Where to begin?
Stay tuned…I have much to say!
more about “Fox News: Palin didn’t know Africa wa…“, posted with vodpod
URGENT ACTION NEEDED TODAY FOR TROY DAVIS
Today a potentially innocent man is scheduled to be executed in the state of Georgia.
URGENT ACTION is needed!
Please read more about Troy Davis, his case, and then help justice truly be served — take action!
Help justice to truly be served. This case needs to be reopened and new evidence needs to be heard.
Please click here for more information.
The Real Sarah Palin
Before Sarah Palin came into the national spotlight, I campaigned against not just her stand, but also her actions promoting big oil and aerial killing of wolves in Alaska. Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund recently produced a commercial that speaks volumes.
Warning: images in this video are gut wrenching and gruesome, but this is the reality of aerial killing of wolves and this is what Sarah Palin promotes.
STOP the execution of Troy Anthony Davis
Please help stop the execution of Troy Anthony Davis. Take action here.
From Amnesty International USA:
Amnesty International
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
GEORGIA ATTORNEY GENERAL’S DECISION TO ISSUE DAVIS DEATH WARRANT ‘AN APPALLING DISPLAY OF INJUSTICE,’ SAYS AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
—-
Human Rights Organization Demands Stay of Execution
Contact: Wende Gozan, 212-633-4247, wgozan@aiusa.org
or Jared Feuer, 404-876-5661 x14, jfeuer@aiusa.org
(Atlanta, GA) – Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) is shocked that the State Attorney General’s office today has issued a death warrant for Troy Anthony Davis. Given that Mr. Davis has not been able to see justice served, the human rights organization maintains that the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles must prevent the execution.
“The Attorney General’s decision to issue the death warrant is an appalling display of injustice,” said Larry Cox, executive director for AIUSA. “Given the Georgia Supreme Court’s failure to order an evidentiary hearing for Mr. Davis, it is all the more essential that the Georgia Board step in. We are disappointed by the Attorney General’s decision to short-circuit justice.”
The death warrant is dated for September 23, signifying that his execution could occur anywhere from the 23rd to the 30th of this month.
“Last year the Georgia Board stated that they will not carry out this execution unless there is no doubt as to Mr. Davis’ guilt,” said Jared Feuer, Southern regional director for AIUSA. “Throughout his legal appeals, the courts have relied on technicalities to ignore essential evidence as to Mr. Davis’ guilt. Not only do doubts remain, but they are pervasive. Letting this execution go forward simply should not be an option.”
Mr. Davis was convicted in 1991 of killing off-duty police officer Mark Allen MacPhail. His conviction came despite police failing to produce a murder weapon or any physical evidence linking Mr. Davis to the crime. Since his conviction, seven of nine state witnesses have recanted or changed their testimony in sworn affidavits, during a time in which convictions relying solely on eyewitness testimony have come under scrutiny. One of the remaining two state witnesses is alleged to be the actual killer, but this lead was not investigated by police.
Support for Mr. Davis has been far-reaching. To date Amnesty International has collected more than 100,000 letters and petition signatures for Mr. Davis from Georgians as well as concerned citizens across the United States and around the world. Groups ranging from the NAACP and European Parliament have passed resolutions calling for Mr. Davis’ sentence to be commuted.
Shocking Choice by John McCain
The following is from The Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 29, 2008
August 29, 2008
Shocking Choice by John McCain
WASHINGTON– Senator John McCain just announced his choice for running mate: Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. To follow is a statement by Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund.
“Senator McCain’s choice for a running mate is beyond belief. By choosing Sarah Palin, McCain has clearly made a decision to continue the Bush legacy of destructive environmental policies.
“Sarah Palin, whose husband works for BP (formerly British Petroleum), has repeatedly put special interests first when it comes to the environment. In her scant two years as governor, she has lobbied aggressively to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, pushed for more drilling off of Alaska’s coasts, and put special interests above science. Ms. Palin has made it clear through her actions that she is unwilling to do even as much as the Bush administration to address the impacts of global warming. Her most recent effort has been to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the polar bear from the endangered species list, putting Big Oil before sound science. As unbelievable as this may sound, this actually puts her to the right of the Bush administration.
“This is Senator McCain’s first significant choice in building his executive team and it’s a bad one. It has to raise serious doubts in the minds of voters about John McCain’s commitment to conservation, to addressing the impacts of global warming and to ensuring our country ends its dependency on oil.”
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The Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund (www.defendersactionfund.org) provides a powerful voice in Washington to Americans who value our conservation heritage. Through grassroots lobbying, issue advocacy and political campaigns, the Action Fund champions those laws and lawmakers that protect wildlife and wild places while working against those that do them harm.
Net neutrality: Why you should give a damn
Guest author and friend, Michael Janover, contributes an interesting and thought provoking blog today on Net Neutrality. You may also find Mike’s article published in the Rocky Mountain News.
