Welcome to the December 14, 2010 edition of the Progressive Post. While we hope you find this information useful, you can unsubscribe at any time by replying to this email with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line.

How I see it - from the editor
INSIGHTS - by Joe Howard Crews - editor. - Dec. 11, 2010 So Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins have initiated a last-ditch effort to revive Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell. Good luck, but it won’t happen, although the “votes are there” and here’s why: The Party of Hell No has preconditioned support of DADT repeal on prior passage of extension of the Bush Tax Cuts for the Rich -- which may not happen, but if it does, will be so modified as to anger enough Repugnicans they will change their mind and vote NO on the new DADT bill.. (They really hate homosexuals, and just want an excuse to discrimination against gays in the military). Opposition to the Obama-Repugnican tax bill is strong in the House. It took a little time to get the opposition organized and overtake the well-organized Repugnican bill (which had a big head start), but the courageous and highly admired speak-athon by Sen. Bernie Sanders, has caught fire and is burning on a short fuse of TIME. The time is short, magnifying greatly the power of filibuster. Go to it boys and girls! Kill the fascist tax bill die so we can all enjoy Christmas. Relax, gay troops and veterans. Something better is coming to bring equality: the COURTS. Any bill passed by Congress will incorporate obstacles and delaying mechanisms. After all, the old dogs in the Pentagon and Marine Corps are slow to learn, and need time to adjust. But the courts will move much faster, and the sword of justice will slay them all -- and swiftly. This is what we want: JUSTICE NOW!. Justice delayed is no justice. Read More

Julian Assange writes: 'The truth will always win'
By Julian Assange - editor in chief of Wikileaks: "Democratic societies need a strong media and WikiLeaks is part of that media. The media helps keep government honest. WikiLeaks has revealed some hard truths about the Iraq and Afghan wars, and broken stories about corporate corruption." Read More


Event Reminders:

Latino demonstration against Escondido ballpark
Wednesday, 12/15/2010
On Wednesday, December 15, at 4:00 pm, the Escondido City Council meeting will discuss the proposal to finance and host a AAA baseball team. El Grupo and other human rights groups will be there to object and say that they will boycott baseball games in Escondido as long as EPD is conducting it's discriminatory checkpoints and the City Council continues it’s anti-Latino attitude and policies.

Christmas demonstration against war, in Washington
Thursday, 12/16/2010
A great coalition of peace activist will converge on Washington, D.C., on Dec. 16 at the White House. Veterans and others will stage what will be the largest veteran-led civil resistance to U.S. wars in recent history. By showing scores of U.S. veterans being literally dragged away from the White House as they demand peace, we expose the hypocrisy of a government that is waging (and promoting) worldwide, endless warfare during a season when we celebrate "Peace on Earth." We will vividly demonstrate that serious civil resistance is alive and well in the United States.

Volunteers needed for Day Without a Bag
Thursday, 12/16/2010
The Oceanside Green Team is a major partner in the Day Without A Bag event planned for December 16, 2010. Several stores in the City of Oceanside are participating by providing reusable bags to their customers. Some stores are handing out bags at the cash registers while other stores are allowing Green Team volunteers to staff a table outside of their establishment to give bags to customers as they enter the store. The Green Team is looking for volunteers to staff tables for two and a half hours. It's easy, and it's fun!

List of Democratic events in San Diego County
Saturday, 12/18/2010
This is a list of Democratic and progressive events in San Diego County:

CLICK HERE


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PDA monthly meeting
Sunday, 12/19/2010
The Progressive Democrats of North County will hold their monthly meeting at Aegis Living, 1440 Melrose Dr., Oceanside, CA 92056.

Escondido Democratic Club Meets
Saturday, 01/08/2011
What do you think EDC should do in 2011? YOUR input is important! Please save the date and let your voice be heard as EDC sets its goals and objectives for the new year and beyond.

Fallbrook new library celebrates with authors
Sunday, 01/09/2011
Fallbrook’s new county library is scheduled to open January 22, but writers. Six award-winning authors will celebrate in the days leading up to the grand opening with a series of presentations, AUTHORS SPEAK! A FALLBROOK LIBRARY CELEBRATION. The public is invited to the free series, which runs from January 9 through 14 in the Café des Artistes at Fallbrook Art Center. Kicking off the series, bestselling crime novelist T. Jefferson Parker, a Fallbrook resident, will read Sunday, January 9 at 6 p.m.

