Monday, April 28, 2008

Feature: Crossroads

China's Trade Slaves

By Ring of Fire

By Mike Papantonio

Bush has the US $1 trillion in debt to China – our grandchildren will be paying off that debt because our misfit rich-kid president wanted to give 300 billion dollars worth of tax breaks to his republican country club crowd. Every time the China Olympic question comes up, Obama and Clinton should be talking about that.

They should remind Americans that the real reason our Chinese lapdog president has to show up at the Olympic opening ceremonies is because he is terrified by the fact that China owns him and his GOP.

Today the GOP’s Chinese policy has the US buying everything China has to sell while China stifles our US exports with impossible Chinese tariffs. The grand ole party has made us into China’s new trade hostage. And there is nothing our MBA-trained president can do about it because Bush knows that all China has to do is threaten to sell all the US dollars they now hold and our Republican-created economy disaster would be thrown into an even worse tail spin.

You see, Bush’s GOP in just 8 years has built a relationship with China that looks a lot like Master – Slave. And we aren’t the master. That’s why George gives us one of those trademark goofy smiles like the banjo boy from Deliverance every time someone asks him whether we can stop Chinese sweatshop products from being sold in the US.

That’s why we see that thousand yard empty-eyed stare whenever he’s asked why we don’t stop China from exporting state of the art munitions to every trouble spot around the globe – like Sudan, Nepal, Burma, or the Congo.

Bush is terrified to actually show leadership to help stop the genocide that is perpetuated by China munitions exports because he knows what a Chinese slap down would mean for the US – he, after all, helped put us here.

So Obama looks ridiculous when he states that he feels conflicted about this issue. And Clinton, she needs to get even angrier – this is her chance. To drive home the fact that McCain will do what is predictable for a 72-year-old lifelong Republican who will not ever figure out how to end our China dependence – instead he will simply give us 4 more years of China policy that has America looking like a banana republic, incapable of showing dignified leadership.

Feature: Doorways

The very reason.....all Americans need to pay attention to what is happening at the level of the Supreme Court...(a nation, a democracy, ruled by law?????)

Supreme Court Throws voting rights under the bus... http://airamerica.com/blog/2008/apr/28/supreme-court-throws-voting-rights-under-bus

By SEDER

The Supreme Court has ruled to uphold Indiana'a voter ID laws. These laws have the effect of making it more difficult for the elderly and the poor to vote. However, they have the "benefit" of ensuring that that our elections will never suffer the voting fraud like we have no record of taking place in the 20th century!

That's right-- make it harder to vote in order to promote society's interest in preventing something that literally never happens.

In dissent, Justices Souter and Ginsburg:

Indiana’s "Voter ID Law" threatens to impose nontrivial
burdens on the voting right of tens of thousands of the State’s
citizens, [] and a significant percentage of those individuals are
likely to be deterred from voting.
The statute is
unconstitutional under the balancing standard of Burdick v. Takushi,
504 U. S. 428 (1992): a State may not burden the right to vote merely
by invoking abstract interests, be they legitimate, [] or even
compelling, but must make a particular, factual showing that threats to
its interests outweigh the particular impediments it has imposed. The State has made no such justification here, and as to some aspects of its law, it has hardly even tried.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Feature: Shifters

THANKS JOANN.........
Below an excerpt from Jamie Sams and the 13th Clan Mothers....

Human --- 2 legged.......please listen.

BLINDED BY ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY / by Jamie Sams
"The organizations and groups that have tried to set themselves up as the absolute authorities in any culture have tried to blind the masses. These organizations have used absolute authority to twist the truths of any who spoke out, trying to discredit any opposition. They have used guilt to rule the opinions of the undecided, creating hypocrisy and fear. The resulting witch-hunts were used to prove that their way was the only true way. The desire to destroy or slander anyone who was not a part of their belief system, religion, philosophy, or Tradition has created mass separation.
The mark of any group that uses this kind of despotism* is their use of scapegoats to cover their true intentions to set themselves up as the ultimate authority. The desire to be the only real authority on anything is a tragic misuse of power, being based on selfish drives and having no desire to serve humanity as a whole.
We need to be grateful for the truths that this type of behavior allows us to see. We clearly see the truth of absolute authority’s futility, trying to destroy that which cannot be destroyed- the personal inner knowing of each individual’s honest connection to the Great Mystery.
That sacred connection, and the inner knowing it creates, cannot be controlled by misplaced guilt, lies, or pack mentality."

