis Lapham, former editor, Harper's Magazine; Martin Garbus, NYC. This and our PSA's on Air America are making a huge difference, letting millions of people know about the upcoming protests during Bush's State of the Union address, and giving them a chance to change the course of history.
The International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration starts TODAY. Harry Belafonte will be giving an opening speech tonight. This is the last session for the commission. It will go from today until January 22, with a verdict coming soon. The first session (Oct 20-21) offered shocking evidence of the scope and depths of crimes this regime has committed. Just watching the highlights from its DVD (available at bushcommission.org) will both horrify and compel you to do everything possible to stop what is being done in our names.
The Commission has indicted the Bush administration on 5 counts: 1) Wars of Aggression, 2) Torture and Indefinite Detention, 3) Destruction of the Global Environment, 4) Attacks on Global Public Health and Reproductive Rights, 5) Knowing Failure to Protect Life During Hurricane Katrina.[/color] It brings together powerful testimony from the victims of this regime to experts and activists, to defectors from the regime, and applies rigorous standards in prosecuting its indictments. Witnesses include: Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, former head of Abu Ghraib prison; Craig Murray, resigned British ambassador to Uzbekistan; Scott Ritter, former UN weapons inspector, Ray McGovern, ex CIA.; Katrina victims...and more.
Everyone who can should come to NYC Jan. 20-22 for this historic tribunal, and spread the shocking truth about this regime to everyone you can. Friday and Saturday will take place at Riverside Church (91 Claremont Ave.) and Sunday at Columbia Univ. Law School (Amsterdam & 116th St).
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on Jan 24, 2006 14:29:53 GMT 4
Changing History is NOT a Spectator Sport! For five years your anger has mounted. You've been lied to. You've been spied on. You've watched as the death count rose in Iraq, as torture became policy, and as thousands of Black people were abandoned on rooftops. Now you're expected to accept a "unitary executive" and an end to abortion. What to do as Bush tries to use his State of the Union address to shut us all up and legitimize his theocratic new Rome? The Democrats (and some others) are telling people to stay home, watch TV, swear at the screen (or maybe play games) and give money to them. World Can't Wait is calling for people to be in the streets, bring the noise, politically drown out Bush's lies, and drive out Bush's Regime. Is there really any question? Haven't we done enough sitting around, atomized, cursing and crying while fascism is put in place? Changing the course of history is NOT a spectator sport. Do something that matters. Be in the streets. The world, and the country, is ready for our demand and many are stepping forward to speak it: BUSH STEP DOWN. TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2006 - 8:00 PM E.S.T. Protest Nation-Wide! SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2006 - 11:00 AM, Washington, DC at 17th & Constitution Bring Our Demand to the White House: BUSH STEP DOWN! --Sunsara Taylor, co-initiator of World Can't Wait worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME... You've read the site. You know about the crimes. You smell the scent of fascism in the air... There is a moment that must, and can, be seized – NOW. There are people who want to act – NOW. Reach them. Change your routine, for a week, and reach them. Change the direction of history. Before it's too late. If you are a lawyer, write an e-mail to every lawyer in your city – TODAY. Tell them how that the FISA scandal, the Alito nomination, the torture revelations – all this demands that we meet and act. Send them the Call. Give them a place to go that can hold hundreds. Bring materials. Debate, discuss and let them roll... If you are a teacher, e-mail every teacher you know. Get your union lists and send it out to thousands. Call a citywide emergency meeting. Get the word out on teach-ins on the 31st. Tell them to spread the word in their schools – to their students, to other teachers... If you're a student, get the flyer out to your whole school, call a meeting and make plans to spread this to your school and every other school... If you're a clergyperson, read the quote from Martin Niemoller again and then figure out how to use your pulpit to deal with the crossroads we stand at... If you're a writer, write. If you are a public speaker – if you have access at all to the media – speak. If you "know someone who knows someone" talk to them... And so on down the line... If you are not in a local chapter, join one. If they don't answer, if they are too overloaded, download materials from this site, get them out, and keep calling until you get through. Don't wait. Once you do get through, help them by phone-banking, by selling bus tickets, by delivering materials, by raising money, by coordinating transportation, by helping to plan the rally. Mass sentiment is not enough – there must be organization! Help these folks rise to the challenge. What you don't know, learn. What you can't learn, make up along the way. That's how history gets made, from the bottom up. If there is no chapter, start one. Make sure there is somewhere to come to every night, a place to meet or just for people to pick up new flyers and report in, and make sure people know about it – run announcements and ads on the radio, get this on to Craig's List, Myspace, and everywhere else you can think of. People are ready to hear this – get it to them. Put the call up everywhere you go – your cleaner, the coffee-shop you go to in the morning, the laundromat, the supermarket, the deli, your church or mosque or synagogue, that restaurant you eat at all the time, the bar you drink at ... drop off copies of it ... talk to people... It IS really true: THE WORLD CAN'T WAIT! International Commission of Inquiry On Crimes Against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration --Concluding Session was held Jan. 20-22 www.bushcommission.org/
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DT1
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You know, it's not like I wanted to be right about all of this...
