08 May 2010

NYC: Staten Island Ferry Andrew J. Barberi Crashes - Again.

A Staten Island ferry boat crashed into the St. George terminal at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, injuring as many as 37 people according to the office of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The passengers got a mere 2 seconds warning, when crew members shouted “brace yourself, brace yourself”.

The boat is the Andrew J. Barberi, and was previously involved in a 2003 crash that killed 11 people and injured 42 according to the U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman Barbara Miller.

Miller reports that there were 252 passengers and 18 crew members on the vessel at the time of this morning’s crash. It is believed that mechanical problem with the throttle caused the captain to lose control of the boat’s engine. An eyewitness reported that the boat seemed to speed up dramatically rather than slow down before the impact – listen to his comments on the video below.

Scores of FDNY rigs and ambulances swarmed the terminal to transport the injured and provide on-scene treatment to those less seriously hurt. One woman was seriously injured, and 17 others were taken to area hospitals.

Five ferries make the 5.2 mile run between Staten Island and Manhattan, transporting 65,000 passengers daily.


LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember:
TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

12 March 2010

Glenn Beck on the Attack



LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember:
TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

10 February 2010

Letter to Keith Olbermann



This is video of heinous condition at Pine Ridge S.D.:



Greetings Mr. Olbermann,

I am so very pleased to share with you on this Wednesday, Indian Country has heard you, loud and clear, these past two nights.

Your first piece, airing, Mon., February 8th,"World's Worst Person" with an award going to The U.S. Senate Committee, was sheer brilliance. We cross posted your video on facebook immediately after airtime. We are listening. Mr. Olbermann, I wish to inform you, sir, for some weeks, through social networking and many, have been taking part in varying initiatives in attempts to gain national media attention as well as Federal aid and relief. I am unhappy to say we have fallen short, as far as media is concerned. You, Mr. Olbermann are the first to broadcast.



On Friday, January 28th, we began calling CNN in Atlanta at 5 pm EST and within 30 minutes, there was a helicopter seen flying over Pine Ridge and CNN promised us a story. This resulted in a measly 20 sec. spot on HLN 5 days later not on Pine Ridge, but on Cheyenne River.

Joseph Brings Plenty messaged me last Saturday by via facebook, stating that the Cheyenne River Sioux are 99% recovered from the latest storm to strike. This is by no means an answer, simply said, Joseph is considering the dire, emergency state of his relations at Pine Ridge, S.Dakota.

Mr. Olbermann, there is a list of over a hundred families that wait for propane. Sir, these are the fortunate. Fortunate in that they can afford, on their average annual $3500 income, to have heat at all.There are many without heat. I have video of meters being pulled of homes occupied by U.S. war vets dying and babies on nebulizers. The above video is by Eric Klein, of can-do.org, as well as documentarian Rick Kline.

Conditions are tragic at best.We are lambasted by visions of Haiti. Well, here are some facts:

- Pine Ridge is second poorest in the Western Hemishere, second only to Haiti.
- This is right here in our own backyard - in the United States of America.

Not only are we in violation of basic human rights here, we're also in violation of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

I have written President Barack Obama six consecutive days and posted those letters to my facebook wall. Though, until your coverage, no one is willing to do anything. My instincts tell me Pine Ridge is taboo, dating back to days of Leonard Peltier's arrest and false imprisonment. I will continue this initiative.

Regardless, the Pine Ridge residents have a crisis situation at hand and, with your help, we can aid the peoples of Pine Ridge. I am currently working with Rick Kline of D.C. and Eric Klein of can-do.org to gather a supply list of emergency goods to be dropped at three sites on the Pine Ridge reservation. This has proven difficult as Eric Klein is on the ground in Haiti and Rick and myself possess no experience in soliciting corporate donations. Heck, I'm just a "white hick" from Boston, but my intent is not to stop till supplies reach my relations and federal aid is sent. I am driving what I am able to load.

Please contact me for any details and facts and people of Pine Ridge I can put you in contact with ie: Autumn TwoBulls, granddaughter of Chief Red Cloud and at mere 29 years secured propane for 100 families and inspired many peoples by way of internet, including the likes of me, "white chick".
Many blessings and thanks Mr. Olbermann for hearing our cries.

