"For Eli"

Must Watch 3 Minute Video

Andrea Gibson at the 2006 poetry slam, performing "For Eli"

Fu** Your Yellow Ribbon.

A Special Thanks to Information Clearinghouse
for bringing such quality media to our attention.

Take it from a Veteran of the USMC, all the flag waving and lip service in the world will never return the men and women that left in the service of their country to the families they left behind.

In a local bread shop, the attendant seeing my Marine Corps ball cap asked me, "What do they teach you guy's in the Marine Corps? After one tour in Iraq, I don't even know my little brother any more. He can't even go into Walmart without flipping out. All he talks about is killing and death." I was stunned. I said, "They teach us to kill whoever is shooting at us."

And then after teaching us this "skill", they drop us into the middle of some god forsaken place where they have pissed everyone off to attract their fire, thus it becomes self-preservation.

And I can tell you this, as well. Once you kill a man, it is difficult to ever see mankind as anything other than drossy chattel again.

And then they label us anti-social. The very architects of the "kill or be killed" mentality label us, their dupes, their pawns, their mercenaries, as anti-social.

And "Support the Troops" car magnets, lapel pins, signs, and such make me sick. Because it fosters the atmosphere in which these atrocities are born.

If you really want to support our troops, bring them home NOW. And don't ever send them off to the battlefield again. If our nation is physically attacked, we would all likely take up arms in our defense. And this is as it should be! But to go picking fights...

the frustration leaves me speechless. Killing is serious business with serious ramifications to all who are left behind. And permanent ramifications for the dead and those who did the killing.

TOP 10 REASONS TO SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT IN ANWR

Reason number one should give us pause.
Alaska Oil Anwar

TOP 10 REASONS TO SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT IN ANWR
1. Only 8% of ANWR Would Be Considered for Exploration Only the 1.5 million acre or 8% on the northern coast of ANWR is being considered for development. The remaining 17.5 million acres or 92% of ANWR will remain permanently closed to any kind of development. If oil is discovered, less than 2000 acres of the over 1.5 million acres of the Coastal Plain would be affected. That¹s less than half of one percent of ANWR that would be affected by production activity.

The only permanency that we can be sure of is the permanent tendency of the imperialists to lie, cheat, steal, and kill to get whatever they want in spite of any permanent pledges they have ever made. They have been breaking promises and treatise since the inception of "the States". Just find a Native American (if you can) and ask them.

I mean, think about it. When the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) was created in 1960 the area was designated as a "protected" site where oil drilling would be prohibited for ecological reasons.

Now, they (the imperialists) want to carve out 1.5 million acres or 8% on the northern coast of ANWR for exploration and drilling. The typical "What we said then doesn't count now" reasoning is the rule of the day.

And this is George W. Bush, John "Songbird" McCain and the Republican Party's answer to oil addiction. And I still can't understand EVERYONE'S fixation on the necessity to burn something to produce power. It's like, no one even wants to think about REAL ALTERNATIVES to "combustion". (Might I point the reader to a previous post here.)

If you would like to look at a long list of lies, deceptions, and aggressions committed by this band of thugs and their ilk, you should read Amoral America.

Just sit back and let them go, as you have in the past. Eventually, whatever they want will belong to you... and they will take it, and possibly kill you for the trouble of taking it from you.

Oh yeah, I'm the fruitcake.

Cops: Deputies shoot, kill man with knives at Calif. court

Cops: Deputies shoot, kill man with knives at Calif. court

MERCED, Calif. (AP) - Three sheriff's deputies fatally shot a man who stormed through security at a county courthouse Monday brandishing two large butcher knives, authorities said.

Guards tried to stop the man after he ran through metal detectors at the Merced County courthouse, but couldn't catch up to him as he moved down a crowded hallway, Chief Deputy District Attorney Harold Nutt said.

The man busted through the doors of Courtroom 2, and into an area where lawyers were standing as court was proceeding, Nutt said.