Friday, April 25, 2008

Feature: Crossroads

Are we sick of the lies yet???????
An official with the independent group that conducted the survey says it indicates the widespread nature of the problem.
By Judy Pasternak, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 24, 2008
WASHINGTON -- More than half of the scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency who responded to a survey said they had experienced political interference in their work. The survey results show "an agency under siege from political pressures," said the Union of Concerned Scientists report, which was released Wednesday and sent to EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson.
The online questionnaire was sent to 5,419 EPA scientists last summer; 1,586 replied, and of those, 889 reported that they had experienced at least one type of interference within the last five years. Such allegations are not new: During much of the Bush administration, there have been reports of the White House watering down documents on climate change, industry language inserted into EPA power-plant regulations and scientific advisory panels' conclusions about toxic chemicals going unheeded. But Francesca Grifo, director of the scientific integrity program for the Union of Concerned Scientists, a Washington-based nonprofit group, said the survey documented the widespread nature of the problem at the EPA. "What we've been up against until now is anecdotal evidence," Grifo said. She acknowledged that scientists who were frustrated or upset might have been more likely than those who were satisfied to respond to her organization's survey, but added: "Nearly 900 EPA scientists reported political interference in their scientific work. That's 900 too many." EPA spokesman Jonathan Shradar noted that administrator Johnson had had a 27-year career as a scientist himself. "We have the best and finest scientific community in the world at EPA," Shradar said. "All of the issues we deal with are issues that we all are very passionate about. It's important that we let the scientists do the science and allow policymakers to do the policy work." The survey respondents were split over the impact of political interference on regulations. According to the report, 48% believed that the EPA's actions were "frequently or always" consistent with scientific findings, and 47% believed that agency policy "occasionally, seldom or never" made use of scientific judgments. In optional essays, scientists repeatedly singled out the Office of Management and Budget at the White House, accusing officials there of inserting themselves into decision-making at early stages in a way that shaped the outcome of their inquiries. They also alleged that the OMB delayed rules not to its liking. EPA actions "are held hostage" until changes are made, a scientist from the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation wrote. Some also accused members of Congress of inappropriate intervention. All of the respondents remained anonymous. J. William Hirzy, an EPA senior scientist and union official, said that politics trumped science at times during the Clinton administration as well but that "what we're seeing now is . . . the favoring of energy interests, coal-fired power plants. That's something different in this administration." Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) wrote to Johnson on Wednesday asking him to be prepared to respond to the findings at a hearing next month of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. judy.pasternak@latimes.com

Thursday, April 24, 2008

WHO DO YOU BELIEVE A NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER OR A WAR MONGER....???
Jimmy Carter caused a storm of controversy when he met with Hamas during his Mideast trip. Secretary Rice has said the Bush Administration 'explicitly warned Carter' not to meet with the exiled leader of Hamas, but Carter insists that Rice is "not telling the truth":
Former U.S. President
Jimmy Carter on Wednesday accused Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of not telling the truth about warnings she said her department gave Carter not to speak to Hamas before a Middle East trip.
"President Carter has the greatest respect for ... Rice and believes her to be a truthful person. However, perhaps inadvertently, she is continuing to make a statement that is not true," a statement issued by the Carter center in Atlanta said on Wednesday.
"No one in the State Department or any other department of the U.S. government ever asked him (Carter) to refrain from his recent visit to the Middle East or even suggested that he not meet with Syrian President (Bashar) Assad or leaders of Hamas," it said.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Feature: Doorways

picture found @ http://arkansastonight.com/uploaded_images/Censorship-791503.jpg

The Pentagon is infiltrating the media with pro-war propaganda.
http://free.convio.net/site/Ri=tkGuioo32DuDJfPqZIEK_A..
Yesterday, the New York Times exposed a secret Pentagon campaign to infiltrate the media with pro-war propaganda.
The scheme reaches all the way to the Bush White House, where top officials recruited dozens of "military analysts" to spread favorable views of the war via every major news channel -- without revealing they were working from Pentagon scripts and often lobbying for major military contractors. Spreading "covert propaganda" is illegal under federal law. Congress must investigate these military pundits and their ties to the Bush administration, defense contractors and our national news media.
Tell Congress: Investigate the Propaganda Pundits
http://free.convio.net/site/R?i=zbpqHntmbe0nyCI8WIEDwQ..