Migwetch~Mitakuye Oyasin ~ We are All Related

The Reverend RavenHawk Ruane -Hasak
978-804-9633
111 Washington St.
Topsfield, MA 01983

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As of Monday, February 8th, a call to the U.S. Committee on Indian Affairs helped explain that, in order to get funds, South Dakota's state senators need to take action.
The phone answerer explained this would not be happening if it was occurring in another place, such as California, Washington, Virginia or any of the east coast states currently getting hammered by winter storms. The S.D. state senator's numbers are provided below Please know that the office will take note even if callers are not from the state.

Though nothing can be done until a statewide state of emergency is declared, according to the man who answered the phone at the U.S. Committee on Indian Affairs, a senator can make that happen. The more people who call the better - it is most effective if callers are polite, but firm.
S. Dakota Senators: Tim Johnson: 202 224 5842 / John Thune: 202 224 2321

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LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember:
TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.


28 January 2010

Howard Zinn, Historian who Challenged Status Quo, Dies at 87


by: Mark Feeney

Howard Zinn, the Boston University historian and political activist who was an early opponent of US involvement in Vietnam and a leading faculty critic of BU president John Silber, died of a heart attack today in Santa Monica, Calif, where he was traveling, his family said. He was 87.

"His writings have changed the consciousness of a generation, and helped open new paths to understanding and its crucial meaning for our lives," Noam Chomsky, the left-wing activist and MIT professor, once wrote of Dr. Zinn. "When action has been called for, one could always be confident that he would be on the front lines, an example and trustworthy guide."For Dr. Zinn, activism was a natural extension of the revisionist brand of history he taught. Dr. Zinn's best-known book, "A People's History of the United States" (1980), had for its heroes not the Founding Fathers -- many of them slaveholders and deeply attached to the status quo, as Dr. Zinn was quick to point out -- but rather the farmers of Shays' Rebellion and the union organizers of the 1930s.

As he wrote in his autobiography, "You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train" (1994), "From the start, my teaching was infused with my own history. I would try to be fair to other points of view, but I wanted more than 'objectivity'; I wanted students to leave my classes not just better informed, but more prepared to relinquish the safety of silence, more prepared to speak up, to act against injustice wherever they saw it. This, of course, was a recipe for trouble."

Certainly, it was a recipe for rancor between Dr. Zinn and Silber. Dr. Zinn twice helped lead faculty votes to oust the BU president, who in turn once accused Dr. Zinn of arson (a charge he quickly retracted) and cited him as a prime example of teachers "who poison the well of academe."

Dr. Zinn was a co-chairman of the strike committee when BU professors walked out in 1979. After the strike was settled, he and four colleagues were charged with violating their contract when they refused to cross a picket line of striking secretaries. The charges against "the BU Five" were soon dropped, however.

Dr. Zinn was born in New York City on Aug. 24, 1922, the son of Jewish immigrants, Edward Zinn, a waiter, and Jennie (Rabinowitz) Zinn, a housewife. He attended New York public schools and worked in the Brooklyn Navy Yard before joining the Army Air Force during World War II. Serving as a bombardier in the Eighth Air Force, he won the Air Medal and attained the rank of second lieutenant.

After the war, Dr. Zinn worked at a series of menial jobs until entering New York University as a 27-year-old freshman on the GI Bill. Professor Zinn, who had married Roslyn Shechter in 1944, worked nights in a warehouse loading trucks to support his studies. He received his bachelor's degree from NYU, followed by master's and doctoral degrees in history from Columbia University.

Dr. Zinn was an instructor at Upsala College and lecturer at Brooklyn College before joining the faculty of Spelman College in Atlanta, in 1956. He served at the historically black women's institution as chairman of the history department. Among his students were the novelist Alice Walker, who called him "the best teacher I ever had," and Marian Wright Edelman, future head of the Children's Defense Fund.

During this time, Dr. Zinn became active in the civil rights movement. He served on the executive committee of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the most aggressive civil rights organization of the time, and participated in numerous demonstrations.

Dr. Zinn became an associate professor of political science at BU in 1964 and was named full professor in 1966.

The focus of his activism now became the Vietnam War. Dr. Zinn spoke at countless rallies and teach-ins and drew national attention when he and another leading antiwar activist, Rev. Daniel Berrigan, went to Hanoi in 1968 to receive three prisoners released by the North Vietnamese.