Net neutrality: Why you should give a damnBy Michael Janover
OK, I’m old. I was around when Channel 2 went on the air in Denver in the early 50’s and brought us Blinky the Clown. It was exciting. Television. In Colorado!
In the mid-60s, cable TV and the dish staked their claims, and folks in the mountains could finally see Star Trek and Mary Tyler Moore. A whole new world was opening, no longer limited by four or five basic channels. Cable and satellite promised real choice. Hundreds of channels! Wow! You could see anything!
So what happened to all the choices?
Why is it that TV and the movies are always the same old, same old?
For one thing, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made it possible to merge control of the television and film industries into fewer and fewer networks. What started out as infinite possibilities gradually became three super networks. These entities gobbled up the studio system and the cable channels. Creative decisions were gradually assumed by corporate boards that prefer safe, tested and bland to innovative, daring and dramatic. It’s one of the reasons hard news became infotainment, and rich, life-changing drama is now “reality” programming.
Too much creative control is in the hands of too few people who aren’t creative.
The beginning of the 80s was the start of the Computer Age. I went out and bought a Kaypro, a clunky box, with black screen and glowing green text. It was great. Totally cutting edge.
Computers became more wonderful with color graphics and the mouse thingy, but the most amazing and subversive change was INTERNET. In a few short years, it turned the planet into one big neighborhood; and with broadband access, it also offered interactivity.
We are no longer simple couch potatoes in front of the living room TV. Today, we’re interactive potatoes and use computers to communicate, shop, or read and comment about everything from elections to Dancing With the Stars. We converse with people around the country and world as if they lived across the street. How quaint and microscopic those “hundreds of channels” seem now.
Blogs and YouTube are the new political language. They were vital in the Writer’s Guild’s recent successful struggle with management - the very people who own the mainstream media. Truth is, the Internet does more to democratize the world than any of the wars currently being waged. It truly offers an infinity of choices that TV can’t deliver, and freedom of interactivity that telephones only dream of.
Something this massive and good just begs for someone to control it, don’t you think?
Well, that group has surfaced. It’s not the Chinese government, not even your government. No, it’s the telecommunications companies. The same folks who offer you three-tiered packages of programming instead of just charging you for the shows you want to see; the same people who offer expensive long distance packages when you can do better for next to nothing over the Internet; and the same people who want immunity from prosecution for accidentally illegally wiretapping millions of our phone conversations.
Since the telecoms deliver the Internet to you, they think the government should grant them the power to control how you use it. They want to make more money and put limits on what you see and how you see it. In their world, websites should be charged for the privilege of being seen by their customers. And sites should pay extra for making it possible for consumers to download their material faster (– by removing the telecom’s artificial restraints). Failure to pay these tolls results in your site not being seen, or in ultra-lengthy download times that drive impatient users elsewhere.
Imagine going online to CNN or to download music or watch an old TV show, but the feed is so slow that it no longer works properly. The grass on your lawn is growing faster. Why? Because someone didn’t pay tacked-on fees to the local cable or phone company, and the feed was restricted.
The Telecoms are spending millions to convince Congressional candidates that giving them control makes for a less expensive, better Internet. As you read this, they’re donating money like there’s no tomorrow, because after this election, the new Congress will be forced to decide if Telecoms should be given this power.
“Net Neutrality” basically means “Leave the Internet alone,” and it’s the battle cry for those who think handing over management and control of information to a few mega-corporations is the worst possible idea.
Net Neutrality isn’t another “nutty left wing crusade.” Internet giants like Google and Microsoft, consumer advocates such as Consumer Reports, small businesses who might be relegated to the slow lane, and iPod users who might find it harder to download tunes — all want to maintain Net Neutrality.
“Maintain” is the magic word. Net Neutrality doesn’t ask for new regulations; it only wants to be sure that the freedom we already have is preserved. If you believe in a true open market and don’t want to give your freedom of choice to some corporate Big Brother, if you don’t want your Internet experience censored or restricted, if you enjoy watching YouTube or visiting Facebook without limitations - you probably support Net Neutrality without even realizing it.
It’s time for you to speak up and ask a few questions. Now is when you have the clout. Does your Senate candidate support maintaining freedom of the Internet - or increasing profits for the Telecoms? If you don’t know, find out.
For more detailed information on the fight to save the Internet, please check out www.freepress.net/files/nn_fact_v_fiction_final.pdf, a fact sheet put together by Free Press, the Consumers Union, and Consumer Federation of America.
Michael Janover grew up in Denver and went to school and graduated from CU in Boulder in 1967. He’s been a WGA writer since 1978, worked for HAWAII 5-O, Wide World of Disney and wrote THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT while in Hollywood. He also helped start the Colorado Film School in Aurora.