"As soon as he hit the inside doors I was behind him and I started yelling that he had a knife," Nutt said. "The officers started yelling at him, and yelling at everybody else to get down and at that point it was rather chaotic. People started screaming, people started heading for the door, and I just ran back outside."

As the judge tried to hurry his court clerks out of the courtroom through his chambers, the man held the knives in a stabbing position, Nutt said.

When the man refused to drop the weapons, three officers fired directly at him, and the man died on the courtroom floor, in front of several dozen attorneys, law enforcement officers and others doing business in the court, sheriff's spokesman Tom MacKenzie said.

No other injuries were immediately reported. The courthouse remained on lockdown as investigators interviewed witnesses and the three sheriff's deputies, MacKenzie said.

Nutt said a public defender told him he recognized the man who was killed as a previous client with a history of mental illness.

Now, let me see if I got this right...

Three Cops who couldn't stop an obviously deranged man chased him into a chamber full of lawyers, judges and clerks and shot the man in that room full of people. All three of them! And they shot not just to "wing" him, but to kill him! In a room full of people! You can almost bet that if they weren't all "Johnny Law" themselves, someone would be claiming "excessive force". Because no matter how deranged the man was, he needed help - not bullets. (He was probably a vet!)

I stated in an earlier post that cops are only here to kill us, or take our property or families. And today presents a prime example of their bungling, inept implementation of the law: "Just fucking kill them. Kill them all!"

Yeah, well, karma is a bitch. Good luck with that.

Chavez confirms he is willing to help negotiate release of US hostages

I suppose that Bill Richardson is not exactly on the "friends" list of the Bush Administration right now, not to mention the chagrin of Alvarez Uribe. Gov. Richardson will probably be placed on the "watch list" of Homeland Security for his co-operative attitude towards the Venezuelan President. At least, a western diplomat is realizing the potential of a symbiotic relationship with the Bolivarian leader. Will anyone else come to their senses?

Venezuela's Chavez confirms he is willing to help negotiate release of US hostages - International Herald Tribune

CARACAS, Venezuela: President Hugo Chavez said Sunday he will try to facilitate the release of three Americans held captive by Colombia's largest rebel group even though he has lost contact with the guerrillas.

Chavez confirmed his willingness to help a day after New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said the socialist leader had agreed to mediate a possible exchange of the U.S. defense contractors for imprisoned guerrillas.

"I told him that we're at their service, to try to help even though the issue is very complicated," said Chavez, speaking during his weekly television and radio program.

Ethnic Cleansing in North America

So, you thought that the genocide of the Native North American People was over? Think again!

Support TMT - Free Shawn Brant

These particular charges stemmed from an earlier demonstration around the Culbertson Tract, land which the federal government has long acknowledged rightfully belongs to the Mohawks but which is languishing at the negotiation table. On November 15th, 2006, Mohawks from Tyendinaga erected posters at the site of a proposed 140-home development project which was later scuttled due to Mohawk resistance to building on their land. During the protest, five Canadian Military vehicles were spotted traveling in a convoy through the reserve. In the context of the history of military involvement in policing Native protest across Canada, the convoy was seen as a veiled threat. The Mohawks blocked the vehicles' path with cars and trucks, eventually allowing the O.P.P. to escort the military away. No one was charged until two months later - just days after Shawn Brant announced that Tyendinaga Mohawks planned to take blockade actions as part of the upcoming June 29th Aboriginal Day of Action, the three Mohawks were charged.

As is always the case with Capitalists, if they want something that even they admit is rightly yours, they will simply take it by force! "If you are not with us, you are a terrorist and we will kill you". Proud to be uhmericun!

Army, Marines up enlistment of ex-convicts

It should give one pause to consider the relationship of this issue to the facts that matter. Most convicts are low educated, poor, minorities. In other words, we are beginning to use the same people that we forced to die for nothing in Vietnam. And most of them don't even understand that they are being duped.