This 'N That

One must care about a world one will never see.
- Bertrand Russell, 20th-century British mathematician and philosopher

War is, at first, the hope that one will be better off; next, the expectation that the other fellow will be worse off; then, the satisfaction that he isn't any better off; and, finally, the surprise at everyone's being worse off.
- Karl Kraus (1874-1936)

There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they grow up in peace.
- Kofi A. Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations

The idea of absolute freedom is fiction. It's based on the idea of an independent self. But, in fact, there's no such thing. There's no self without other people. There's no self without sunlight. There's no self without dew. And water. And bees to pollinate the food we eat....So the idea of behaving in a way that doesn't acknowledge those reciprocal relationships is not really freedom, it's indulgence.
- Peter Coyote

Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.
- Friedrich Nietzsche

Productive work, love and thought are possible only if a person can be, when necessary, quiet and alone. To be able to listen to oneself is the necessary condition for relating oneself to others.
- Erich Fromm

It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.
- Alfred Adler

When the rich make war, it's the poor that die.
- Jean-Paul Sartre

The evils of government are directly proportional to the tolerance of the people.
- Frank Kent

Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought.
- Graham Greene, 1981

Angry heart -- you have no chance against my prayers.
- Mary Moreno

Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.
- Albert Einstein

I am done with great things and big things, great institutions and big success, and I am for those tiny invisible molecular moral forces that work from individual to individual, creeping through the crannies of the world like so many rootlets, or like the capillary oozing of water, yet which if you give them time, will rend the hardest monuments of man's pride.
- William James

I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends.
- Abraham Lincoln

There is nothing that war has ever achieved that we could not better achieve without it.
- Havelock Ellis

Peace is the work of justice indirectly, in so far as justice removes the obstacles to peace; but it is the work of charity (love) directly, since charity, according to its very notion, causes peace.
- Thomas Aquinas

A Rattlesnake, if Cornered will become so angry it will bite itself. That is exactly what the harboring of hate and resentment against others is -- a biting of oneself. We think we are harming others in holding these spites and hates, but the deeper harm is to ourselves.
- E. Stanley Jones

In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?
- St. Augustine

If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.
- Indira Gandhi, 1971

Until lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunters.
- African Proverb

The bomb that fell on Hiroshima fell on America, too.
- Hermann Hagedorn

It is easier to lead men to combat, stirring up their passion, than to restrain them and direct them toward the patient labors of peace.
- Andre Gide

Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted
- Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages.
- Thomas Edison

War stirs in men's hearts the mud of their worst instincts. It puts a premium on violence, nourishes hatred, and gives free rein to cupidity. It crushes the weak, exalts the unworthy, and bolsters tyranny .. .Time and time again it has destroyed all ordered living, devastated hope, and put the prophets to death.
- Charles DeGaulle

The governors of the world believe, and have always believed, that virtue can only be taught by teaching falsehood, and that any man who knew the truth would be wicked. I disbelieve this, absolutely and entirely. I believe that love of truth is the basis of all real virtue, and that virtues based upon lies can only do harm.
- Bertrand Russell

By logic and reason we die hourly. By imagination we live.
- John Butler Yeats

I believe we are on the edge of a quantum leap into a whole new way of organizing and living as a human family.
- Mairead Corrigan Maguire

What all men fear, I too must fear - how barren and pointless a thought!
- Tao Te Ching

A time will come when a politician who has willfully made war and promoted international dissension will be as sure of the dock and much surer of the noose than a private homicide. It is not reasonable that those who gamble with men's lives should not stake their own.
- H.G. Wells

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.
- Johan W. von Goethe

Mankind will never win lasting peace so long as men use their full resources only in tasks of war. While we are yet at peace, let us mobilize the potentialities, particularly the moral and spiritual potentialities, which we usually reserve for war.
- John Foster Dulles, War or Peace 1950.

Those for whom peace is no more than a dream are asleep to the future.
- Jack DuVall

It is clear that the way to heal society of its violence . . . and lack of love is to replace the pyramid of domination with the circle of equality and respect.
- Manitonquat

One day we shall win freedom, but not only for ourselves. We shall so appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory.
- Martin Luther King

Our friends show us what we can do; our enemies teach us what we must do.
- Goethe

Do your work as though you had a thousand years to live, & as if you were to die tomorrow.
- Mother Anna Lee, founder of the Shakers

We cannot have peace if we are only concerned with peace. War is not an accident. It is the logical outcome of a certain way of life. If we want to attack war, we have to attack that way of life.
- A. J. Muste

If it's natural to kill, how come men have to go into training to learn how?
- Joan Baez

Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.
- Henry David Thoreau


Articles & News:

Make NO DEAL on Bush Tax Cuts
Article
By Paul Krugman - "Democrats have tried to compromise: let tax cuts for the wealthy expire, but extend tax cuts for the middle class. Republicans, however, are having none of it. They have been filibustering Democratic attempts to separate tax cuts that mainly benefit a tiny group of wealthy Americans from those that mainly help the middle class. It’s all or nothing, they say: all the Bush tax cuts must be extended." So let's stand fast and make NO DEAL!.