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Post by DT1 on Jan 24, 2006 21:51:50 GMT 4
Of course,the illegitimate usurpers of our government are getting ready for us... Bush Administration Seeks to Squelch State of the Union Protest at Capitol on January 31 World Can’t Wait Capitol Hill Office: 511 ‘C’ St. NE Washington DC 20002, Stanton Square DC PRESS CONTACT: Don Spark, 202-536-4310, donspark@worldcantwait.org Press Conference: Monday, January 23, 9:30 a.m. National Press Club, Edward R. Murrow Room 529 14th Street, NW Washington DC The Bush administration has expanded the special security zone around the Capitol, effectively denying a meaningful public space for a protest called by World Can’t Wait-Drive Out the Bush Regime during the State of the Union address on January 31, 2006. This action, one of many held simultaneously that night at 8pm EST in cities and towns across the country, calls for symbolically “drowning out Bush’s lies” and demands “BUSH STEP DOWN.” At a meeting on January 10 with the National Park Service Police, Capitol Police, and National Parks Department, the World Can’t Wait was offered the area surrounding the Capitol Reflecting Pool for the January 31st gathering. This was accepted by World Can’t Wait. However, on January 19, the organization received word that this area had been reclassified as part of a “secure perimeter” for that day. In addition, the grass areas of the National Mall have been closed for “turf renovation” up to 7th Street. Thus, the proposed demonstration area is restricted to the “gravel and concrete walkways of the national Mall between 3rd and 4th Streets.” Travis Morales of World Can’t Wait-Drive Out the Bush Regime responded: “This so-called permit would have the effect of dispersing and disrupting this First Amendment protest by preventing a large, cohesive gathering anywhere near the Capitol. We’d have to go a mile away to 7th Street to even have a stage. We’re mobilizing people to challenge this outrageous prohibition, and we’re pursuing legal action.” World Can’t Wait has already received a permit for a national demonstration at the Ellipse on Saturday, February 4. Both the January 31 and February 4 actions were announced in a full-page ad in the New York Times published January 20, signed by Edward Asner, Harry Belafonte, Michael Eric Dyson, Niles Eldredge, Eve Ensler, Jane Fonda, Martin Garbus, Paul Haggis, Jonathan Kozol, Jessica Lange, Lewis Lapham, Tom Morello, U.S. Rep. Major Owens, Sean Penn, Harold Pinter, Susan Sarandon, John Sayles, Richard Serra, Rev. Al Sharpton, Cindy Sheehan, Serj Tankian, Studs Terkel, Kurt Vonnegut, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, Cornel West, and Howard Zinn. World Can’t Wait-Drive Out the Bush Regime worldcantwait.orgwww.house.gov/www.crimesofwar.org/www.impeachbush.orgI am [glow=red,2,300]MADDER THAN HELL[/glow] about this latest assault on our rights. This cheap political tactic is completely unacceptable, and must not be allowed to stand. Please follow the links and tell your Representative that"turf renovation"can wait a week. It is to laugh,were the stakes not so high... Contact the National Park Service ww.nps.govand remind them That strip of land belongs to ALL OF US, not G.W.Bush and his snipers... WE WILL BE HEARD!!! My free speech zone begins in Bangor ,Maine and ends in Kona,Hawaii. Does this make me an enemy of the State? So be it. Do you know what you are giving away?This link gives you the text of the Constitution earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/freedom/constitution/text.html and the Bill of Rights earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/freedom/constitution/text.htmlI urge all Americans to stand up for our freedom and get involved. If not now...When?
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DT1
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You know, it's not like I wanted to be right about all of this...
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Post by DT1 on Jan 30, 2006 23:12:21 GMT 4
State of Union Protest Gets Permit After All Submitted by davidswanson on Thu, 2006-01-26 17:46. Activism A message from Debra Sweet, the World Cant Wait National Office:
The federal government was forced to back off today, and concede The World Can't Wait - Drive Out the Bush Regime a promised permit to rally outside the Capitol on Tuesday January 31. Across the country that night, one hour before George Bush's State of the Union address, crowds will gather in public areas to politically "drown out Bush's lies". Organizers had been told on January 10 they would get a permit for the Reflecting Pool, an area close to the Capitol; on January 19th, that area was suddenly declared a "special security zone", and off limits to the public. The World Can't Wait filed suit in federal district court yesterday seeking court protection of First Amendment right to protest. This morning, after a story in the Washington Post reported the suit, Park and police officials met organizers at the contested area, and offered the Reflecting Pool as a rally site.
Particularly at this moment, when the Bush Regime seeks to vastly expand its power to spy on citizens (and is brazenly doing so without court authorization) it's up to the people to refuse restrictions on public protest. To have quietly accepted the terms the federal government attempted to enforce would have been a disaster.
Join in bringing thousands to the Capitol on Tuesday, 8pm, and get yourself to the National Mall on Saturday February 4th, 11 am, as we demand "Bush Step Down!"
Solidarity,
Bryan D. DC Chapter The World Can't Wait dc@worldcantwait.org (202) 536-4313
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michelle
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I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on Feb 5, 2006 7:32:30 GMT 4
Saturday 04 February 2006 Bring Regime Change Home By David Swanson Remarks prepared for World Can't Wait rally at White House, February 4, 2006.There are protests outside at least two houses today, the White House and Bush's luxury estate near Crawford, Texas. Bush can run, but he cannot hide. He tries to hide behind fear, our fear. The only tool in his bag is making us afraid. We have to resist becoming afraid, but we have to be able to talk about the fact that Bush and Cheney have made us much less safe. They have turned world opinion against us. They have turned Iraq into a breeding ground for terrorists. They have turned Afghanistan into a drug production kingdom. Terrorist incidents are up so dramatically that the Bush Administration no longer publishes those statistics. The danger these criminals have put us in with their illegal war and their bellicose rhetoric is a reason to oppose them, not a reason to cower behind them like children. Their own strategists see few ways that they can regain any credibility or popularity other than another terrorist incident in this country. But if the American people have learned anything, it is that another such incident – should it occur – should only erode what's left of Bush and Cheney's pretense to leadership. Let's not wait for that. Let's remove them from office before we suffer another 9-11, another Katrina, another war like Iraq. Toward that end, I have a favor to ask of everyone here. Last Spring the Downing Street Minutes appeared in the international media as a smoking gun, providing authoritative proof that this war had been based on lies. The efforts of hundreds of thousands of Americans forced that document into the US media. You Emailed. You phoned. You faxed. You protested. You reenacted the Downing Street Meeting outside media outlets, or inside their offices. On June 15, the Washington Post wrote an editorial in response to your efforts explaining why they would not report the story. They claimed that "The memos add not a single fact to what was previously known about the administration's prewar deliberations. Not only that: They add nothing to what was publicly known in July 2002." Well, I went and checked all the Washington Posts back to July 2002 and before that, and they had never reported what was in those minutes – in fact they'd been trumpeting the lies that the minutes debunked. But you didn't let up on the Post. You kept hammering them with Emails and phone calls and protests in front of their office. And on June 28th, they printed a lengthy front page article detailing the contents of the Downing Street Minutes – with nothing in there that