Army, Marines up enlistment of ex-convicts

"Concerns have been raised that the significant increase in the recruitment of persons with criminal records is a result of the strain put on the military by the Iraq war and may be undermining military readiness," said House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.).

In 2006, the regular Army granted 249 waivers to felons so they could join up. But the number jumped to 511 last year, Waxman said, citing statistics provided by the Pentagon's top personnel official, David Chu.

The Marines went from 208 waivers to 350 during the same period, Waxman said.

Those numbers are even higher if active-duty and Army Reserve waivers for those charged with felonies who were never convicted are factored in.

Would you rather stop bullets for fascist pigs, or adopt the philosophy of Henry David Thoreau and sit in a cell (where it is safe and warm, and people cook your meals) and live for what you believe?

The problem here is that soooooo many of these "good christian" assholes don't believe in anything to begin with... with the exception of, "I believe I'll drink some more beer and go beat my wife and kids".

Frame-up Charges Against Larry Hales HAVE BEEN DROPPED!

More Police brutality? Now, why does that not surprise me?

Troops Out Now Coalition

On Nov. 30, 2007 African-American police brutality and anti-war activist Larry Hales was arrested after 10 cops illegally busted into his home without a warrant and without permission, physically attacked him and handcuffed his partner to a chair. He is facing frame-up charges of "interfering with the police" and faces extended jail time for being the victim of a police attack.

At the time of the police attack, Hales and his partner Melissa Kleinman were housing a survivor of police brutality who was on parole. The man had been shot in the back by police and had filed a civil case against the Aurora police department. Hales had previously agreed to house visits by the man's parole officer, but only when the man was home.

However, when Hales told the police officers at his door on Nov. 30 that the parolee wasn't home, and asked to see the business cards that because of a city ordinance Denver police must carry and surrender upon request, he had badges stuck in his face and told that they didn't have to give him their cards. Hales told them that they didn't have permission to come in, that the parolee was not home and that he wanted their cards. One of them scoffed and pushed the door open and him out of the way.

The cops charged into his apartment and ransacked his house. When Hales expressed concern that his cats would escape, he was shoved. When he asserted his rights, the police told him to shut up and violently attacked him, twisting his arm, grabbing him by the back of the neck, ripping out several of his dreadlocks, throwing him against the wall, and tearing off his shirt. He was pushed down the stairs of his apartment building, against the wall and railings and out into the cold night with a half-ripped shirt, socks and thin sweat pants. One officer squeezed his cuffs and the two had an exchange, where the officer remarked that more could be done and that Hales could end up face down on the ground, then he was hit in the stomach and thrown into the car.

The officers rolled the front windows down, left Hales in the car, told him he looked like he might hurt himself and that he would be booked as a "John Doe" and have to spend 72 hours in jail before anyone could find him. He spent the night in a freezing jail cell.

Police brutality is rampant in Denver, and this attack is part of the ongoing attacks on Black youth, from the Jena 6 to Sean Bell and countless cases of police brutality and repression throughout the country.

Had enough yet? Obviously not. Don't worry, they will be knocking down your door soon!

3 NYPD detectives acquitted in 50-shot killing

Could anyone have honestly expected any other outcome?
3 NYPD detectives acquitted in 50-shot killing

Three detectives were acquitted of all charges Friday in the 50-shot killing of an unarmed groom-to-be on his wedding day, a case that put the NYPD at the center of another dispute involving allegations of excessive firepower.

Reverend Al Sharpton suggested in a public statement regarding the acquittals that this was not a miscarriage of justice but was an abortion of justice. I would go even farther to suggest that what passes for 'government' in North America is no less than an abortion of social science.

The hard line drawn between law enforcement and "the criminals" that make up our society (that's YOU) by the judicial is quite apparent. Know this: YOU are expendable and if you are not the target of police aggression, you are acceptable collateral damage. Cops Kill. They are not there for any other reason than to kill you and/or take your property and family. And YOU are apparently OK with that. Fine. FY. You will get yours along with the Nazi rulers.