Robert Reich: Bill Clinton and Obama are wrong
Article
Both Bill Clinton and Obama "have either been outwitted by the privileged and powerful of America, or seduced by those on Wall Street and the executive suites of America into believing that the Republican nostrums are necessary, or succumbed Democratic advisors who think in terms of small-bore tactics rather than large and principled strategies. I urge congressional Democrats to remember the larger principles ..."

WikiLeaks: A litmus test for freedom of speech
News
Dec 10 - The online activist group Anonymous, which has been waging a campaign of cyberattacks in defense of WikiLeaks, opened new offensives on Friday as Internet security experts said that tens of thousands more supporters had downloaded the attack software in the days since the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, was jailed in Britain. "We see WikiLeaks as a litmus test for freedom of speech."

Obama now feuding with Chuck Schumer
News
President Obama is getting along better than ever with Capitol Hill Republicans. But his relationship with Democratic Sen. Charles E. Schumer has hit a rough patch. The newly appointed Senate Democratic "message" guru has emerged as the White House's chief antagonist over the tax cut deal Obama worked out with GOP leaders. Obama seems unable to grasp what Schumer is saying.

WikiLeaks hackers threaten British Government
News
An army of computer hackers is planning to bring down British government websites if Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, is extradited to Sweden. The 1,500-strong network of online activists has already sabotaged the websites of MasterCard, Visa and the Swedish government with millions of bogus visits.

Stand with Private Bradley Manning
Article
"Government whistle-blowers are part of a healthy democracy and must be protected from reprisal," noted Barack Obama while on the campaign trail in 2008. So why did Obama throw Pvt. Bradley Manning into a dungeon?

Help Vets for Peace Help the Homeless This Winter
News
Veterans for Peace in San Diego is outreaching to homeless veterans and others living on the streets. They hope that you can find it in your heart to support the Campaign of Compassion that they are calling "Ponchos and Sleeping Bags."

NC Forum Letters Night Jan 29
News
North County liberal's highlight event, the Annual Letters to the Editor Awards Night announced for January 29. A record attendance anticipated for highly popular event. RSVP as soon as possible to be included.

MOODY's warning: Tax bill threat to U.S. rating
Article
"Moody's warned on Monday that it could move a step closer to cutting the U.S. Aaa rating if President Barack Obama's tax and unemployment benefit package becomes law. The plan agreed to by President Barack Obama and Republican leaders last week could push up debt levels, increasing the likelihood of a negative outlook on the United States rating in the coming two years, the ratings agency said."

Cartoons of the Week
News

Obama plays poker with GOP


Obama declares political victory


The New Math of the GOP


WikiLeaks exposes texting teens


WikiLeaks exposes Santa


Massive raw leak threatened if Assange harmed
News
Julian Assange's [1] lawyer has warned that supporters of the WikiLeaks [2] founder will unleash a "thermonuclear device" of government files containing the names of spies, sources and informants if he's killed or brought to trial. Assange has dubbed the unfiltered cache of documents his "insurance" policy. Experts said that even powerful military computers can't crack the encryption without the key.

Breakthrough Discovery On The Causes Of Autism
Article
"...a profound and serious biological underpinning of autism -- an acquired loss of the ability to produce energy in the cells, damage to mitochondria (the energy factories in your cells), and an increase in oxidative stress (the same chemical reaction that causes cars to rust, apples to turn brown, fat to become rancid, and skin to wrinkle). Bottom line, if brain cells cannot produce enough energy, and there is too much oxidative stress, then neurons don't fire, connections aren't made and the lights don't go on for these children.

Adult children moving back home with parents
Article
So what happened to all those people who lost their homes in the Great Greed Crisis? Many are on the streets or living in their cars. But even more have moved back in with their prents. "... the number of adults aged 25 to 34 who are living with their parents has exploded, according to this rather shocking chart put together by economist Tom Lawler and posted on Calculated Risk."

