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| Bergdahl went AWOL? Geo. Bush is a DESERTER By Joe Howard Crews - OP-ED -- The story of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl raises a much HOTTER story -- the Desertion of George W. Bush during the Vietnam War. -- It's now well established that George W. Bush never showed up for National Guard duty for a period of approximately one year, possibly more, in 1972-1973. Despite all the talk about "honor and dignity," Bush seems to have a problem showing up for duty -- for over a year. If Bush deserted while serving in Alabama, and even elected President of the United States, then Sgt. Bo Bergdahl, who served in fierce combat in Afghanistan, should be given the Presidential Medal of honor. Read More |
Event Reminders:Tight races in SD election today (June 3)Thursday, 06/05/2014 A poll released yesterday shows that the race for County Assessor-Recorder-Clerk is a tossup. Democrat Susan Guinn could overtake incumbent Republican Ernie Dronenberg, who raised a backlash last year when he tried to stop same-sex marriages. -- This is a great example of what's at stake on Election Day -- and how close many of our key races will be. (From Ryan Hurd, SD) List of Democratic events in San Diego County To read the best progressive newsletter west of the Mississippi, click on Jellison's EZINE hereThis 'N ThatWar is an invention of the human mind. The human mind can invent peace with justice.- Norman Cousins The first principle of non-violent action is that of non-cooperation with everything humiliating. The pacifist's task today is to find a method of helping and healing which provides a revolutionary constructive substitute for war. I believe we are on the edge of a quantum leap into a whole new way of organizing and living as a human family. When death, the great reconciler, has come, it is never our tenderness that we repent of, but our severity. War does not determine who is right - only who is left Non-violence is a very powerful weapon. Most people don't understand the power of non-violence and tend to be amazed by the whole idea. Those who have been involved in bringing about change and see the difference between violence and non-violence are firmly committed to a lifetime of non-violence, not because it is easy or because it is cowardly, but because it is an effective and very powerful way. When I have money, I get rid of it quickly, lest it find a way into my heart. They make a desert and call it peace. Many oppressors are also oppressed. Nonviolent confrontation is the only confrontation that allows us to respond realistically to such complexity. The God of life summons us to life; more, to be lifegivers, especially toward those who lie under the heel of the powers. The master's tools will never destroy the master's house. Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is. 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. What is the revolution that we need? We need to dissolve the lie that some people have a right to think of other people as their property. And we need at last to form a circle that includes us all, in which all of us are seen as equal... We do not belong to the other, but our lives are linked; we belong in a circle of others. We must be the change we wish to see. 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. Murder and capital punishment are not opposites that cancel one another, but similars that breed their kind. It is the deed that teaches not the name we give it. Those for whom peace is no more than a dream are asleep to the future. That's all nonviolence is - organized love. 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.) 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. 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. And then to each other. 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. When you give food to the poor, they call you a saint. When you ask why the poor have no food, they call you a communist. In the struggle rewards are few. In the fact, I know of only two, loving friends and living dreams. These rewards are not so few it seems. 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. Let us plant dates even though those who plant them will never eat them. We must live by the love of what we will never see. This is the secret discipline. It is a refusal to let the creative act be dissolved away in immediate sense experience, and a stubborn commitment to the future of our grandchildren. Such disciplined love is what has given prophets, revolutionaries, and saints the courage to die for the future they envisaged. They make their own bodies the seed of their highest hope. The ultimate measure of a person is not where one stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where one stands in times of challenge and controversy. A man may build himself a throne of bayonets, but he cannot sit on it. Love the fellow of the resurrection, scooping up the dust and chanting "Live!" By logic and reason we die hourly. By imagination we live. Dare to be naive. To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice. If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are, if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time. The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality. 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. The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. Truly you have formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother's womb. I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made; wonderful are your works. The world cannot continue to wage war like physical giants and to seek peace like intellectual pygmies The arms race can kill, though the weapons themselves may never be used...by their cost alone, armaments kill the poor by causing them to starve. | Articles & News: Our recommended vote for election June 03 News -- The election is Tuesday, June 3. These are the candidates and votes on issues recommended by the ProgressivePost Time for Putin to enforce a ceasefire in Ukraine Feinstein criticizes prisoner swap Parents Share Story of Transgender 6-Year-Old Son