Dr. Zinn's involvement in the antiwar movement led to his publishing two books: "Vietnam: The Logic of Withdrawal" (1967) and "Disobedience and Democracy" (1968). He had previously published "LaGuardia in Congress" (1959), which had won the American Historical Association's Albert J. Beveridge Prize; "SNCC: The New Abolitionists" (1964); "The Southern Mystique" (1964); and "New Deal Thought" (1966). Dr. Zinn was also the author of "The Politics of History" (1970); "Postwar America" (1973); "Justice in Everyday Life" (1974); and "Declarations of Independence" (1990).

In 1988, Dr. Zinn took early retirement so as to concentrate on speaking and writing. The latter activity included writing for the stage. Dr. Zinn had two plays produced: "Emma," about the anarchist leader Emma Goldman, and "Daughter of Venus."

Dr. Zinn, or his writing, made a cameo appearance in the 1997 film "Good Will Hunting." The title characters, played by Matt Damon, lauds "A People's History" and urges Robin Williams's character to read it. Damon, who co-wrote the script, was a neighbor of the Zinns growing up.

Damon was later involved in a television version of the book, "The People Speak," which ran on the History Channel in 2009. Damon was the narrator of a 2004 biographical documentary, "Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train."

On his last day at BU, Dr. Zinn ended class 30 minutes early so he could join a picket line and urged the 500 students attending his lecture to come along. A hundred did so.

Dr. Zinn's wife died in 2008. He leaves a daughter, Myla Kabat-Zinn of Lexington; a son, Jeff of Wellfleet; three granddaugthers; and two grandsons.

Funeral plans were not available.

LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember:
TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

26 January 2010

OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE’S POSITION ON RECENT FINANCIAL SOLICITING IN THE NAME OF THE OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE RE: SEVERE WEATHER STATE OF EMERGENCY RELIEF






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Oglala Sioux Tribe - PINE RIDGE INDIAN RESERVATION
Loretta Afraid of Bear~Cook
“Anpetu Luta Win”
Post Office Box 2070 ~ Pine Ridge, So. Dakota ~ 57770
Mobile: (605) 441 | 5692 ~ Fax: (605) 867 | 6076
Email: Loretta@oglala.org
Office of Public Relatio...ns

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**********************
Tuesday, January 26, 2010, 6:36pm

FOR IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE:

OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE’S POSITION ON RECENT FINANCIAL SOLICITING IN THE NAME OF THE OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE IN REGARDS TO SEVERE WEATHER STATE OF EMERGENCY RELIEF.

For more information, contact:Loretta Afraid of Bear-Cook, OST Public Relations, C/O: OST Media Center
Telephone: (605) 454-2592 | e-mail: Loretta@oglala.org


************************************************

PINE RIDGE, So. DAKOTA - The Oyate (People) of the Oglala Sioux Tribe on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
recently experienced a series of harsh
blizzards and extreme weather beginning in late December. Hundreds of
families were ill prepared for the high winds, whiteouts and heavy snowfall that closed all roads and highways across the reservation. Many households eventually ran out of propane, firewood, food and medical supplies.

Tribal President, Theresa Two Bulls, immediately established a Command Post out of her office and organized the Emergency Management Team to begin the task of assessing the situation. The team paid particular attention to tribal members with severe medical needs such as heart and dialysis patients. The Oglala (Sioux) Lakota Housing Authority under the direction of Paul Iron Cloud; the Energy Assistance Director, Denise King Red Owl; Monica Terkildsen, Emergency Response; and David Kelly from the OST Transportation Department; all provided the core
guidance to the agencies to ensure that all calls were addressed. Without the care and compassion of all resource agencies, the task of responding to the needs would have been next to impossible. The disaster prompted other tribes, non-profit corporations and individuals to respond with food, clothing and financial assistance. Sadly, the disaster has also resulted in tribal members and outside organizations “scamming” for funding on the internet claiming to raise funds for the poor and needy on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. President Two Bulls advises the public that these Organizations have not received permission from the Oglala Sioux Tribe to solicit funds on behalf of the Oglala tribal membership.

President Two Bulls requests that any Tribe, organization or individual who wish to donate for emergency assistance can send directly to the Oglala Sioux Tribe in care of Dean Patton, Treasurer, Oglala Sioux Tribe, P.O. Box 2070, Pine Ridge, South Dakota 57770. Mr. Patton has established an emergency fund for such donations. Funds will be used exclusively for heating costs for electrical, propane, fuel oil and firewood needs. The Housing and Energy Assistance funds have been depleted.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe is very grateful to the organizations, tribes and individuals who have contacted President Two Bulls with generous outpouring of help for this ongoing need. President Two Bulls also expresses her sincere gratitude to all who have kept the Oglala Sioux Tribe in their prayers. She can be contacted via her direct line: (605) 867-4021, or e-mail: theresatb@oglala.org.