they couldn’t have run weeks earlier. Here's the favor I want to ask. I want to ask you to do the same thing you did for the Downing Street Minutes with the new White House Memo. Because we have another smoking gun on our hands. This latest memo has been reported in a short and misleading little Associated Press article, but most US media outlets – in contrast to media outlets outside the US – are not doing their own reporting on this. Last spring they did, following a full month of pressure. So let's set a goal of putting the White House Memo in the US corporate media by the end of February. For guidance on doing so, go to AfterDowningStreet.org What this latest memo tells us is the substance of a meeting that British Prime Minister Tony Blair had with Bush at the White House on January 31, 2003, months before they publicly pretended to have just decided to go to war, and the same day that the NSA sent around an internal top-secret memo with plans to bug the phones and Emails of UN Security Council members. At the meeting, Blair told Bush "A second Security Council resolution would provide an insurance policy against the unexpected and international cover, including with the Arabs." Bush told Blair that "The US would put its full weight behind efforts to get another resolution and would 'twist arms' and 'even threaten'. But he had to say that if ultimately we failed, military action would follow anyway.'' Blair replied that he was "solidly with the President and ready to do whatever it took to disarm Saddam." We already know from the Downing Street documents and dozens of US sources that the Bush Administration did not believe Saddam Hussein to be a threat, and that Bush and Cheney were lying about the weapons of mass destruction and the ties to 9-11. What the new memo tells us is some of the wackier ideas that popped into Bush's head for ways to manufacture a cause for war. The one that really makes you wonder whether Blair had brought the cast of Monty Python to the meeting is this: "The US was thinking of flying U2 reconnaissance aircraft with fighter cover over Iraq, painted in UN colours. If Saddam fired on them, he would be in breach." So, we were going to paint planes to look like UN planes and then fly them unnecessarily low in hopes of getting shot at, and then presumably try to tell the UN that it possessed some planes it hadn't known about. In fact, we already know that the US increased flights and bombings in hopes of being shot at. As far as we know, none of the planes had been painted with UN markings. Does this sound like how one behaves toward a nation that is threatening us with biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons, long-range missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, and support for a global terror organization? But Bush put those claims in a March 18, 2003, report to Congress, and it's a felony to lie to Congress. And he's still sitting in office. So, we all must just be mistaken, right? Everything must be OK, after all. The Washington Post says so. It's easy to get frustrated. 420 members of the House of Representatives have not cosponsored a bill to end funding for the Crime in Iraq. 365 of them have not cosponsored a bill to ban permanent US bases in Iraq. 410 of them have not cosponsored a bill to let the Iraqi government vote on whether it wants the occupation ended. 370 have not signed onto a bill to end the occupation some day in the future. And 338 congress members have not cosponsored a bill to redeploy forces from Iraq as soon as that's "practicable." We have a trillion-dollar war, and Bush wants $439 billion for the military on top of that. It's easy to become frustrated. But look at what we have achieved. We have educated a strong majority of Americans to understand that this war is based on lies, while the war is still in progress. The understanding is not thick enough for everyone to understand that a war on Iran would be based on lies. But we're moving in that direction. We have US veterans of this war returning, suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, and getting up to speak about it in order to oppose this war through their tears. We have parents who've lost their kids in this war speaking against it. We have young soldiers refusing to fight. We have activists, young and old, going to jail through acts of nonviolent resistance. Daniel Ellsberg wrote in a statement supporting this rally that courage is contagious. It certainly is within this movement. We just need it to catch within the Capitol. There are Democrats there who still fantasize about working cooperatively with Republicans – it's their way of hanging onto a belief that they are serving some purpose. We need to give them a different purpose to serve, the purpose of courageously opposing the rise of fascism. We need to do that through meetings and through protests. We need to protest in their offices and on the front lawns of their houses. And we must do so with the strongest force on earth: nonviolence. Anyone imagining we can create a democracy or anything else through violent resistance to this government has lost all moral and strategic sense. We need to reassert the rule of law, not tear it down further. We need to prosecute these war criminals, and before that we need to impeach them. Demand that your congress member sign onto John Conyers' bill to create an investigation that will make recommendations on impeachment. Demand that your congress member introduce articles of impeachment. Demand that the legislature of your state, or of DC, send impeachment charges to congress. And tell your congress member what your policy is going to be for supporting candidates in this year's elections. The Nation magazine has said it will not support any candidate for national office who does not make a speedy end to the American war in Iraq a major issue in his or her campaign. ImpeachPAC is a political action committee with this requirement for endorsement: "Incumbents must have introduced or co-sponsored Articles of Impeachment for George Bush and Dick Cheney in 2005 or 2006 - Challengers must publicly demand the impeachment of George Bush and Dick Cheney." We must combine those two criteria, opposing the war and supporting impeachment, into this one idea: Bring Regime Change Home! www.truthout.org/docs_2006/020406Y.shtmlARTICLES AT www.afterdowningstreet.org/ : Sampling of Extensive International and Alternative Coverage:www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/7436Channel 4 News Memo Extracts, Article, Video Report and Commentary; Guardian Article; Guardian Commentary; Guardian Timeline; BBC Article; AfterDowningStreet Commentary; David Corn's Commentary; The Australian Article; Telegraph Article; Mail and Guardian Article; Financial Times Article; Independent Article; Times of London Article; Another BBC Article; Scotsman Article; People's Daily Article (China); Journal of Turkish Weekly Article (Turkey); Mirror Article; Mirror Article 2; Herald Article Complete US Corporate Media Coverage:Associated Press Article; Associated Press Article 2; USA Today Marginalizes Story on a Blog, What about some coverage in the paper?; Christian Science Monitor Article; Olbermann on MSNBC; Photos from Today's World Can't Wait Rally in DCGranny D's Speech in DC Today at World Can't Wait RallyThe international media has covered this story extensively. In the U.S., the AP has sent out two articles, but few papers have printed them.Last year, your efforts forced the Downing Street Memos into the U.S. media. Can you do the same with the new "White House Memo"? DEMAND COVERAGE NOW:www.afterdowningstreet.org/media ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Congresswoman Maxine Waters Says Bush Guilty of Impeachable OffensesRep. Maxine Waters said of Bush, prior to the State of the Union: "His message tonight will not deal honestly with the mistakes that he's made. And I believe that the latest revelations about him and his spying on American citizens - no matter how he tries to frame it - are impeachable offenses. I believe that this president is not only spying on American citizens in the way that he's describing it, but to indicate in any shape form or fashion that he's been authorized by Congress to do it on the vote that was taken after 9-11 is plain dishonest. And further to try to imply that he's supported by the Constitution of the United States is even more dishonest. And so, I think that this issue that he's been caught red-handed on is really typical of who he is, how he handles this presidency, and what his leadership is all about: spying and lying. And I think it is important for us to understand that all of the other issues that we're going to talk about today - and particularly the war in Iraq - will continue to exemplify how he has lied and misled the American public." Listen to the audio:www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/7475Thank Rep. Waters for speaking up for impeachment:www.house.gov/waters/IMA/issue.htm