The more than 75 analysts exposed by the New York Times have become fixtures of war coverage on CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC. The front-page article reveals the many ways that the Pentagon
fed them pro-war talking points and misinformation. The White House even has a name for these covert propagandists: The pundits trade on their access to the media and the White House to secure high-paying jobs as lobbyists, consultants and contractors -- vying for hundreds of billions of dollars in military business
generated by the war.
An administration secretly forcing favorable views via the press is not a partisan issue. This is a violation of every conceivable standard of journalism -- and possibly of federal law.
It's time the truth about the selling of this war came out.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Feature: Shifters

Are you for REAL?????

The Veveteen Rabbit
What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
"I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.
"The Boy's Uncle made me Real," he said. "That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Feature: Doorways

this forwarded from:

RANGER AGAINST WAR; http://www.rangeragainstwar.blogspot.com/
"Military commentary from retired Special Forces officer. Expresses views against the Iraq War and the War on Terror. Sees this administration as undertaking unjustified military responses to terrorism."
The U.S. military is being used to subject and force the populations of Iraq and Afghanistan to bend to our will.

If they do not do so, then send in the A-10's.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Feature: Shifters


APRIL 15TH------TAX DAY WITHOUT REPRESENTATION....



Portland Couple Has Refused to Pay Taxes for 30 Years to Protest Military Funding

By Amy Goodman, Democracy Now!. Posted April 15, 2008.

Full story @ http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/82447/

"In Fiscal Year 2006, the U. S. Government spent $406 Billion of your money on interest payments to the holders of the National Debt."

As of early 2008, the total U.S. federal debt is around $9.5 trillion, about $31,100 per U.S. citizen. Of this amount, debt "held by the public" was roughly $5.3 trillion - this is the amount of money owed by the U.S. government to its creditors.

Since much of this debt was run up by delivering fraudulent and bogus contracts to giant international corporations like Boeing, Lockheed, etc., there is a very good argument that this distribution of taxpayer funds represents "taxation without representation".

Furthermore, the tax burden falls most heavily on the shoulders of the middle class, while the wealthiest benefit from tax cuts across the board.


Furthermore, the present President is a fraud who only gained office via a stolen election - an election stolen with the overt assistance of a right-wing, politicized Supreme Court. Under such conditions, citizens are entirely justified in paying their taxes to their local or state governments. There's been the equivalent of a fascist coup in the executive branch of the federal government, so anti-war tax protest is more legitimate than ever. Again, it has to go to your local government - not into your pocket - for it truly to be tax protest.

Feature: Doorways

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: The Next President's First Task [A Manifesto]
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/041208Y.shtml
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in an editorial for
Vanity Fair, writes: "Today, we don't need to abolish carbon as an energy source in order to see its inefficiencies starkly, or to understand that this addiction is the principal drag on American capitalism. The evidence is before our eyes. The practice of borrowing a billion dollars each day to buy foreign oil has caused the American dollar to implode. More than a trillion dollars in annual subsidies to coal and oil producers have beggared a nation that four decades ago owned half the globe's wealth. Carbon dependence has eroded our economic power, destroyed our moral authority, diminished our international influence and prestige, endangered our national security, and damaged our health and landscapes. It is subverting everything we value."