Update: Due to the State of Emergency on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, the Oglala Sioux Tribe opened the doors at the Prairie Wind Casino Hotel to care for 25 dialysis patients and 10 supporting staff from Cheyenne River. According to media reports, electrical power will be restored in approximately 10 to 14 days. For more information and updates, log on to the official website of the Oglala Sioux Tribe: www.oglalalakotanation.org


# # #

LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember:
TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.






Revised List

From: Autumn TwoBulls

Revised List 1/25/10 4:37 pm: Urgent! These are the people who need their Electricity for heating their homes. Help the Lakota. Oyate. Please Share.

Friends and relatives I have another list of families who need your help to pay there electricity bill. The Local electric company has shut off many lights to homes. It's not right because there are laws protecting people from this. But not the Lakota. It is winter and the people should not have to suffer any more then we already do.

I am really determined to get these people help because many of these families are elderly and parents with children. Many of these homes use electricity to heat their homes and many of them have health problems. Please help us help the Lakota Oyate.

Call the Electric Company and give them a name you choose and make a donation to them WOPILA TANKA for your help and support. If you make a donation to these families it will help them get their electric back on or stop the electric company from shutting their power off. There's a bad storm coming to the Dakota's and I don't want people to be with out heat and medical treatment.

If you make a donation to any of these families please email me so I can take them off the list - counterspinyc@gmail.com.

LA CREEK ELECTRIC COMPANY: 1-605-685-6581

Here's a list of Lakota families:

1. *Lights are off* Jeff Sitting Bear *NO HEAT OR LIGHTS* - La Creek Electric

2. *****Mary White - Elderly - La Creek electric

3. *****Fern Red Owl

4..****Aaron Desersa 1130601601 - Elderly

5. ****Douglas Poor Bear _ Allen housing 360 disabled Elderly

6. ***Clara Rodriquez - Allen housing 1707 disabled Elderly

7. Archie Back Ward 1313500201

8. Brian Red Owl - La Creek Electric

9. Starlet Jumping Eagle - La Creek electric

10. April Husman - 414 Maderson Housing

11. Elmerlita White Face - House 408 Maderson Housing

12. Waverly Chief - La Creek electric

13. Duwane Iron Crow - La Creek Electric - North Route 1630

14. Leora Mercado

15. Nancy Broken Rope - Allen housing 367

16.****Delores Little Bull **Elderly** - Kyle Housing 1481

17. Franklin Tail, Sr.

18. Janette Ealge Hawk

19. Michelle Jumping Eagle - Handicapped

21. Linda Hollow Horn

22. Christine Meseth

23. Mike Little Boy - 538 Evergreen - La Creek Electric

24. Clair Ghost – Handicapped - North College Center Housing #2017

25. Lisa Pawnee Leggins - 8 miles north of Maderson #1564

26. Jake Arapohoe

27. Renzel last Horse

**MAYBE YOU CAN HELP BY FORWARDING THESE NAMES OF PEOPLE WHO MAY BE ABLE TO HELP PAY A HEAT BILL, OR, PUT A SMALL DONATION ON A BILL**


LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember:
TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.


25 January 2010

Pine Ridge Needs YOU! People are Dying.

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EMERGENCY! WINTER ALERT! DIRE STRAIGHTS!
******************************************************************

There are many Elders suffering on Pine Ridge in need of propane, some are dually without electricity. If you'd like to contribute, you may call Alice Catches with the Pine Ridge Emergency Fund directly here: 605-867-5771 to donate.

Also, you may ring the Lakota Plains Propane on Pine Ridge @ 605.867.5199 / 605.455.1188, from 8a - 4:30p to pay moneys directly to the accounts of those in need of propane.

Below is a list of Elders / those in dire need. You should be able to give any of these customer's names and pay directly to their accounts for propane delivery:

- Emma Zemaga, 87 y.o., house #779

- Mary White

- Desersa

- Douglas Poorbear

- Claire Rodriguez

- Brian Red Elk

- Stanley Goodvoice Elk, Jr.

- Waverly Chief

- Dwayne Ironcrow

For more information, please visit: http://www.oglalalakotanation.org/


LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember:
TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

24 January 2010

In Landmark Campaign Finance Ruling, Supreme Court Removes Limits on Corporate Campaign Spending.