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michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on Feb 13, 2006 14:28:23 GMT 4
From the World Can't Wait Steering Committee 2-11-06:… Our movement is brand new and the thousands who came into the streets represent millions more who want to see this President out of office and his whole program repudiated and reversed, but who do not yet know about this movement, or are not yet convinced that mass independent political action and protest can make a decisive difference. Or they may be still hoping to passively wait it out, not confronting the horror that will be done in their name if they remain idle and complicit. Our movement with its powerful Call needs to reach out even more broadly to organizations and institutions to join us and to plan broader and more powerful resistance. There are many people we must connect with who have never stepped into taking responsibility for the direction of history before. While we are considering our next major steps we need to actively investigate with those who have acted and those who have not yet done so-- to get a deeper understanding of both why those who came have decided to act now and what is holding back those who have not yet done so. This is not just a job for the organizers of committees but for every participant in this movement. Seek out and really listen to people-- engage with people on the substance in the Call to drive out the Bush Regime with the content of what “your government” is doing; with the morality of “that which you do not resist and mobilize to stop;” with the reality of where politics as usual has brought us to; and with the positive and hopeful message that there is a way to really make a huge change in this country and in the world if we act. As the Georgetown law students put it on February 4, "we are what we have been waiting for." … [more] tinyurl.com/9ydo8Evolution Sunday:433 congregations participated. 10,000 clergy have signed "An Open Letter Concerning Religion and Science." Here are two lines from it: "While virtually all Christians take the Bible seriously and hold it to be authoritative in matters of faith and practice, the overwhelming majority do not read the Bible literally, as they would a science textbook." "To reject this truth [evolution] or to treat it as 'one theory among others' is to deliberately embrace scientific ignorance and transmit such ignorance to our children." Check out the website, www.uwosh.edu/colleges/cols/rel_evol_sun.htmthe clergy letter and the list of participating churches in your area. Let them know The World Can't Wait! From the Bill of Rights Defense Committee 2-11-06:As you have probably heard, a backroom PATRIOT Act "deal" has been reached among the four Republicans who filibustered the PATRIOT Act reauthorization bill last December and the White House, which gave up only minor concessions. Read the Washington Post story, here. tinyurl.com/a2njyKarl Rove and Dick Cheney are using both the carrot (Republicans win by making national security an issue.) and the stick (Karl Rove threatened to cut off Republicans from White House reelection assistance if they criticize the administration's authorization of NSA warrant-less wiretapping.). See a summary of proposed changes at www.bordc.org/threats/legislation/confreptchanges.pdf. Talking points prepared by Bill of Rights Defense Committee. From our Call: "Silence and paralysis are NOT acceptable. That which you will not resist and mobilize to stop, you will learn — or be forced — to accept. There is no escaping it: the whole disastrous course of this Bush regime must be STOPPED. And we must take the responsibility to do it." Bring the demand "BUSH STEP DOWN – and Take Your Program with You!" into this fight. World Can't Wait local committees should contact local organizers of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee and others who oppose the attacks on democratic rights, and organize public protests of the impending vote that will make the USA PATRIOT Act permanent. There is a particular point to be made where Democratic Senators like Durbin and Feinstein are capitulating to vote for reauthorizing the Patriot Act. read about here: tinyurl.com/b62nd
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michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on Feb 18, 2006 16:32:37 GMT 4
25 US Reps for Bush Impeachment ProbeBy Matthew Cardinale, Editor, Atlanta Progressive News (February 15, 2006) (APN) ATLANTA–25 US Representatives–including two members of the Georgia delegation–have now signed on as co-sponsors of H. Res 635, demanding a probe which could recommend Bush’s impeachment, including the initial sponsor, US Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Atlanta Progressive News has learned. If the Democratic Party is able to retake the US House of Representatives, Rep. Conyers would become Chairman Conyers of the House Judiciary Committee, whereas he is currently minority leader on the Committee. If not acted on this session, the bill would have to be reintroduced next session. It is possible that a new bill could include new language regarding NSA domestic wiretapping. Sources in Washington DC tell Atlanta Progressive News that H. Res 635 is a venue for coalition among members of Congress who are willing to consider impeachment for a variety of reasons. Even though H. Res 635 does not specifically reference the NSA domestic wiretapping issue, some Members of US Congress have found the wiretapping issue to be a compelling reason to sign on as a co-sponsor, sources say. 26 US Representatives now total want Bush either to face an impeachment probe or to resign. US Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) is the representative who has called for Bush’s resignation, according to a World Can’t Wait statement issued to Atlanta Progressive News. Two (2) Members of US Congress signed on yesterday, February 14, 2006, including US Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) and US Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), according to thomas.loc.gov. Since APN’s last story on H. Res 635, US Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), also signed on, having done so on February 8, 2006. Press representatives for Reps. Moore, Velazquez, and Honda were not immediately available for comment. The current 25 total co-sponsors are Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA), Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO), Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA), Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA), Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), Rep. Major Owens (D-NY), Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ), Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Rep. Fortney Pete Stark (D-CA), Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA). The best represented states on H. Res 635 are California (8), Georgia (2), New York (6), and Wisconsin (2). Over 12% of US House Democrats now support the impeachment probe; almost 6% of all US House Representatives now support the probe. In December 2005, there were 231 Republicans in the US House, 202 Democrats, 1 Independent, and 1 vacancy, a clerk for the US House of Representatives told Atlanta Progressive News. This continues to mark a slow, steady shift towards an impeachment probe. Every few days or so, Atlanta Progressive News has announced new cosponsors for H. Res 635 as the separate debate over Bush’s authorization of illegal domestic wiretapping rages like wildfire. "There is an awakening, a growing awareness of the deceit of which this administration has been engaged," US Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) told an audience at Cornell University, according to News10Now.com. Hinchey’s "loudest applause came when he mentioned the I-word. He says if Democrats can retake the House, ‘There will be people in the Congress who will bring impeachment actions’," News10Now.com