Friday, April 11, 2008

Feature: Shifters


LETTING THE BUFFALO ROAM
Tens of millions of bison once thundered across much of North America, helping shape the landscape and keeping grasslands healthy.
Now the Yellowstone bison -- some of the last wild bison in North America -- face slaughter. As they leave the park's boundaries in search of winter feeding grounds, they are either hazed back into the park to possible starvation or shipped off to slaughter. This winter alone, a record number of bison -- more than 1,300 -- were killed by federal and Montana state officials.
Defenders is working to end to this modern-day bison slaughter by collaborating with state and federal officials to develop a more science-based bison management policy. We're also working to ensure that the buffalo can once again roam on thousands of acres of national forests and other public lands.
Find out more about our work on bison:
http://action.defenders.org/site/R?i=yrhYN5sifub7W4JEhsMHtg..

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Feature: Shifters

We need to see.............we need to see.

"Add this to the list of items that could seriously threaten world peace: food."
By VIVIENNE WALT
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1717572,00.html
Rocketing food prices — some of which have more than doubled in two years — have sparked riots in numerous countries recently. Millions are reeling from sticker shock and governments are scrambling to staunch a fast-moving crisis before it spins out of control. From Mexico to Pakistan, protests have turned violent. Rioters tore through three cities in the West African nation of Burkina Faso last month, burning government buildings and looting stores. Days later in Cameroon, a taxi drivers' strike over fuel prices mutated into a massive protest about food prices, leaving around 20 people dead. Similar protests exploded in Senegal and Mauritania late last year. And Indian protesters burned hundreds of food-ration stores in West Bengal last October, accusing the owners of selling government-subsidized food on the lucrative black market. "This is a serious security issue," says Joachim von Braun, director-general of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), in Washington. In recent weeks, he notes, he has been bombarded by calls from officials around the world, all asking one question: How long will the crisis last?

The forecast is grim. Governments might quell the protests, but bringing down food prices could take at least a decade, food analysts say. One reason: billions of people are buying ever-greater quantities of food — especially in booming China and India, where many have stopped growing their own food and now have the cash to buy a lot more of it. Increasing meat consumption, for example, has helped drive up demand for grain, and with it the price.

Feature: Crossroads


Code Pink:::::
IN ACTION....
April 9, 2008
http://www.codepink4peace.org/
When General David Petraeus testified before the Senate Committees on Foreign Relations and Armed Services yesterday about the status of the war and political developments in Iraq, he left out an important part of the picture: the true experience of the Iraqi people, especially Iraqi women, and their desire for the U.S. troops to leave.
CODEPINK was in the hearing room, wearing death masks to represent the deep grief and pain of the women of Iraq (
Flickr Slideshow). As reported by Women for Women International, Iraqi women are plagued by violence and insecurity; a severe lack of medicine, clean water, electricity and other basic services; and the rise of conservative Islamists.
While General Petraeus says the presence of the U.S. military helps reduce violence, 71 percent of Iraqi women say they do not feel protected by U.S. soldiers and 65 percent report that US soldiers are only making security worse.
Today, as General Petraeus continues his testimony before the House Committees on Armed Services and Foreign Affairs, Iraqis are taking to the street to protest the U.S. occupation. We must demand that their voices are heard in Washington.
Please send the Women for Women International Report to the Chairmen of the House and Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees and call their offices to urge them to listen to the Iraqi women, and the majority of all Iraqis, who are calling for an end to the occupation of their country.
Joe Biden, US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations(202) 224-4651
Carl Levin, US Senate Committee on Armed Services(202)224.3871
Howard Berman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs(202) 225-5021
Ike Skelton, House Armed Services Committee(202) 225-4151
Thank you for giving Iraqi women a desperately needed voice,Alicia, Dana, Desiree, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Jodie, Liz, Medea, Nancy, Rae, and Tighe

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

This is what REVOLUTION looks like.....
This is what people, like you and like me, can do to change the the course of history...

We can act. We can unite. We can say NO MORE LIES!!!!


"…the most convincing film to date about the legendary events of the Ukrainian civic resistance…. " -- KINO-KOLO Ukraine's premier film magazine

Watching the trailer made my hair stand on end.one question keep going through my mind, why havent we done anything against these demons

..Have Americans ( I ) lost their ability to stand for justice, to demand democracy, to act for liberty.??????



Feature: Shifters

"You say you want a Revolution....well ell you know.... we all want to change the world." Beatles
Patriotism requires more than nodding in conformity...it takes actions, guts and courage...are you willing to sign?