A Resolution to Impeach President George W. Bush
An interesting and provocative contribution today from guest author Al Feldstein:
Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio
In the United States House of Representatives
Monday, June 9th, 2008
A Resolution
Resolved, that President George W. Bush be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the United States Senate:
Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of the United States of America, in maintenance and support of its impeachment against President George W. Bush for high crimes and misdemeanors.
In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has committed the following abuses of power.
Article I
Creating a Secret Propaganda Campaign to Manufacture a False Case for War Against Iraq.
Article II
Falsely, Systematically, and with Criminal Intent Conflating the Attacks of September 11, 2001, With Misrepresentation of Iraq as a Security Threat as Part of Fraudulent Justification for a War of Aggression.
Article III
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, to Manufacture a False Case for War.
Article IV
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Posed an Imminent Threat to the United States.
Article V
Illegally Misspending Funds to Secretly Begin a War of Aggression.
Article VI
Invading Iraq in Violation of the Requirements of HJRes114.
Article VII
Invading Iraq Absent a Declaration of War.
Article VIII
Invading Iraq, A Sovereign Nation, in Violation of the UN Charter.
Article IX
Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle Armor.
Article X
Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political Purposes.
Article XI
Establishment of Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq.
Article XII
Initiating a War Against Iraq for Control of That Nation’s Natural Resources.
Article XIIII
Creating a Secret Task Force to Develop Energy and Military Policies With Respect to Iraq and Other Countries.
Article XIV
Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Article XV
Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in Iraq.
Article XVI
Reckless Misspending and Waste of U.S. Tax Dollars in Connection With Iraq and US Contractors.
Article XVII
Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign Captives.
Article XVIII
Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Other Places, as a Matter of Official Policy.
Article XIX
Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to “Black Sites” Located in Other Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice Torture.
Article XX
Imprisoning Children.
Article XXI
Misleading Congress and the American People About Threats from Iran, and Supporting Terrorist Organizations Within Iran, With the Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian Government.
Article XXII
Creating Secret Laws.
Article XXIII
Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act.
Article XXIV
Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the Fourth Amendment.
Article XXV
Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American Citizens.
Article XXVI
Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements.
Article XXVII
Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to Comply.
Article XXVIII
Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of Justice.
Article XXIX
Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Article XXX
Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare.
Article XXXI
Katrina: Failure to Plan for the Predicted Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Failure to Respond to a Civil Emergency.
Article XXXII
Misleading Congress and the American People, Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global Climate Change.
Article XXXIII
Repeatedly Ignored and Failed to Respond to High Level Intelligence Warnings of Planned Terrorist Attacks in the US, Prior to 911.
Article XXXIV
Obstruction of the Investigation into the Attacks of September 11, 2001.
Article XXXV
Endangering the Health of 911 First Responders.
NO to Loaded Guns in America’s National Parks
As a young girl growing up in Montana, regular visits to Yellowstone National Park were part of our family routine.
If relatives came for a visit, we took them to Yellowstone.
If friends came for a visit, we took them to Yellowstone.
If it was long weekend, we went to Yellowstone.
If friends were going to Yellowstone, we were going to Yellowstone.
Yellowstone National Park continues to be one of America’s treasures.
And
I couldn’t feel more blessed to have grown up in such a spectacular place of peace and beauty.
So, you can imagine my surprise when I learned that the Bush Administration is, once again, cow-towing to the National Rifle Association by seeking to relax a law that has been in place for 100+ years.
A law that bans loaded guns in America’s national parks.
For more than 100 years, our national parks have been places of sanctuary for humans and animals alike.
When did they become listed as war zones where loaded guns are necessary?
The time in NOW to say NO to the NRA and the Bush Administration once and for all when it comes to the safety of American citizens.
For more than 100 years, loaded guns have NOT been a part of America’s national parks.
Let’s keep it that way.
Please join the U.S. Park Rangers Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police, the Association of National Park Rangers, the National Park Service Retirees, The Wilderness Society, and the National Parks Conservation Association in saying NO TO LOADED GUNS in America’s national Parks.
Take action by learning more on each of the above websites AND by sending a letter to the Department of Interior expressing your opposition to the NRA’s push for loaded guns in our national parks.
The Crumbling of Democracy
What an interesting time this is in the United States of America.
Yesterday, the majority of the Democratic Party leadership clung to THEIR rules rather than American Democracy.
I guess they have learned NOTHING from history. When the rules are wrong, change the rules.
The majority of the Democratic Party leadership weakened not just the Democratic Party yesterday, but they weakened what America stands for — freedom, human rights, and democracy.
Many Clinton and Obama loyalists probably see this issue as one about “their” candidate.
Perhaps in some ways it is.
But
More importantly this issue is squarely about American Democracy.
