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| Obama betrayal: Politics Over Principle The NY Times issued a scathing editorial against President Obama's capitulation to right wing Republican insistence on the legalization of indefinite detention of Americans without due process and denial of their Constitutional rights. QUOTE: "¶ President George W. Bush used this insidious formula to claim that his office had the inherent power to detain anyone he chose, for as long as he chose, without a trial; to authorize the torture of prisoners; and to spy on Americans without a warrant. President Obama came into office pledging his dedication to the rule of law and to reversing the Bush-era policies. He has fallen far short." Read More |
Event Reminders: Obama, the Courts, and Gay MarriageSunday, 12/25/2011 New Yorker -- "Two highly significant court rulings in gay-rights cases pending in federal appellate courts are expected soon. Moreover, President Barack Obama’s self-described “evolution” on same sex-marriage appears likely to end with a strategically timed (if low-key) pre-election announcement of his support for marriage equality." In one, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is being asked to address a lower court decision striking down California’s voter-approved Proposition 8. If the court upholds the earlier ruling, it would restore same-sex marriage in California, making that right available to a total of almost twenty-five per cent of all Americans, in seven states and the District of Columbia. Why I Voted Against the Defense Authorization Act Your Second Chance is Even Better! CA Native Plant Society Conference This 'N ThatWe are, each of us angels with only one wing; and we can only fly by embracing one another.- Luciano de Crescenzo If you succumb to the temptation of using violence in the struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and your chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos. In 1989, thirteen nations comprising 1,695,000 people experienced nonviolent revolutions that succeeded beyond anyone's wildest expectations . . . If we add all the countries touched by major nonviolent actions in our century (the Philippines, South Africa . . . the independence movement in India . . .) the figure reaches 3,337,400,000, a staggering 65% of humanity! All this in the teeth of the assertion, endlessly repeated, that nonviolence doesn't work in the 'real' world. Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God's eyes. If only they could see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time, there would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed . . . I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other. Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace. 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. If we could raise one generation with unconditional love, there would be no Hitlers. We need to teach the next generation of children from Day One that they are responsible for their lives. Mankind's greatest gift, also its greatest curse, is that we have free choice. We can make our choices built from love or from fear.. We do not inherit the earth from our fathers. We borrow it from our children. We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers. Tradition is the living faith of dead people to which we must add our chapter while we have the gift of life. Traditionalism is the dead faith of living people who fear that if anything changes, the whole enterprise will crumble. Peace is not the product of a victory or a command. It has no finishing line, no final deadline, no fixed definition of achievement. Peace is a never-ending process, the work of many decisions. Gandhi once declared that it was his wife who unwittingly taught him the effectiveness of nonviolence. Who better than women should know that battles can be won without resort to physical strength? Who better than we should know all the power that resides in noncooperation? Those things of real worth in life are worth going to any length in love and respect to safeguard. A spiritual person tries less to be godly than to be deeply human. Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned. No matter how big a nation is, it is no stronger that its weakest people, and as long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you might otherwise. Smiling is very important. If we are not able to smile, then the world will not have peace. It is not by going out for a demonstration against nuclear missiles that we can bring about peace. It is with our capacity of smiling, breathing, and being peace that we can make peace. It is only by feeling your love that the poor will forgive you for the gifts of bread. To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you everybody else, means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting. When a true genius appears in this world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him. To fight and conquer in all our battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting. Don't ever let them pull you down so low as to hate them. (also cited as: I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.) Men are so accustomed to maintaining external order by violence that they cannot conceive of life being possible without violence. The Bible has a very meaningful expression: The Spirit makes all things new. We are those who grow old, and we want everything done to our aged standards. The Spirit is never old; the Spirit is always young. The first casualty when war comes is truth. It's a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one's life and find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than "try to be a little better." Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man. The hottest fires in hell are reserved for those who remain neutral in times of moral crisis. Non-violence is not inaction. It is not discussion. It is not for the timid or weak...Non-violence is hard work. It is the willingness to sacrifice. It is the patience to win. What is man? They make a desert and call it peace. Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them. No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There is too much work to do. 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. But the wisdom from above is pure, first of all; it is also peaceful, gentle and friendly; it is full of compassion and produces a harvest of good deals,; it is free from prejudice and hypocrisy. Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them more. 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. Do all the good you can, The pursuit of peace and progress cannot end in a few years in either victory or defeat. The pursuit of peace and progress, with its trials and errors, its successes and setbacks, can never be relaxed and never abandoned. Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. I hope...that mankind will at length, as they call themselves reasonable creatures, have reason and sense enough to settle their differences without cutting throats; for in my opinion there never was a good war, or a bad peace. The means by which we live have outdistanced the ends for which we live. Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men. We should take care, in inculcating patriotism into our boys and girls, that is a patriotism above the narrow sentiment which usually stops at one's country, and thus inspires jealousy and enmity in dealing with others... Our patriotism should be of the wider, nobler kind which recognises justice and reasonableness in the claims of others and which lead our country into comradeship with...the other nations of the world. The first step to this end is to develop peace and goodwill within our borders, by training our youth of both sexes to its practice as their habit of life, so that the jealousies of town against town, class against class and sect against sect no longer exist; and then to extend this good feeling beyond our frontiers towards our neighbours. Women prevent the threads of life from being broken. The finest minds have always understood the peacemaking role of women. Every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. At all the times you can, We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep nonviolence as our goal and make strong progress towards it. The Attainment of freedom, whether for a person, a nation or a world, must be in exact proportion to the attainment of nonviolence for each. Violence produces only something resembling justice, but it distances people from the possibility of living justly, without violence. | Articles & News: SD Vets For Peace Compassion Campaign-Year 2 News San Diego Veterans for Peace continues its Compassion Campaign to provide protection from the elements for the homeless. The program is entering its second year. The Vets want to be downtown passing out sleeping bags/ponchos/stuff sacks to the homeless, but they need your support. Donating is one way to give thanks for being fortunate enough to not have to live on the street. SEC dismayed by tough judge ruling on Banksters [Here come da GOOD judge!] John Van Doorn, NCT editor, dies at 78 SD Occupiers resume occupation of Freedom Square Opressive government trying to crush U.S. soldier
Democracy Now! interviews constitutional lawyer and Salon.com blogger Glenn Greenwald about the military pre-trial hearing now underway for alleged U.S. Army whistleblower Bradley Manning. "All the Manning hearings have been shrouded in secrecy," Greenwald says, noting there may be more transparency in Guantánamo detainee hearings than there has been for the Manning tribunal." - Manning is trying to do whatever he can to avoid having his life destroyed: Either being killed by the state or locked up in a cage for the rest of his life. 84 year old woman pepper sprayed in Seattle Occupy
Nation shocked by Seattle police - Activist Dorli Rainey, 84, reacts after being hit with pepper spray during an Occupy Seattle protest on Tuesday, November 15, 2011 at Westlake Park. An elderly woman, a pregnant woman and a priest were among those who were pepper-sprayed during a protest in support of the Occupy movement on Tuesday. The naked face of a police state in America
Police pepper spraying and arresting students at UC Davis - In this video, now gone viral nationwide, a group of college students are huddled on the ground in a defensive position at UC Davis on November 18. UC police Lt. John Pike, then casually douses them with a chemical agent. Bystanders who were simply watching what was going on are also exposed. - If the police had legal grounds to make arrests, it seems apparent from the video that little or no force was necessary to achieve that goal. The students are obviously not a threat to the officers. It appears that the heavily armored riot police could have simply grabbed them and put them in flexi-cuffs had they chosen to do so. That means that this entire assault appears to be a perfect example of excessive force. WmJmmnMkuEM NY Police brutalize reporters at OCCUPY protest
OCCUPY NY - NYPD Does It Again Dept: Occupy Wall Street protesters and those documenting their actions cite a troubling escalation by police, who seem to be increasingly - and increasingly roughly - targeting media, especially independent journalists who might tend to be more sympathetic to their cause. When protesters marched earlier this week to the World Financial Center, owned by Brookfield Properties, cops grabbed everyone in sight with a camera - which is alot of people - including independent journalist John Knefel, who has covered the protests for Salon and is seen here trying to grab his glasses. His sister was told "he didn't produce an official press pass, so that means he was resisting arrest." Need it be said again: This is not what democracy looks like. Or is this Syria? Cartoons of the Week Obama, the negotiatorGOP's Unplanned ParenthoodEvolution began with LimbaughUnions & the Middle ClassObama plays poker with GOP This woman should be the next president
Elizabeth Warren is running for Senator from Mass., but she should be drafted to run against Obama. Why Is Everyone Afraid of Elizabeth Warren?
Why Don't Republicans and Big Banks like Elizabeth Warren? Please listen to her. She is fighting for you! This is why the GOP and greed 1% are afraid of Elizabeth Warren.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower speaks on the insanity of war. Will humanity ever learn? Late-breaking news: This just in ...
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BBC Speechless As Trader Tells Truth. - Goldman Sachs rules the world! Goldman Sachs advised the Greek Government on how to commit fraud by cooking the books and fooling banks to lend money it could never repay. Goldman Sachs is a criminal organisation that needs to be closed down. Employees included Robert Rubin and Henry Paulson. Who was responsible for the abolition of Glass-Steagall under Clinton? Rubin! Who bailed out the banksters with trillions of US taxpayer money? Paulson. Who paid for Obama to be elected? Get the picture!
World Economic Collapse explained in 3 minutes
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Witty dialogue, profound explanation of today's economic conundrum, a spiral that could collapse the world economy.
Ted Olson Interview With Fox News Chris Wallace
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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.
Prophetic words from Chalmers Johnson
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San Diego's own sage, author, scholar and prophet,Chalmers Johnson, gave his take on the Military-Industrial Complex, American defense spending and the coming downfall of the Empire years before it happened. Johnson is the author of "Blowback" and "The Sorrows of Empire".
Late-breaking news: This just in ...
News
News that did not make our deadline:
King, 'Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam'
Article
YouTube = CHANGE = Martin Luther King's most controversial speech, which won him the enmity of the FBI, CIA and the military industrial complex. April 30, 1967.
Back then Life magazine called it "demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi." The Washington Post patronized that "King has diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people."
If Martin Luther King were alive today, O'Reilly would call him a "co-conspirator with Julian Assange". Beck would call him a "social justice junkie" and a "socialist" with "anti-American" views. Hannity would accuse him of having "sympathy for the enemy" and Limbaugh would say "this man is a racist who is using the acts of a few to condemn the entire white race". We celebrate his birthday Monday, Jan. 17.
Prophetic words from Chalmers Johnson
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San Diego's own sage, author, scholar and prophet,Chalmers Johnson, gave his take on the Military-Industrial Complex, American defense spending and the coming downfall of the Empire years before it happened. Johnson is the author of "Blowback" and "The Sorrows of Empire".
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