Jan. 21, 2010.
Updated 1:25 p.m., Jan.24, 2010

Reactions to the Supreme Court reversing limits on corporate spending in political campaigns

The Supreme Court has ruled that corporations may spend freely to support or oppose candidates for president and Congress, easing decades-old limits on their participation in federal campaigns. Read the Citizens United opinion (pdf). Reaction is coming in fast:

President Obama:

With its ruling today, the Supreme Court has given a green light to a new stampede of special interest money in our politics. It is a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans. This ruling gives the special interests and their lobbyists even more power in Washington--while undermining the influence of average Americans who make small contributions to support their preferred candidates. That's why I am instructing my Administration to get to work immediately with Congress on this issue. We are going to talk with bipartisan Congressional leaders to develop a forceful response to this decision. The public interest requires nothing less.

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.):

It is important to note that the decision does not affect McCain-Feingold's soft money ban, which will continue to prevent corporate contributions to the political parties from corrupting the political process. But this decision was a terrible mistake. Presented with a relatively narrow legal issue, the Supreme Court chose to roll back laws that have limited the role of corporate money in federal elections since Teddy Roosevelt was president. Ignoring important principles of judicial restraint and respect for precedent, the Court has given corporate money a breathtaking new role in federal campaigns. Just six years ago, the Court said that the prohibition on corporations and unions dipping into their treasuries to influence campaigns was 'firmly embedded in our law.' Yet this Court has just upended that prohibition, and a century's worth of campaign finance law designed to stem corruption in government. The American people will pay dearly for this decision when, more than ever, their voices are drowned out by corporate spending in our federal elections. In the coming weeks, I will work with my colleagues to pass legislation restoring as many of the critical restraints on corporate control of our elections as possible.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.):

I am disappointed by the decision of the Supreme Court and the lifting of the limits on corporate and union contributions. However, it appears that key aspects of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA), including the ban on soft money contributions, remain intact.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.):

For too long, some in this country have been deprived of full participation in the political process. With today's monumental decision, the Supreme Court took an important step in the direction of restoring the First Amendment rights of these groups by ruling that the Constitution protects their right to express themselves about political candidates and issues up until Election Day. By previously denying this right, the government was picking winners and losers. Our democracy depends upon free speech, not just for some but for all.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee:

The Supreme Court's divided opinion is likely to change the course of our democracy and could threaten the public's confidence the Court's impartiality. As Justice Stevens noted in his dissent, the 'Court's ruling threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions across the nation. The path it has taken to reach its outcome will, I fear, do damage to this institution.'
Without any basis in the plain text or history of the Constitution, five Justices overturned precedent to grant corporations the same power as any individual citizen to influence elections. For these five Justices to reach their broad ruling, they overturned precedent, as well as the statute. As the dissenting Justices noted, 'the final principle of judicial process that the majority violates is the most transparent: stare decisis.... But if this principle is to do any meaningful work in supporting the rule of law, it must at least demand a significant justification, beyond the preferences of five justices, for overturning settled doctrine.'
There is clear reason for ordinary citizens to be concerned that this divisive ruling will, in reality, allow powerful corporations to drown out the voices of everyday Americans in future campaigns. This ruling is no doubt yet another victory for Wall Street, at the expense of Main Street America. Our founding document begins, 'We the People,' and throughout its articles and amendments, the Constitution enshrines the power of our government in the people, not in corporations and powerful special interests.

National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas):

I am pleased that the Supreme Court has acted to protect the Constitution's First Amendment rights of free speech and association. These are the bedrock principles that underpin our system of governance and strengthen our democracy.
This is an encouraging step, and it is my hope that political parties will one day soon be able to speak as freely as other citizen organizations are now permitted.

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.):

Today's Supreme Court decision effectively rolls back decades of progress we have made towards ensuring the fairness of our elections. Giving corporate interests an outsized role in our process will only mean citizens get heard less. We must look at legislative ways to make sure the ledger is not tipped so far for corporate interests that citizens voices are drowned out.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer, the chamber's third-ranking Democrat and a member of the Judiciary Committee:

"The bottom line is, the Supreme Court has just predetermined the winners of next November's election. It won't be the Republican or the Democrats and it won't be the American people; it will be Corporate America."