Prison Nation

So, we find that "democracy", as viewed through the narrow minds of our keepers, is the reason for high incarceration rates. Why does that make my stomach turn?

U.S. prison population dwarfs that of other nations

Several specialists here and abroad pointed to a surprising explanation for the high incarceration rate in the United States: democracy. Most state court judges and prosecutors in the United States are elected and are therefore sensitive to a public that is, according to opinion polls, generally in favor of tough crime policies. In the rest of the world, criminal justice professionals tend to be civil servants who are insulated from popular demands for tough sentencing.

Meanwhile, FBI agents have been busy teaching "terrorists" how to build bombs (to hit the WTC), organizing youths into swearing allegiance to Al-CIA-duh (Liberty City Seven), and incarcerating hundreds of children for allegedly having CHRISTIAN religious fanatics for parents.

And I can speak to Missouri policy on convicts: if you have HIV, you will do the maximum amount of time (no good time). Yeah, the show me State.

U.S. to Expand Collection Of Crime Suspects' DNA

U.S. to Expand Collection Of Crime Suspects' DNA

U.S. to Expand Collection Of Crime Suspects' DNA
Policy Adds People Arrested but Not Convicted
By Ellen Nakashima and Spencer Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, April 17, 2008; A01

The U.S. government will soon begin collecting DNA samples from all citizens arrested in connection with any federal crime and from many immigrants detained by federal authorities, adding genetic identifiers from more than 1 million individuals a year to the swiftly growing federal law enforcement DNA database.

The policy will substantially expand the current practice of routinely collecting DNA samples from only those convicted of federal crimes, and it will build on a growing policy among states to collect DNA from many people who are arrested. Thirteen states do so now and turn their data over to the federal government.

The initiative, to be published as a proposed rule in the Federal Register in coming days, reflects a congressional directive that DNA from arrestees be collected to help catch a range of domestic criminals. But it also requires, for the first time, the collection of DNA samples from people other than U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents who are detained by U.S. authorities.

And why should this be of concern to "law abiding" citizenry? For starters, now YOU don't have to break the law for them to TAKE your DNA. And once they have your sequence, they can grow your DNA in the lab and place you wherever they want you to have been.

Oh, yeah.

Now they can commit whatever "operation" they wish, plant someone else's (anyone they choose) DNA at the scene, and then "capture and prosecute" the "terrorist" for the crime they themselves perpetrated.

You say, "Paranoid?" I say, do you want to find out? You're about to.

The Price of doing Business

US military deaths in Iraq at 4,037

Apr 18, 7:08 PM (ET) By The Associated Press

As of Friday, April 18, 2008, at least 4,037 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians. At least 3,295 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

So, this would suggest that approximately one American per week dies in non-combat related incidents, as a price of doing business. Not to suggest that the loss of well over a million Iraqis is not more egregious! But if this venture were a business with an employee a week mortality rate for over 5 years, they would have been shut down years ago. And someone would likely be in jail!

“Housing bill- homeowners lose round one in U.S. Senate”

Senate housing bill- more grief for homeowners
“Housing bill- homeowners lose round one in U.S. Senate”

Stewart A. Alexander
Socialist Party USA Nominee for Vice President
Candidate for Vice President Peace and Freedom Party

April 14, 2008

Socialists across the nation are rejecting a U.S. Senate housing bill that offers little help to struggling homeowners facing foreclosure, while providing tens of billions for banks, financial institutions and big corporations. The bill (Foreclosure Prevention Act) passed in the Senate this past week by a vote of 84-12 and has been sent to the House. The vote was clearly a major setback for millions of homeowners and a big win for banks and big businesses.

There is a major provision in the housing bill that will likely exacerbate the housing crisis and will cause hundreds of thousands of working families to lose their homes; the measure provides a $7,000 tax credit for people who will buy foreclosed properties and will provide huge tax breaks for big businesses; an estimated $25 billion.