reports. Previously, Rep. Lewis had said on WAOK radio if a Member of US Congress prepared a bill over Bush’s impeachment due to the wiretapping issue, that he would sign that bill. Rep. Lewis's office has clarified that statement for Atlanta Progressive News, adding an earlier Associated Press (AP) story had contained a misleading headline, "Lewis Calls for Bush Impeachment." The AP later edited their story, Brenda Jones, press spokesperson for Rep. Lewis, told Atlanta Progressive News. The Congressman intended for his comments to be understood not as a call for impeachment, but the comments were instead intended to signal a willingness to support impeachment if such a bill makes its way through the proper channels. The Select Committee specified in Rep. Conyers's H. Res 635 could constitute one of those channels, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. US Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) withdrew her name from H. Res 635 two weeks ago, whereas she had been listed as a cosponsor throughout January 2006. Lofgren cited a clerical error for her name having been listed in the first place. Lofgren’s Office told Atlanta Progressive News the Representative learned of her being listed as a co-sponsor after reading an exclusive article by Atlanta Progressive News issued January 01, 2006. The thing about H. Res. 635 is, it deals with impeaching Bush over a cluster of issues from misleading the public to go to war, to authorizing torture. Wiretapping was not listed as one of the reasons to investigate the grounds for Bush’s impeachment in the bill because the existence of the secret, illegal wiretapping had not come to light yet when the bill was being prepared. "We cherish the great and noble principle of freedom, we will fight to keep it, and we will hold this President – and anyone who violates those freedoms – accountable for their actions," US Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI) said in an ominous Senate floor statement over the wiretapping issue. Meanwhile, US Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), a moderate Republican chairing the wiretapping hearings in the Senate, told George Stephanopoulos during a television program, impeachment would be the standard remedy, at least in theory, if Bush has broken the law. "Well, the remedy could be a variety of things. A president — and I’m not suggesting remotely that there’s any basis, but you’re asking, really, theory, what’s the remedy? Impeachment is a remedy. After impeachment, you could have a criminal prosecution, but the principal remedy, George, under our society is to pay a political price," Senator Specter said on January 15, 2006. Meanwhile, the first professional poll commissioned by a progressive news agency found that 54% of all 850 Pennsylvanian respondents supported impeachment of President Bush if his authorization of domestic wiretapping is concluded to be illegal. The poll was conducted by Zobgy International and was commissioned by Rob Kall, Editor of OpEdNews. US Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) asked four legal scholars to analyze the grounds for Bush’s impeachment in December 2005. Perhaps these scholars’ opinions, in conjunction with congressional hearings on the NSA domestic wiretapping issue, will allow for the spying’s legality or illegality to be concluded with more certainty. H. Res 635 reads as its official title: "Creating a select committee to investigate the Administration's intent to go to war before congressional authorization, manipulation of pre-war intelligence, encouraging and countenancing torture, retaliating against critics, and to make recommendations regarding grounds for possible impeachment." "In brief, we have found that there is substantial evidence the President, the Vice-President and other high ranking members of the Bush Administration misled Congress and the American people regarding the decision to go to war in Iraq; misstated and manipulated intelligence information regarding the justification for such war; countenanced torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in Iraq; and permitted inappropriate retaliation against critics of their Administration. There is at least a prima facie case that these actions that federal laws have been violated – from false statements to Congress to retaliating against Administration critics," Rep. Conyers said in a press release on December 20, 2005. Atlanta Progressive News has provided near-exclusive–and during most times, exclusive–coverage of the progress of H. Res 635. We will continue to follow this story and any related developments. Matthew Cardinale is the Editor of Atlanta Progressive News. He may be reached at matthew@atlantaprogressivenews.com The present article is available on the Internet at: www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/pages/34/index.htmSee also: US Rep. Lewis Calls for Bush Impeachment (December 26, 2005) www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/pages/13/index.htmEXCLUSIVE: Bush Impeachment Inquiry Has 8 House CoSponsors (January 01, 2006) www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/pages/14/index.htmEXCLUSIVE: 14 US Reps Want Impeachment Probe (February 01, 2006) www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/pages/29/index.htmEXCLUSIVE: 17 US Reps Want Impeachment Probe (February 02, 2006) www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/pages/30/index.htmEXCLUSIVE: 22 US Reps Want Impeachment Probe (February 08, 2006) www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/pages/32/index.htmSyndication policy: This article may be reprinted in full at no cost, where Atlanta Progressive News is credited.
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michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on Feb 21, 2006 16:37:53 GMT 4
Bush Job Approval Ratings For All 50 StatesBush's Approval Rating Is Above 50% In Only 6 States In The Entire Country, And Texas Is Not One Of Them. In 40 Out Of 50 States -- 80% Of The Country -- More People Disapprove Of Bush Than Approve Of Himtinyurl.com/aeh6g
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michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on Feb 27, 2006 15:24:20 GMT 4
LIVING IN THE GILDED AGE. AMERICAN WORKERS CONTINUE TO LOOSE PENSIONS, BENEFITS, AND JOBS UNDER BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S CORPORATE CRONYISMEnron, IBM, ATT, Verizon Pension Victims to Describe Huge Losses, 1 p.m. Today, National Press Club, Pepper Foundation News Conference2/27/2006 6:01:00 AMTo: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor Contact: Bob Weiner or Rebecca Vander Linde, 301-283-0821, 202-329-1700 News Advisory: MEDIA UPDATE NOTE: The panel of pension loss victims will include an Enron worker in his 70s who had $1.3 million savings in Enron stock and wound up with $8,000; an IBM 26-year manufacturing employee, with a cash balance pension now valued at less than one-year's salary; an ATT worker receiving half the annual amount promised, and who lost promised health insurance; and a Verizon female employee who lost $300,000. A news forum at the National Press Club Monday, Feb. 27 on "Disintegrating Private Pensions National Crisis: Call to Action", sponsored by the Claude Pepper Foundation and Center, will include a panel of pension loss victims from across the country currently or recently employed by Enron, IBM, ATT, and Verizon, and a panel of policy experts from the AFL-CIO, the Pension Rights Center, Ernst and Young, Ameriprise, and the Claude Pepper Center at Florida State University. The event is 1 p.m. in the First Amendment Room. The victims will describe heart-wrenching personal experiences of the impact of losses in their expected and promised pensions on their lives and their families. Some of the victims lead pension loss groups. Policy experts will include William Arnone, Human Capital Practice partner for financial services giant Ernst and Young, New York City, and co-author of Ernst and Young's Retirement Planning Guide; Shaun O'Brien, assistant director, AFL-CIO Public Policy Department and pension policy expert, Washington, DC; Karen Friedman, policy director of the Pension Rights Center, Washington, DC; Awad Morgan, financial advisor, Ameriprise Financial Services, Vienna, VA; and David Macpherson, director, Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy, Claude Pepper Center, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL. The pension loss victims and the policy experts