Best letter of the week: Tracy Emblem
Article
There were some excellent progressive letters published this week in the North County Times, but we judge this one today by Tracy Emblem of Escondido as the best:

Swedish city converts from fossil fuel to waste
Article
KRISTIANSTAD, Sweden — When this city vowed a decade ago to wean itself from fossil fuels, it was a lofty aspiration, like zero deaths from traffic accidents or the elimination of childhood obesity. But Kristianstad has already crossed a crucial threshold: the city and surrounding county, with a population of 80,000, essentially use no oil, natural gas or coal to heat homes and businesses, even during the long frigid winters. It is a complete reversal from 20 years ago, when all of their heat came from fossil fuels.


Stop the Big Oil Bailout!
News
While reaping the largest corporate profits in history, BP, ExxonMobil, Chevron and other Big Oil companies have taken more than $35 billion in special subsidies and tax breaks from U.S. taxpayers. After dumping millions of gallons of oil into our oceans and waterways, they want us to help pay the cleanup bill. Go to http://www.stopbigoilbailouts.com/ to sign the petition.

Obama Tax proposal toxic for Social Security


Watch Sen. Bernie Sanders lay out exactly why we need to reject the Bush tax cuts for the rich once and for all:

John Boehner slips into crying jag on 60-Minutes


Are the public crying jags of Speaker-designate John Boehner indicative of emotional instability? Or just immaturity? Some say he was intoxicated. He cries often. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic woman who Boehner will replace, has never cried in public: "You know what? He is known to cry. He cries sometimes when we're having a debate on bills," Pelosi told the New York Times in November. "If I cry, it's about the personal loss of a friend or something like that. But when it comes to politics -- no, I don't cry. I would never think of crying about any loss of an office, because that's always a possibility, and if you're professional, then you deal with it professionally." We remember that awkward moment when Darrell Issa broke out in tears in front of TV cameras -- Because he lost to Schwarzenegger. I's OK for grown men to cry. It's what sets them off that makes them scary.

Ron Paul Defends Wikileaks on the House Floor


Rep. Ron Paul directs a series of questions to the anti-Wikileaks hysteria. How can the US government prosecute an Australian citizen for treason for the theft of documents which he did not steal? If Wikileaks is to be prosecuted for publishing classified U.S. government documents, why shouldn't the New York Times and the Washington Post be prosecuted?

Ted Olson Interview With Fox News Chris Wallace


Wallace, insinuating that Gay Marriage is judicial activism, asks where is it in the Constitution that permits gay mariage. "Where is the right to interracial marriage in the Constitution" asked Ted Olsen of Wallace. Brilliant arguments by Olson. When Wallace insists the voters have the right to outlaw gay marriage, Olson asks if it would be constitutional for the voters to force blacks to drink at separate water fountains.

Assange 'rape' accuser has nefarious associations
Article
Revealed: Assange 'rape' accuser linked to notorious CIA operative. One of the women, Anna Ardin, accusing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange of sex crimes appears to have worked with a group that has connections to the US Central Intelligence Agency. UPDATE - Dec. 14: The rape accusations against Julian Assange may be falling apart as Anna Ardin, one of two women behind the rape charges against the WIkiLeaks founder, may no longer be cooperating with prosecutors. She has left Sweden for Israel.

Fiery speech gets Illinois law passed for gays


By a vote of 32-24, the Illinois Senate approved the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act, which will extend important legal protections to gay, lesbian and straight couples across the state. But it took this fiery speech by State Senator Rickey Hendon, who preached about HYPOCRISY among the Republicans and other opponents of equality.

You heard it first from ProgressivePost:
News

RUSS FEINGOLD for the US Supreme Court!

(By Joe Howard Crews) Feingold's legal credentials: Harvard University Law School, Juris Doctor with Honors, 1979 - Rhodes Scholar, Final Honours School of Jurisprudence, Magdalen College, Oxford .University

Warren Buffett says Raise taxes for the rich!!


The world's 2nd richest man, investor Warren Buffet, explains how government saved the U.S. from a major Depression & that the rich should be paying a lot more in taxes. He admits he pays a lower percentage of his income on taxes than anyone in his office. America is increasingly becoming a Corporatocracy/Plutoctracy. In 1979 the wealthiest 2% of the U.S. took in 9% of our GDP. 30 years later in 2009 they took 24%.

Petition to Defend Wikileaks
News
Challenging U.S. Empire and its illegal and unjust wars are at the heart of our work at VotersForPeace.US. We call you to the active defense of journalist Julian Assange, WikiLeaks.org and the courageous whisteblower(s) who are dealing the most powerful blow to U.S. Empire in recent memory with the continuous massive release of documents now rocking world capitals and dominating the global media. Please consider signing the petition.

LATE BREAKING NEWS
News
Late breaking news that did not reach our deadline:


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