Robin Conrad, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's litigation center. The Chamber is the nation's largest business group and spent $136 million on political lobbying in 2009, not including its efforts against health-care reform.

"Today's ruling protects the First Amendment rights of organizations across the political spectrum, and is a positive for the political process and free enterprise."

Common Cause statement:

The Supreme Court of the United States handed down a decision today that will enhance the ability of the deepest-pocketed special interests to influence elections and the U.S. Congress, said a pair of leading national campaign finance reform organizations, Common Cause and Public Campaign. The decision in Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission, which overturned the ban on independent expenditures by corporations, paves the way for unlimited corporate and union spending in elections.
This decision means more business as usual in Washington, stomping on voters' hope for change," said Nick Nyhart, president and CEO of Public Campaign. "Congress must take on the insider Washington money culture if it wants to make the changes voters are demanding. The way to do that is by passing the Fair Elections Now Act.
The Roberts court today made a bad situation worse," said Common Cause President Bob Edgar. "This decision allows Wall Street to tap its vast corporate profits to drown out the voice of the public in our democracy.
The path from here is clear: Congress must free itself from Wall Street's grip so Main Street can finally get a fair shake," Edgar continued. "We need to change the way America pays for elections. Passing the Fair Elections Now Act would give us the best Congress money can't buy.
The Fair Elections Now Act (S.752 and H.R. 1826) was introduced by Senate Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson (D-Conn.). In the House, the bipartisan bill has attracted 125 additional cosponsors. Both bills blend small donor fundraising with public funding to reduce the pressure of fundraising from big contributors.

Anna Burger, SEIU Secretary-Treasurer:

Today the US Supreme Court lifted the floodgates and started dismantling century-old restrictions on corporate electoral activity in the name of the 'free speech rights' of corporations--meaning if you are a 'corporate person' (aka a CEO or corporate official), you are now free to hit the corporate ATM and spend whatever of your shareholders' money it takes to elect the candidates of your choice.
Unlimited corporate spending in federal elections threatens to drown out the voices of the people who should really be at the center of the political process, i.e., voters and candidates. Unleashing corporate spending will only serve to distort and ultimately delegitimize the electoral process.
Let's be clear: corporations have already been shilling out a lot of cash for political activities, letting their shareholders and managerial employees know exactly which candidates they want to win or lose elections and paying heavy sums for attack ads, direct mail and other forms of public communication through PACs.
But with today's Citizens United decision, the Court has given corporate managers the greenlight to bypass the checks and balances, use unlimited amounts from the general treasury -funds that should be used to increase the value of the business or pay dividends to shareholders--to instead pay for public communications expressly advocating the election or defeat of the candidates of their choice.
Our democratic process was meant to protect the people not profit margins and today's decision makes the need for an effective system for public funding, effective disclosure regulations, and other reforms of federal elections all the more pressing
We look forward to working with concerned individuals, officials and groups to remedy to the greatest degree possible the unfortunate consequences of this Supreme Court decision, through legislation and other appropriate means.
LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember:
TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

28 December 2009

Happy Holidays from Leonard Peltier

photo 1: Sheila Steele
photo 2: Wyatt Neuman

December 23, 2009.

Greetings and happy holidays,

I hope this letter finds you all enjoying the spirit of the season with family and friends.


My August parole denial was appealed in short order. We are expecting a response to that appeal sometime very soon. It has occurred to me that the viciousness of this system knows no bounds, and so I believe strongly in the coming days we will hear of another loss, another denial. This one will be timed and intended specifically as a twisted Christmas present for me, such is the nature of those in charge. With no sense of balance, fairness, or decency, I await my own personal stocking stuffer.

We all know the so-called justice system of this country is more about revenge and retribution than finding true and just resolution. It doesn’t take into account the plight of the wrongfully convicted, nor does it allow flexibility as human endeavors always require. This system has always been about making money at the top, furthering careers in the middle, and forgetting those at the bottom.


Their reason for denying my parole is that I refuse to admit guilt and show remorse for the deaths of two FBI agents. I know the righteousness of my situation. I know what I did and didn’t do. I will never yield. I also know what this country did and continues to do to me and many others.


While they demand I make a false confession for the sake of my freedom, they show no remorse for the loss of much of my life, or the lives of Joe Stuntz and countless others they have murdered over the generations simply for being who they were. Those lives are meaningless when compared to their precious FBI, I guess.