will propose changes in company processes, judicial rulings, and federal legislation to guarantee that workers are protected from losing earned benefits. Both the House and Senate are working on pension reform bills, and the panels' description of problems and solutions could have impact. Thomas Spulak, chair of the Pepper Foundation and former staff director of the House Rules Committee under Chairman Pepper, will open the event. Bob Weiner, former chief of staff of the House Aging Committee under Chairman Pepper, now president of Robert Weiner Associates Public Affairs, and author with Cael Pulitzer of a December 29 piece in the Miami Herald, "Pension Reform: Protect workers from losing earned benefits," is convener and moderator. The pension crisis is numbing. Out of 142.6 million active American workers, 101 million have a private pension plan. It is the lifeblood for most Americans supplementing the near poverty of pure Social Security. However, hundreds of major companies, including United Airlines, GM, IBM, Verizon, Sears, Hewlett Packard, Polaroid, AT&T, and of course Enron have now reduced their guaranteed retirement plans or judges have authorized dissolution of pension funds. The trend threatens nearly all American seniors and their families, as well as younger workers. The Forum is open to all print, radio, and television media and the public. Source: Robert Weiner Associates 301-283-0821 or 202-329-1700 ALSO SOME NEWS ON THE EMPLOYMENT SECTOR, HEALTH CARE, EDUCATION, AND THE ENVIRONMENT
From: Bush bankrupts AmericaBy Jerry Mazza Online Journal Contributing Writer Feb 19, 2006, 17:06 onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_518.shtmlSNIP:Losing Far More Jobs than CreatedJob growth over the last five years is the lowest ever. We (the US economy) were 7 million jobs short of keeping up with population growth. Anyone for immigration control? Add to that, US manufacturing lost 2.9 million jobs in the last five years, close to 17 percent of its workforce, across the board. Remember when we were the manufacturing envy of the world? Them days be long gone, boss. Forty-three percent of communication equipment’s workforce is gone; 37 percent of semiconductors and electronics components’ workforce gone; 30 percent of computers and electronic products’ workforce gone; 25 percent of electrical equipment and appliances workforce gone; 12 percent of automobile and parts’ workforce gone; 17 percent of furniture and related products’ workforce gone; almost 50 percent of apparel manufacturers’ workforce gone; 43 percent of textile mills’ workforce gone; 20 percent of paper and paper products’ workforce gone; 7 percent of beverages and tobacco products’ workforce gone. Want more? Why not? Slash, slash, slash, for cash. So-called smart jobs: 17 percent of the information sector gone; 25 percent of telecommunications’ workforce gone. Wholesale and retail jobs gone. Four percent of bookkeeping jobs gone. Nine percent in computer systems design gone. Two hundred-nine thousand managers' and supervisors’ jobs gone. What’s up, Doc? In five years, the economy created a measly 70,000 jobs in architecture and engineering, mostly clerical. Engineering enrollments are sliding, no gigs for grads. Several hundred thousand engineers out of work for years. One of them, Walter M., writes to me in a pure red hot rage every now and then. What can I tell the guy that he doesn’t know better than I do? These guys can’t even work at China-Mart because they’re told they’re overeducated. They might try to start a union, or compute the real value of hours put in and not paid for. Are we screwed or are we screwed? There’s more. Outsourcing and Offshore ProductionThe two words in the subhead have left the highly educated, once-employed up the creek without a paddle, and often with a PhD. And this doesn’t include people who have quietly given up. There is no recovery in sight that would pull people back like it did in the old days after a recession. There’s so much permanent unemployment it’s not even reported anymore. Job types and industries have been buried by arbitrage gravediggers as the Corpos replace Americans with foreigners working not quite as well but certainly cheaper. The long range effects of their less than equal competence will be paid for by the consumer. Yes, those were the wheels that flew off your Chebby, baby. Economists who are not rewriting government press releases rate US unemployment at between 7 percent and 8.5 percent. They say there are hundreds of thousands of Americans who won’t get back their investment in a college or university schooling. Apples anyone, nice, red, juicy? In fact, these sources say we’re experiencing a depression in jobs. Thank you, globalization. You’re an equal opportunity un-employer. Our Free Marketers, working with Bush & Company, have sold us out; sold us into a kind of skin of the teeth making it slavery. It should happen to them, with my blessings! Cutting More for WarBush will look for more money by taking it now and in the future from health care, education, the environment (more about that in a minute), safety and veterans programs. Helluva guy. Even though spending on elementary and secondary education goes up in fiscal 2007, it peaks then down, down, down. Same goes for National Institutes of Health, Mine Safety and Health Administration, the federal nutrition program for women and children, homeless assistance, US marshals service and other programs. US Forests For SaleYup, as of Feb. 11, the LA Times tells us Bushy would like to sell more than $1 billion in public lands over 10 years. This includes 85,000 acres of national forest in California. Is this land this piker’s to sell? I thought this land was your land; this land was my land. Or has Woody Gutherie been putting us on all these years? The land proceeds would pay for roads and rural schools to make up for the federal subsidy cut from Bush’s 2007 budget. Get how nice it works? Of course, Congress must rubber stamp, excuse me, approve this plan or he’ll have them shot. Not, just sent to the back of the class to stare at the wall with a dummy’s hat on. See, this is the largest land sale of its kind since President Teddy Roosevelt created the US Forest Service in 1905 and our modern national forest system. Professor of Enviromental History at San Antonio's Trinity University, Char Miller, called it “ . . . A fire sale of public lands . . . utterly unprecedented. It signals that the lands and the agency that manages them are in deep trouble. For the American people, it is an awful way to understand that it no longer controls its public land.” And, in a second proposal stuck into the 2007 budget, White House goons ordered the US Bureau of Land Management to sell off at least $350 million in public land, the money to go directly to their pockets, excuse me, the general treasury. Believe it. It’s happening. And Now the Good NewsAs of this writing (February13) there are only 314 shopping days until Christmas, during which you can get yourself a little deeper in debt with your credit cards. Forget the stats. They’re too depressing. You suffered enough. But maybe (if you have one) you’ll want to sell your house in Malibu for big bucks (Sam, are you listening) and buy a piece of Yellowstone and live there as a bear. Sam’s a screenwriter friend of mine, and it could work for him, if anyone. Or I could sell my pad in New York before the bubble bursts. I could go and hide in a cave with the Berkshire bears and a laptop of course. Hey, yeah. You can, too, particularly if you’re Chinese-American, move to China, and grab some of that American Cash via some multinational pie-maker. Or if you're Sino-American try Japan for some mulitnational sushi. Or, you might want to get yourself a Sari and some tanning lotion and take off for India. "Hi, my name is Cindy, can I have your mother’s birthday, please." How bout it? You might even want to bone up on your Steinbeck (Grapes of Wrath) and see how the folks back then in the 30s dealt with the dust bowl depression days. Or, or what? You just might want to tell that sonofabush in DC what you think of him. Like what a sceeve (New York street for the Italian, schifezza: disgusting, dreadful, rubbish) he is, for taking down a beautiful country like this. And maybe one day, one way, life will return the favor. Right, George. We love you a bunch, baby, especially the way you say "nucular." Jerry Mazza is a freelance writer residing in Manhattan. Reach him at gvmaz@verizon.net.