Live from: Credo Action: http://act.credomobile.com/campaign/cut_war_funding

No More Tax Dollars for Bush's Iraq Occupation

Congress will soon consider President Bush's latest request for "emergency" funding to continue to pay for the occupation of Iraq. Representative John Murtha, chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, will head up the committee that writes the legislation for this funding request.
After five years and more than
five hundred billion dollars sunk into this occupation, our elected officials should stand up and say "no more."
Please sign the petition below, urging Rep. Murtha to appropriate funds only for a responsible and timely redeployment of our troops out of Iraq.
Former Congressman Tom Andrews and members of the Win Without War coalition will deliver your signatures to Congressman Murtha in person before the supplemental appropriations bill is written.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Feature: Shifters


Week of 4.4.08 // Tales of Courage

"Thousands of young girls in western Nepal have been sold by their parents to work as servants. Subsisting as farm laborers, many families have taken this dramatic step in a desperate attempt to put food on their tables. The girls are often sent far away from their homes and lured to the cities with a promise of education. The girls rarely go to school and many are abused by the families they work for. The Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation (NYOF) is helping these girls through an innovative program wherein girls win their freedom in exchange for goats and pigs. Below, two brave girls who were able to break free from their lives as modern day slaves in Nepal share their stories"
"This week NOW travels to Nepal during the Maghe Sankranti holiday, when labor contractors come to the villages of the area to "buy" the children. There, we meet the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation, which is trying to break the cycle of poverty and pain with an Enterprising Idea. They're providing desperate families with an incentive to keep their daughters: a piglet or a goat that can ultimately be sold for a sum equivalent to that of their child's labor.
The organization says it has brought thousands of girls home to live with their families, but many cultural and political challenges still stand in their way. This is part of NOW's continuing series on innovative and sustainable solutions to world problems, what we call Enterprising Ideas."



Watch the impressive video....it is truly worth it....it is all about Feminine Energies...

Features" Doorways



Police scuffled with protesters as Olympians and celebrities carried the Olympic torch through snowy London during a chaotic relay on Sunday. http://www.ibnlive.com/news/olympic-torch-relay-disrupted-in-london/62777-5.html




"Three pro-Tibet protesters climbed the suspension cables of the Golden Gate Bridge on Monday to protest the coming arrival of the Beijing Olympics torch relay in San Francisco. Three people protesting China's human rights record and the impending arrival of the Olympic torch climbed the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on Monday and tied Tibetan flags and two banners to its cables.(Paul Sakuma/Associated Press) The protesters, tethered together on suspension cables halfway up the bridge, unfurled two giant banners reading "One World, One Dream" and "Free Tibet 'O8" — a play on the official slogan of the Beijing Games. One of the climbers also displayed a Tibetan flag." http://www.cbc.ca/sports/amateur/story/2008/04/07/paris-torch.html


There are always those who amaze me, who seem to be able to "act" instead of observe....those who move the energies of rebellion for the sake of a more sane world. They have my deepest respect and sincerest gratitude.



The Olympic flame was extinguished three times in the French capital


Features:Shifters

A letter from Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International....

When it bid for the 2008 Olympics, China made promises to the International Olympic Committee to improve its human rights record. But with the recent crackdown in Tibet, Beijing has focused the world on its broken promises.As you've probably heard, Buddhist monks took to the streets of Lhasa last month to mark the anniversary of the 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. Chinese authorities responded by arresting and, in some cases, beating protestors. After demonstrations turned violent, authorities launched a brutal crackdown, severly beating protestors and firing live ammunition into crowds. Subsequent peaceful demonstrations throughout Tibet and nearby areas have been harshly put down. The death toll is difficult to verify. Chinese authorities claim that only 19 have died, while the Tibetan government in exile estimates the death toll as high as 140, with more than 1,000 people detained since March 10th.The Tibetan people have shown tremendous patience in the face of brutal repression of their culture, religious beliefs and right to self-expression. This struggle for basic human rights is what Amnesty International is all about. While you and I live far away from Tibet, we can provide a vital lifeline by supporting Amnesty International.Our organization has documented a long history of prisoner abuse in Tibet, especially for those accused by Chinese authorities of participating in "separatist" activities. With the region now virtually sealed off to foreign journalists and other independent observers, Amnesty International is deeply concerned for the safety of detainees. With your financial support, Amnesty is working to free those wrongly detained for acts of peaceful self-expression, including 15 monks who were arrested on March 10th during a non-violent demonstration in Llasa, the Tibetan capital. We are also calling for full disclosure of all those being held and the charges against them, prompt access to legal counsel for all prisoners, and free and immediate access to Tibet for foreign media and UN officials. In recent days, Amnesty International has also met with Congressional leaders and White House officials, in an effort to apply diplomatic pressure on China's leadership to stop the violence and release the monks.