And now, some of the very ones responsible for the deaths and suffering of so many of my people, are peddling books and claiming to be a friend of the Indian. We’ve seen this before, and I’ll speak more about this soon.
I remain proud of what I have stood for and mindful of what real justice is. In this season of love and forgiveness, please say a prayer for all of those who never knew justice and others who have such difficulty in finding it still today.

My love and my prayers go out to all of you.

Happy Holidays

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,






LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!


Thanks for all you do!


Live your values. Love your country.

And, remember: TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!


FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

29 September 2009

Empire, Obama and America's Last Taboo.

Truth-telling Journalist John Pilger Lays Out the Hard Truths Learned Over a Lifetime of Investigative Reporting in this Wide-ranging Speech. What follows is an excerpt of a speech given by John Pilger at the Socialism 2009 event in San Francisco on July 4, 2009.

Illustrations: Ben HEINE: "
Barack Obama's Popularity", "OBAMA'S MAGIC" & "Colorful people for a Better World, Barack Obama, Martin Luther King". Ben on FB here.

Americanism is an ideology that is unique because its main feature is its denial that it is an ideology. It's both conservative and it's liberal. And it's right and it's left. And Barack Obama is its embodiment. Since Obama was elected, leading liberals have talked about America returning to its true status as, “a nation of moral ideals.” Those are the words of Paul Krugman, the liberal columnist of The New York Times. In the San Francisco Chronicle, columnist Mark Morford wrote, “Spiritually advanced people regard the new president as a light worker who can help usher in a new way of being on the planet.

Tell that to an Afghan child whose family has been blown away by Obama's bombs. Or a Pakistani child whose house has been visited by one of Obama's drones. Or a Palestinian child surveying the carnage in Gaza caused by American "smart” weapons, which, disclosed Seymour Hersh, were re-supplied to Israel for use in the slaughter, “Only after the Obama team let it be known it would not object.” The man who stayed silent on Gaza is the man who now condemns Iran.

In a sense, Obama is the myth that is America's last taboo. His most consistent theme was never change; it was power. “The United States,” he said, “leads the world in battling immediate evils and promoting the ultimate good. We must lead by building a 21st century military to ensure the security of our people and advance the security of all people.” And there is this remarkable statement, “At moments of great peril in the past century our leaders ensured that America, by deed and by example, led and lifted the world, that we stood and fought for the freedoms sought by billions of people beyond our borders.” Words like these remind me of the colonel in the village in Viet Nam, as he spun much the same nonsense.

Since 1945, by deed and by example, to use Obama's words, America has overthrown 50 governments, including democracies, and crushed some 30 liberation movements and bombed countless men, women, and children to death. I'm grateful to Bill Blum for his cataloging of that. And yet, here is the 45th [sic] president of the United States having stacked his government with war mongers and corporate fraudsters and polluters from the Bush and Clinton eras, promising, not only more of the same, but a whole new war in Pakistan, justified by the murderous clichés of Hillary Clinton-clichés like, “high value targets.” Within three days of his inauguration, Obama was ordering the death of people in faraway countries: Pakistan and Afghanistan. And yet, the peace movement, it seems, is prepared to look the other way and believe that the cool Obama will restore, as Krugman wrote, “the nation of moral ideals.”

Not long ago, I visited the American Museum of History in the celebrated Smithsonian Institute in Washington. One of the most popular exhibitions was called “The Price of Freedom: Americans at War.” It was holiday time and lines of happy people, including many children, shuffled through a Santa's grotto of war and conquest. When messages about their nation's great mission were lit up, these included tributes to the; "...exceptional Americans who saved a million lives...” in Viet Nam, where they were, “...determined to stop Communist expansion.” In Iraq other brave Americans “employed air-strikes of unprecedented precision.” What was shocking was not so much the revisionism of two of the epic crimes of modern times, but the sheer scale of omission.

Like all US presidents, Bush and Obama have very much in common. The wars of both presidents and the wars of Clinton and Reagan, Carter and Ford, Nixon and Kennedy are justified by the enduring myth of exceptional America, a myth the late Harold Pinter described as “a brilliant, witty, highly successful act of hypnosis.