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michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on Mar 2, 2006 17:49:12 GMT 4
Working Americans Face 'Robber Baron' EconomyGREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATESwww.gp.org Wednesday, March 1, 2006 Contacts: Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty@greens.org Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@greens.org Working Americans must stand up to growing monopoly power of corporations, say Greens. Consolidated corporate power has created financial hardship for middle- and low-income Americans; Greens call for repeal and reform of laws privileging large firms. WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders urged all Americans to stand up to the growing monopoly power of corporations, which has created financial hardship and ruin for working Americans and families. "The 2006 midterm elections, at national, state, and local levels, must address the crisis of consolidated corporate power, and how it's hitting Americans hard in their bank accounts," said Aimee Allison, Green candidate for Oakland (California) City Council, District 2 www.aimeeallison.org. "Debt is at record levels, and a medical emergency or a job loss can spell financial ruin for American families. When companies merge at the national and global level, when Wal-Mart swallows up local economies and puts small business owners out of business, then words like 'free market' and 'competition' are a joke." Greens asked working Americans to support several urgent measures to restore financial stability and protection for citizens and to limit corporate power:Recent bankruptcy bills, which give financial institutions nearly unlimited power over middle- and low-income Americans facing financial hardship, must be overturned. "The House bankruptcy bill passed in April, 2005, allows creditors to demand higher payments before and after bankruptcy, drives up bankruptcy filling fees and minimum payments in repayment plans, and also lets millionaires escape their debts by hiding their money in exemptions and trusts," said John Eder, elected Green Independent member of the Maine House of Representatives (Portland) www.RepJohnEder.com. "The bill was passed by Republicans and by 72 House Democrats without amendments that would have blocked abuses of bankruptcy laws by companies like Enron. 90% of bankruptcies are the result of employment, illness, or inadequate health insurance. This bill was a victory for credit card companies and banks, and a crushing defeat for the rest of us." According to the Center for Responsive Politics, financial and credit firms gave more than $7.8 million in individual and PAC contributions during the 2004 election cycle to both Republicans (64%) and Democrats (36%). A national health insurance system will remove control by HMOs and insurance firms over U.S. health care, and will guarantee quality coverage for all Americans. "HMOs and insurance firms make decisions based on profit, not on our need for health care," said Donna J. Warren, who is seeking the Green nomination for Lieutenant Governor of California www.donnawarren.com. "They refuse to cover people who are considered at-risk -- people with prior medical conditions, older Americans, and those who can't afford coverage. That's why over 45 million Americans, including millions of working people, aren't covered. The only remedy is a single-payer national health insurance system. Unfortunately, most Congress members get too much money in contributions from these corporations, so they refuse to challenge corporate power and profit with a single-payer plan." Americans must work to preserve their job benefits and public 'social safety' protections, beginning with repeal of Taft-Hartley restrictions on workplace organization and rejection of Republican attempts to privatize Social Security. Conservation of energy and targeted carbon taxes will not only help curb the advance of global warming and make the U.S. less reliant on foreign oil, they will prevent oil companies from gouging consumers while drawing record profits. Greens noted that, while Americans suffered higher prices at the gas pump, companies like Exxon Mobil set U.S. records for quarterly and annual profits in 2005. money.cnn.com/2006/01/30/news/companies/exxon_earns/?cnn=yesGreens also call for an end to the status of corporations as 'persons' according to a 19th-century interpretation of the U.S. Constitution; legislation to prevent corporations from evading payment of taxes and escaping punishment when they break the law; stronger local economic control for communities facing invasion by Wal-Mart and other big chain stores; and renegotiation of international trade pacts like NAFTA and FTAA which privilege corporations over working people and override labor, human rights, and environmental protections. Greens stressed that income for Americans under 45 has fallen dramatically between 2001 and 2005, and that people of color have been disproportionately hit by cuts to the social safety net. "We're in a new 'Robber Baron' era," said California congressional candidate Byron De Lear (28th District) www.delearforcongress.org. "While competition between powerful companies has dwindled under corporate-friendly policies, working people compete for fewer jobs, benefits disappear, unions are weakened, and small businesses don't stand a chance." "But we can't even begin to fight predatory corporate power until we expel all Democrats and Republicans in Congress, in state legislatures, and in city councils who take marching orders from corporate lobbyists," said Mr. DeLear. "The Green Party and its candidates refuse all contributions from corporations, and we're fighting for campaign finance reforms that allow Green and other noncorporate candidates a fighting chance to compete in elections."MORE INFORMATIONGreen Party of the United Statesgp.org 1700 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 404 Washington, DC 20009. 202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN Fax 202-319-7193 "America's Younger Workers Losing Ground on Income: From 2001 to 2004, Median Income Fell 8 Percent for Householders under 35"By Mark Trumbull, The Christian Science Monitor, February 28, 2006 abcnews.go.com/Business/CSM/story?id=1664971 "Racial Poverty Gaps in U.S. Amount to Human Rights Violation, Says U.N. Expert"By Haider Rizvi, OneWorld US, November 30, 2005 us.oneworld.net/article/view/123107/1/unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/68E2DD8540B09F7DC12570BA002FE0FD?opendocument Green Party rebuttal to President Bush's 2006 State of the Union Address (Video News Release) gp.org/video/2006stateofunion/ video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-777759195181147321&q=green+party
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DT1
Moderator
You know, it's not like I wanted to be right about all of this...
Posts: 428
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Post by DT1 on Mar 3, 2006 12:52:29 GMT 4
I would like to pass along some thoughts from U.S. Representative John Conyers...
Why We Act
There are few roles in our constitutional government that are more frustrating than being a member of the minority party during a period of one party control of the government. However, at a time when the majority party in general - and the president in particular - appears to be acting in open violation of the laws and the constitution, there are few jobs which are more important to the future of our democratic form of government.
People think of Watergate, or Iran Contra as constituting crises. They were in the sense that an executive branch was acting in violation of the law, and in tension with the majority party in the congress. But in the end, the system worked, the abuses were investigated, and actions were taken - even if presidential pardons ultimately prevented a full measure of justice.
Today, the crisis is substantively and systemically far worse. The alleged acts of wrongdoing - lying about the decision to go to war; manipulation of intelligence; facilitating and countenancing torture; using confidential information to out a CIA agent; open and flagrant violations of federal wiretap laws - are far more egregious than any I have witnessed in my 41 years in Congress. The majority party has shown no ability to engage in simple oversight, let alone challenge the Administration directly. The courts, while operating as an occasional and partial check, are institutionally incapable of delving into most of the controversies we are presented with as a result of limitations on standing, ripeness, and other doctrines. The media, which is increasingly concentrated, was shell-shocked and in some respects cowered by 9/11, and for the most part unwilling to alienate the party in charge.
Faced with that dilemma, we had a choice. We could simply ignore the myriad of transgressions being committed, and continue to reacting to the legislative agenda put before us by the Republican Party on a day-to-day basis, or we could do everything in our power to call attention to and document these very grave abuses of power. I opted for the latter course.
I could not live with myself or my children, if when faced with an Administration that went to war under false pretenses, used classified information to smear political opponents; and wiretapped innocent Americans without warrants, I did not formally respond to it. If the Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over the constitution, is silent on these matters, who else can we expect to speak out?
So for the last several years I have:
Forwarded scores of letters to the Administration requesting information about these abuses, including most notably a letter inquiring about the accuracy of the Downing Street Minutes signed by 122 Members and more than 500,000 Americans.
Forwarded numerous letters to the Republican Chairs asking them to conduct hearings on these abuses, including a letter signed by 52 Members formally requesting that the Committees on Judiciary, Armed Services, International Relations and Intelligence convene hearings on the Downing Street Minutes.
Filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the Administration, asked for investigations by GAO, various Inspectors General, and the Justice Department.
Held our own Democratic hearings, for which we were forced by the Majority to retreat to the basement of the Capitol.
Completed a comprehensive report on the Downing Street Minutes and the Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution, and Coverups in the Iraq War, which was more than 270 pages and 1000 footnotes in length.
Filed legislation resulting from our investigation not only censoring the President and the Vice President, but creating a select committee to more fully investigate whether impeachable offenses had occurred.
When the NSA scandal broke, we again responded - with letters, requests for independent investigations, holding our own hearing, and are now in the process of completing a comprehensive report of these and related civil rights and civil liberties abuses by the Administration since 9/11. All of this constitutes a public record of the constitutional abuses we have seen, and is designed to stand the test of time. It comes on top of the hearings and Report I prepared on the electoral abuses in Ohio which led to an unprecedented electoral college challenge in the House and the Senate.
Now let me add, in many respects, this is just the tip of the iceberg of the policy failures of this Administration. Over the last six years we have seen a record budget surplus turn into a record deficit; we face trade deficits as far as they eye can see and the near evisceration of our manufacturing base; we have a record number of individuals and families who do not have health insurance; we passed a disastrous Medicare sell out bill; we went through the debacle of Congress and the President politicizing the tragic Terry Schiavo case; Port Security is abysmal, the Homeland Security Department is a joke, and yesterday we learned that Bush knew very well that the levees in New Orleans could be breached even though he later said no one anticipated it. These are all weighty, serious issues. They present significant problems for our nation as well, however, they are not of the same constitutional magnitude as the other issues we're talking about today.
There can be no doubt that today we are in a constitutional crisis that threatens the system of checks and balances that has preserved our fundamental freedoms for more than 200 years. Just because the president's approval ratings is down to 34% and the vice president's approval is down to 18%, does not mean they cannot do severe, long term harm to our nation. Our actions and tonight's forum are an important clarion call to anyone who is listening - that there is a constitutional line that even a president cannot cross without our people standing up and fighting for their democracy.
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michelle
Administrator
I have broken any attachments I had to the Ascended Masters and their teachings; drains your chi!
Posts: 2,100
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Post by michelle on Mar 12, 2006 6:22:18 GMT 4
Impeachment: Which Democrats Are Blocking Us?Thanks to your grassroots lobbying efforts - and the leadership of Rep. John Conyers - there are now 29 co-sponsors for Conyers' Select Committee on Impeachment, H. Res. 635. afterdowningstreet.org/635That's a good start - but ALL 202 Democrats should be co-sponsors. After all, Bush deserves impeachment far more than any president in American history, and a solid majority of Americans want Congress to impeach him NOW.democrats.com/bush-impeachment-polls What's holding back the Democrats? According to reporter Dave Lindorff, "members of Congress - even firebrands like Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) - have been strong-armed behind the scenes by the Democratic National Committee not to introduce an impeachment bill in the House." The DNC chairman is Howard Dean. Ask him why he is blocking impeachment here:democrats.org/page/s/contactHouse Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi also opposes impeachment, urging Democratic activists to focus instead on winning the House in November. We reject that because every single DAY that Bush remains in office is another day in which American soldiers are killed or maimed in Iraq, Iraqi civilians are killed or maimed or poisoned, prisoners in America's Gulag are tortured, America's ports are left vulnerable, our phones and computers are wiretapped, and our planet races towards climate catastrophe. Also, since a solid majority (52%-53%) of Americans support Bush's impeachment, it's both good policy and good politics. Ask Nancy Pelosi and the House Democratic leadership why they are blocking impeachment here:democrats.house.gov/contact/index.cfmAnother terrific way to promote impeachment is by getting cities, counties, towns, villages, and Democratic committees to adopt impeachment resolutions. Last week, citizens of five Vermont towns overwhelmingly passed resolutions urging their Congressman, Bernie Sanders, to introduce Articles of Impeachment. His first reply was to call impeachment "impractical," but he then responded to his constituents by co-sponsoring H. Res. 635. The growing list of local resolutions favoring the impeachment of Bush and Cheney is here: impeachpac.org/resolutionsActivists who are particularly savvy have embraced the "Rutland Resolution" to urge their state legislatures to submit impeachable charges directly to the U.S. House of Representatives under Section 603 of the Manual of the Rules of the U.S. House of Representatives. This strategy is best suited to states that have strong Democratic majorities in both houses of the legislature: CA, MA, HI, RI, and VT. Learn more here:www.impeachbush.tv/impeach/statehow.htmlIf you would like to help organize impeachment efforts in your state, county or town, join the Impeachment Working Group of Progressive Democrats of America: pdamerica.org/impeach-wg.phpAnd be sure to urge your Representative to co-sponsor H.Res. 635:capwiz.com/pdamerica/issues/alert/?alertid=8329176Let's make impeachment our highest priority this spring - victory is possible!! _________________ ImpeachPAC Endorses Jeeni CriscenzoThis week ImpeachPAC endorsed its third pro-impeachment candidate for Congress, Jeeni Criscenzo, who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary to challenge Republican incumbent (and former car thief) Darrell Issa in California's 49th District. Criscenzo has already been endorsed by the San Diego Imperial Counties Labor Council, Progressive Democrats of San Diego, Democracy for America Meetup #23 (San Diego), and Progressive Democrats of America (national). Criscenzo has been a leading opponent of the Iraq War since before the invasion. She organized the Bring Their Buddies Home vigils as a non-confrontational way of showing people the human cost of war. Her campaign website makes clear her opposition to criminal policies of the Bush regime. She wrote a blog entry on March 6, advocating impeachment of Bush and Cheney. Criscenzo has also been campaigning lately wearing an "Impeach Bush" T-shirt. In her blog, Criscenzo wrote: "If we go back to George Washington, American presidents have attached signing statements to laws a total of 322 times up until this president. George W. Bush has done it 435 times… George W. Bush is a dictator in president's clothing. He and his cabal have raped our Constitution, depleted our treasury, sent our kids to go kill and torture other people's kids for the personal enrichment of his cronies and left the poor people of New Orleans to die or become permanently displaced, conveniently remaking that diverse Democratic city, at one of the centers of the U.S. petrochemical industry, into a white, Republican stronghold.
"The future of our country is balancing on a precarious precipice. The Bush cabal is moving full-speed ahead in their plans to establish the Global Empire of Halliburton… Our only chance to stop this nightmare is to take back Congress THIS YEAR. That means winning a majority in November AND making impeachment of Bush and Cheney our first priority."impeachpac.org/?q=node/711
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