Sincerely, Larry Cox Executive DirectorAmnesty International USA
http://www.amnestyusa.org/About-Us/Our-Mission-and-the-Movement/page.do?id=1101178&n1=2&n2=762

Monday, April 7, 2008

Feature: Crossroads

Dick Cheney’s EPA Scam
By Mike Papantonio (from air america's Ring of Fire)
In 2007, the most right wing reactionary Supreme Court America has seen since the 1930’s had to admit that George Bush’s crony hack EPA was intensely ignoring the fact that they had a responsibility to regulate global warming pollution from carbon fuels. In fact, even this industry lapdog US Supreme Court had at least a moment of inspiration when they directed the White House last fall to take action to begin regulating the problem.
Not long after the EPA was directed to do their job, Dick Cheney and George Bush figured out a way to protect their energy industry pals who are saturating our atmosphere with carbons from power plants and carbons from their 4 dollar a gallon fuel.
Here’s their plan – Direct the EPA and its industry-trained monkey EPA administrator Stephen Johnson – direct them to use a delay tactic that would add years to any activity from the EPA. The delay tactic is where the EPA pursues a meticulously detailed drawn out administrative process called the advance notice of proposed rule making. What that means is the EPA is telling industry that they can draw out their objections, demand hearings, demand delay studies, file lawsuits, and basically for years ignore any need to actively clean up their mess that is slowly melting our planet.
So think about this – you might believe that all progressives need to do is win back a veto-proof Congress to reverse the sick, twisted years of George Bush and Dick Cheney. But do you really think that if John McCain were calling the shots around the EPA anything would really be different?

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Feature: Doorways




Gather the Womyn Event 2008 // the amazing things that happen when womyn gather in circle.
Much thanks to all those energies..

Feature: Shifters


please visit this site and watch the video...http://www.alternet.org/audits/81005/

is it history that has been purposely left out of our history books....or is it just perspective, that acts as a poison to caring american people's psyche.


Howard Zinn: The End of Empire?
By
Howard Zinn, Tomdispatch.com. Posted April 2, 2008.

What the Classroom Didn't Teach Me About the American EmpireBy Howard Zinn
With an occupying army waging war in Iraq and Afghanistan, with military bases and corporate bullying in every part of the world, there is hardly a question any more of the existence of an American Empire. Indeed, the once fervent denials have turned into a boastful, unashamed embrace of the idea.
However the very idea that the United States was an empire did not occur to me until after I finished my work as a bombardier with the Eighth Air Force in the Second World War, and came home. Even as I began to have second thoughts about the purity of the "Good War," even after being horrified by Hiroshima and Nagasaki, even after rethinking my own bombing of towns in Europe, I still did not put all that together in the context of an American "Empire."

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Feature: CrossRoads

I dont hear GWB talking about this, I dont hear any mutterings about a bail-out (with tax payer $$$) for people who were ruined by the filth and the greed that has grown out of control in the last 8 years..No, I only hear about how we should bail-out multi-billion dollar corporations, fund wars by funding halliburton and brechtel, I only see my tax dollars being shoved in the pockets of weathly corporations and banks through privatization schemes and plain ol apathy from the people it is happening to.
What is next???? Hunger lines? Maybe the united nations will have to come to our aid and feed, shelter, and cloth America's poor.