The clever young man who recently made it to the White House is a very fine hypnotist, partly because it is indeed extraordinary to see an African American at the pinnacle of power in the land of slavery. However, this is the 21st century, and race together with gender, and even class, can be very seductive tools of propaganda. For what is so often overlooked and what matters, I believe above all, is the class one serves. George Bush's inner circle from the State Department to the Supreme Court was perhaps the most multi-racial in presidential history. It was PC par excellence. Think Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell. It was also the most reactionary. Obama's very presence in the White House appears to reaffirm the moral nation. He's a marketing dream. But like Calvin Klein or Benetton, he's a brand that promises something special, something exciting, almost risqué. As if he might be radical. As if he might enact change. He makes people feel good; he's a post-modern man with no political baggage. And all that's fake.

In his book, Dreams From My Father, Obama refers to the job he took after he graduated from Columbia in 1983; he describes his employer as, “...a consulting house to multi-national corporations.” For some reason he doesn't say who his employer was or what he did there. The employer was Business International Corporation, which has a long history of providing cover for the CIA with covert action and infiltrating unions from the left. I know this because it was especially active in my own country, Australia. Obama doesn't say what he did at Business International, and they may be absolutely nothing sinister. But it seems worthy of inquiry and debate, as a clue to, perhaps, who the man is.

During his brief period in the Senate, Obama voted to continue the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He voted for the Patriot Act. He refused to support a bill for single-payer health care. He supported the death penalty. As a presidential candidate he received more corporate backing than John McCain. He promised to close Guantanamo as a priority, but instead he has excused torture, reinstated military commissions, kept the Bush gulag intact, and opposed habeas corpus.

Daniel Ellsberg, the great whistleblower, was right, I believe, when he said that under Bush a military coup had taken place in the United States, giving the Pentagon unprecedented powers. These powers have been reinforced by the presence of Robert Gates — a Bush family crony and George W. Bush's powerful Secretary of Defense, and by all the Bush Pentagon officials and generals who have kept their jobs under Obama.

In the middle of a recession, with millions of Americans losing their jobs and homes, Obama has increased the military budget. In Colombia he is planning to spend 46 million dollars on a new military base that will support a regime backed by death squads and further the tragic history of Washington's intervention in that region.

In a pseudo-event in Prague, Obama promised a world without nuclear weapons to a global audience, mostly unaware that America is building new tactical nuclear weapons designed to blur the distinction between nuclear and conventional war. Like George Bush, he used the absurdity of Europe threatened by Iran to justify building a missile system aimed at Russia and China. In another pseudo-event at the Annapolis Naval Academy, decked with flags and uniforms, Obama lied that America had gone to Iraq to bring freedom to that country. He announced that the troops were coming home. This was another deception. The head of the army, General George Casey, says, with some authority, that America will be in Iraq for up to a decade. Other generals say fifteen years.

Chris Hedges, the very fine author of Empire of Illusion, puts it very well; “President Obama,” he wrote, “does one thing and brand Obama gets you to believe another. This is the essence of successful advertising. You buy or do what the advertisers want because of how they make you feel.” And so you are kept in a perpetual state of childishness. He calls this “junk politics.”

But I think the real tragedy is that Obama, the brand, appears to have crippled or absorbed much of the anti-war movement, the peace movement. Out of 256 Democrats in Congress; 30, just 30, are willing to stand up against Obama's and Nancy Pelosi's war party. On June the 16th, they voted for 106 billion dollars for more war.

The “Out of Iraq” caucus is out of action. Its members can't even come up with a form of words of why they are silent. On March the 21st, a demonstration at the Pentagon by the once mighty United for Peace and Justice drew only a few thousand. The outgoing president of UFPJ, Lesley Kagen, says her people aren't turning up because, “It's enough for many of them that Obama has a plan to end the war and that things are moving in the right direction.” And where is the mighty Move On, these days? Where is its campaign against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? And what, exactly, was said when Move On's executive director, Jason Ruben, met Barack Obama at the White House in February?

Yes, a lot of good people mobilized for Obama. But what did they demand of him? Working to elect the Democratic presidential candidate may seem like activism, but it isn't. Activism doesn't give up. Activism doesn't fall silent. Activism doesn't rely on the opiate of hope. Woody Allen once said, “I felt a lot better when I gave up hope.” Real activism has little time for identity politics which, like exceptionalism, can be fake. These are distractions that confuse and sucker good people. And not only in the United States, I can assure you.

This article first appeared in the Rock Creek Free Press, September, 2009.


LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!

Thanks for all you do!
Live your values. Love your country.
And, remember:
TOGETHER, We can make a DIFFERENCE!

FAIR USE NOTICE: This blog may contain copyrighted material. Such material is made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. This constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.