I don’t know about any of you, but when I turned 18 and registered as a voter for the first time, I didn’t receive a party handbook detailing for me the rules and regulations of my party of choice.
In the many years and changes of residency since that time, I’ve never received a party handbook of any kind.
I’ve never even received a call from anyone in a leadership position within the Democratic party in any state I’ve ever lived in and those states include:
Montana, South Dakota, Arizona, Tennessee, Oklahoma, California, Minnesota, and Virginia.
Not once, not one single phone call, not one flier, not one knock on my door, not anything. Except, of course during an election year and then I get kadoodles of mailings from my party’s candidates and some from the other parties.
Thankfully, for the most part, in America if we have the talent and skills we can enter into any profession we so choose. And within our chosen profession, people trust us to do our jobs to the best of our ability.
In theory, no matter what profession one chooses, it’s a service job. Every single job provides a service of some kind or another. Spirituality aside, our jobs are part of what connects us in this world. Even the least trusting person in the world trusts people in their chosen professions to be doing their jobs.
I’m guessing you are like me.
I trust the people at my chosen Internet and phone company to be doing their jobs. I trust the flight crew of my chosen air carrier to be doing their jobs. I trust the people at my car’s manufacturer to be doing their jobs. I trust the medical personnel at my local hospital to be doing their jobs. I trust the City workers in charge of traffic lights to be doing their jobs. When I take my dogs to the vet, I trust my vet and the techs to be doing their jobs.
The list goes on.
I don’t know the ins and outs of all of these professions, nor do I know the rules and regulations within many of these professions.
What I do know is my part within the interaction between myself and these other parties.
I’m a well educated person and for that I’m grateful. I know that I must participate in the well being of my own life and that it is my responsibility to do so.
I also know that it is my responsibility to be a good citizen of my country and of this world.
And to the very best of my ability, I exercise this responsibility daily.
As an American citizen, I trust my political leaders to do their jobs. And I believe their job FIRST AND FOREMOST is to protect our human rights, our constitution, and our democracy.
What I learned yesterday is that the majority of the Democratic Party leadership stands first and foremost for their own agenda.
I know the political world is filled and often fueled by personal agendas. Every campaign has them. Every politician has them.
History reveals personal political agendas very clearly. They always come out. The truth in every situation always finds the person or people it is meant to find. And I can only imagine how many truths are yet to be revealed of personal political agendas from the past 7 1/2 years of the Bush/Cheney administration. (As if what we know already isn’t shocking enough to cause us to rise up and say enough!)
When the 2.5 million voters of Michigan and Florida went to the polls to vote in their primary elections I bet the majority of them didn’t know about the intricacies of the rules and regulations of the Democratic Party. I bet the majority of them headed to the polls trusting that the political leadership of our country learned valuable lessons from 2000 and that each American citizen’s vote was now valid once again. I bet the majority of the 2.5 million people that voted in Michigan and Florida trusted that the leadership within the Democratic Party was doing their job in protecting American Democracy.
From day one of hearing the DNC’s decision to strip Michigan and Florida of their delegates, I was adamantly opposed to such an action. That action makes as much sense as a Kindergarten teacher sending the entire class to time out because two kids locked the classroom door preventing the entire class from reentering the classroom after recess.
Why punish an entire group of people for the lack of good judgment by a few?
Isn’t that related to the workings of communism?
I believe all candidates that agreed not to campaign in Michigan and Florida displayed a terrible lack of judgment.
However, to remove your name from a ballot actually denying the right of American citizens to mark your specific name takes the displaying of terrible judgment to a whole new level.
The boys club of Obama, Edwards, and Biden did just that.
Here were men campaigning for the highest office in the world in a country known for democracy and our right to vote for our candidate of choice removing their name from the ballot of an entire state of American citizens???
What message does that send out?
It sends out the clearly stated message of the “rules” of our party are more important than the rights of American citizens; the “rules” of our party are more important than American Democracy.
To VOLUNTARILY, AT YOUR REQUEST not give American citizens the right to mark your name on their ballot and then demand, protest, fight for delegates to be awarded to you from their state is mindboggling to me.
To VOLUNTARILY, AT YOUR REQUEST not give American citizens the right to mark your name on their ballot and then cry foul when the possibility of delegates are going to be awarded from their state is mindboggling to me.
To VOLUNTARILY, AT YOUR REQUEST not give American citizens the right to mark your name on their ballot and then accept delegates from their state is mindboggling to me.
I’ve asked this question before, but I must ask it again:
How is an election ever truly won when liberties are lost?
The Seating of Delegates from Michigan and Florida
As the Rules and Regulations Committee of the DNC convenes today, I can’t help but wonder…
When Americans in political positions of leadership subvert the freedoms of American citizens and American Democracy how are their actions any different from dictators that deny their citizens the right to a valid vote?