An excerpt from Truth-Out...http://www.truthout.org/

Tent City in Suburbs Is Cost of Home Crisis By Dana Ford Reuters
Thursday 20 December 2007
Between railroad tracks and beneath the roar of departing planes sits "tent city," a terminus for homeless people. It is not, as might be expected, in a blighted city center, but in the once-booming suburbia of Southern California.
The noisy, dusty camp sprang up in July with 20 residents and now numbers 200 people, including several children, growing as this region east of Los Angeles has been hit by the U.S. housing crisis.
The unraveling of the region known as the Inland Empire reads like a 21st century version of "The Grapes of Wrath," John Steinbeck's novel about families driven from their lands by the Great Depression.
As more families throw in the towel and head to foreclosure here and across the nation, the social costs of collapse are adding up in the form of higher rates of homelessness, crime and even disease.
While no current residents claim to be victims of foreclosure, all agree that tent city is a symptom of the wider economic downturn. And it's just a matter of time before foreclosed families end up at tent city, local housing experts say.
"They don't hit the streets immediately," said activist Jane Mercer. Most families can find transitional housing in a motel or with friends before turning to charity or the streets. "They only hit tent city when they really bottom out."

Feature: Shifters

This looks like an incredible event.....Coming straight from the Bioneers....

CULTIVATING WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP TRAINING 2008
Do you want to create progressive change in the world?
Bioneers invites you to
an experiential training for women interested in developing inner resources and practical skills. Join women from diverse cultures, ages and backgrounds for five days in a nurturing and beautiful setting to explore ways to:
· Connect to your purpose· Reclaim and strengthen your inner authority· Align your intentions and actions more fully· Free yourself from limiting stories and beliefs· Improve your self-care and life balancing abilities· Navigate differences to enhance collaboration skills· Connect with and enjoy a network of women allies.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Feature: Doorways

This w/e in Ann Arbor, Michigan...the 36th annual "Dance for Mother Earth" Pow Wow will take place.
www.umich.edu/~powwow
This event always produces deep sentiment in my heart and tears in my eyes..A culture left to die out...has chosen to continue. A people who found the strength and the courage over 100 years to perservere despite, in some cases, severe poverty of body and mind.

The Earth calls...the people dance....no one can stop the energy, no human.

I will be in attendance offering my energies to and for a culture, in a people, who move my soul.

Feature:Crossroads


A recent decision caught the eye of Freepress

Visit http://www.freepress.net/node/37891 for the rest of the story......


Out of Tune with Consumers
Washington Post, March 26, 2008 By Steven Pearlstein
The latest example of a government bailout of a troubled industry has nothing to do with Bear Stearns. It is, instead, the Justice Department's decision to give the green light to the merger of the satellite radio companies XM and Sirius.
For the past several years, these two companies have been competing so hard for talent, distribution channels and customers that neither has been able to turn a profit, and probably wouldn't have for years. Consumers have been the big winners, with great programming at affordable prices.
All that is about to change now that the Bush administration has concluded that we'll all be better off if these heretofore fierce rivals are allowed to stop competing and concentrate instead on reducing costs, paring down their combined offerings and finally delivering profit to their shareholders.
It took some doing -- and more than a year of "investigation" -- for the Justice Department to come up with its undisclosed evidence and tortured logic to justify this strikingly anti-consumer decision. As precedent, it could be used to justify the merger of ABC with both CBS and NBC, Clear Channel with the Bonneville radio network or even Coke with Pepsi. The message it sends to business executives is clear: If you find yourself in a tough competitive environment, the best strategy is not to find a way to offer better products and services at a better price, but rather to call your investment banker and negotiate a truce with your biggest rival.

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"What Media Consolidation Means"
"Media consolidation means that the few corporate giants that own most of our media are getting even bigger by swallowing up more and more of our local media outlets.
But these massive conglomerates – like General Electric, Time Warner and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. – care about the bottom line, not serving the public interest. And allowing these few firms too much control over the flow of news and information is dangerous for our democracy.
When Big Media get too big, local, independent and minority owners are pushed out of the market and off the airwaves. Media consolidation means:
Fewer voices and viewpoints
Less diversity in ownership and programming
Less coverage of local issues that matter to communities
Less of the unbiased, independent, critical journalism we need to prevent abuses of power
Put it all together and Big Media spells bad news – for average Americans and for our democracy."