The San Diego parents of a 6-year-old transgender child have gone public with their family’s personal story, posting a poignant seven-minute video to YouTube that’s drawn more than 3.5 million views in just a few days. -- "Some told us it was 'just a phase.' The trouble was, phases end," notes the video montage about Ryland Whittington, who was born a girl but recently transitioned to male, thanks to his parents’ full support. "This was only getting stronger." -- Ryland, who was born deaf, received cochlear implants and learned to hear and speak shortly after he was a year old. "We thought we had faced our toughest challenges, but Ryland had more to share with us," the video explains. "As soon as Ryland could speak, she would scream, 'I am a boy!'" -- The video was created and first shared on May 22 at the Annual Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast in San Diego, a major event that honors the slain LGBT activist and, this year, celebrated the release of the new Harvey Milk commemorative postage stamp. Ryland and his parents, San Diego real estate agents Jeff and Hillary Whittington, received this year's Inspiration Award at the event, eliciting much applause and many tears from the 1,000-plus attendees. READ MORE. Fascinating, inspiring. Vets for Peace Drone Pork Drop in Ramona parade
As part of Drone Days of Action, the San Diego Chapter 91 of Veterans For Peace entered a float in Ramona, CA parade. The theme is pretty obvious: Drones bring a lot of pork to San Diego military industrial complex. Thanks to Dave Patterson. Flashback: Republicans Block VA Benefits
Republicans in February blocked important legislation from Sen. Bernie Sanders to improve veterans' access to health care among other things. Only two Republicans, Sens. Dean Heller and Jerry Moran, voted for the veterans benefits bill, which was endorsed by every major veterans organization. Now, suddenly, Republicans are pretending this never happened, as they pile on to use VA health care as a way to discredit Obama. They seem oblivious that it was they who created the mess in Veterans health care. $15 Wage Wins in Seattle Supreme Ct. rules against Freedom of the Press CHILE: destroys student debt papers worth $500m
An activist in Chile has burnt documents representing $500 million (£300 million) worth of student debt during a protest at Universidad del Mar. Francisco Tapia, who is also known as “Papas Fritas”, claimed that he had “freed” the students by setting fire to the debt papers or “pagarés”. Mr Tapia has justified his actions in a video he posted on YouTube on Monday 12 May, which has since gone viral and garnered over 55,000 views. In this five-minute video the artist and activist passionately says: "You don't have to pay another peso [of your student loan debt]. We have to lose our fear, our fear of being thought of as criminals because we’re poor. I am just like you, living a s**tty life, and I live it day by day — this is my act of love for you." Cartoons of the Week Obama, the negotiatorTEA Party LooniesUnions & the Middle ClassObama plays poker with GOP Why nobody believes Pres. Obama any more ...
Obama: 'Nobody Is Listening to Your Phone Calls'. June 7, 2013. Either Mr. Obama is terribly deluded, or terribly dumb, but we all know the spooks are listening to our phone calls -- reading our email -- and manipulating the markets and stealing our money. (very short video) UC Davis Protestors Pepper Sprayed (raw footage)
You must not ever forget this incident at U.C. Davis: Police pepper spraying and arresting students at UC Davis. The militarization of our local police, the War on our Youth, the fascist oppression of peaceful assembly, protest and free speech in America. During peacefully Occupy Movement,(Nov. 2011) police came in to tear down tents and proceeded to arrest students who stood in their way. Once students peacefully demanded the release of the arrested, a police officer unnecessarily pepper sprays the students to open a path for the rest of the officers. -- The officer who sprayed the students was UC Davis Police Lt. John Pike. -- Notice all the other police just standing around watching, as if nothing abnormal or outrageous is happening. This is a day that will forever live in ignominy in America. Intelligence chief in bald-faced lie to Congress
HE LIED to the nation! -- James Clapper, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) LIED to congress. Let me repeat that for you - he didn't "mislead" -- he LIED! Why he isn't under the jail? Congress impeached Pres. Bill Clinton for equivocating about a sexual dalliance, but Congress sucked up to James Clapper who outright lied about a grave criminal and unconstitutional policy. Time for Putin to enforce a ceasefire in Ukraine | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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