While the housing bill was still in the Senate, there was an amendment to the bill that was quickly voted down by the Democrats and Republicans. That amendment would have offered protection to struggling homeowners, giving federal judges the ability to adjust mortgage terms. More of an insult to homeowners, the bill provides financial assistance to homeowners for foreclosure counseling.

The U.S. housing crisis is a national tragedy and it is impacting neighborhoods across the country. The City of Murrieta, California is a small city with a population just under 100,000. In 2007, one of every nine Murrieta homes entered foreclosure, more than anywhere else in the country, according to data from Realty Trac, a foreclosure tracking service, and the Southern California Association of Governments.

Socialists nationwide stand in total opposition to the Foreclosure Prevention Act because it will not benefit struggling homeowners in jeopardy of losing their homes; this legislation will only provide more welfare funding for wealthy billionaires. It is important for Congress to develop comprehensive legislation that will protect homeowners and working families.

Congress must take immediate measures to protect the financial security of working class families. Congress must implement broad based legislation to deal with the mortgage crisis, sagging wages, inflation and the recession.

First, Congress must freeze all balloon payments for a period of 18 months. Congress must also eliminate all adjustable loans. During the next 24 months, Congress must act, giving federal courts the authority to prevent foreclosures and to alter mortgage terms.

Homeowners that have been in their homes for less than 36 months should be allowed to vacate their home with a small reimbursement fee, from the mortgage lender, to provide funds for relocation if it can be determined, in U.S. Federal Court, that the loan was negotiated under fraudulent conditions.

Congress should also act to restore the credit of millions of individuals that have been the victims of credit fraud. If it can be determined that a home loan was made fraudulently, the buyer’s credit should be restored, not to indicate a bank foreclosure.

Congress should also direct the U.S. Justice Department to seize certain banks, mortgage companies and financial institutions that have violated professional standards that may have put homeowners and hard working families at risk.

The Foreclosure Prevention Act is not for working families; it will only benefit Wall Street while creating more potholes on Main Street. An estimated 8,000 families are losing their homes everyday; if the Foreclosure Prevention Act becomes law, it will only increase the rate of foreclosures.

For more information search the web for: Stewart A. Alexander; Mortgage Crisis Jeopardizing Working Class Families http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2007/11/369231.shtml
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/apr2008/home-a05.shtml

http://StewartAlexanderCares.com
http://www.vote-socialist.org/
http://peaceandfreedom-sjv.org/home/
http://www.dcpoliticalreport.com/pres08.htm
http://www.politics1.com/p2008.htm

SEIU International Attacks Labor Gathering

And this is the way labor behaves with each other? I think not. Someone here has no interest at all in the plight of the worker and should be outed for their subversive motives. If Labor is going to blaze the path of a brave new world, we need to clean ourselves up. And management organizations must not be allowed to masquerade as workers' unions. The line of division must be clear.

And when we are physically attacked in lieu of civil discourse, I see no alternative save self-defense with equal or greater force than that of the attackers. We must not be "brought down to their level". But we must not be trampled under, either.

Dearborn, MI-The Service Employees International Union turned their dispute with the California Nurses Association violent by attacking a labor conference April 12, injuring several and sending an American Axle striker to the hospital.

A recently retired member of United Auto Workers Local 235, Dianne Feeley, suffered a head wound after being knocked to the ground by SEIU International staff and local members. Other conference-goers- members of the Teamsters, UAW, UNITE HERE, International Longshoremen' s Association, and SEIU itself-were punched, kicked, shoved, and pushed to the floor. Dearborn police responded and evicted the three bus loads of SEIU International staff and members of local and regional health care unions. No arrests were made.

The assault took place at the Labor Notes conference, a biennial gathering of 1,100 union members and leaders who met to discuss strategies to rebuild the labor movement.

David Cohen, an international representative of the United Electrical Workers, asked protesters why they came. He said one responded, "they told us just to get on the bus."

The protesters included several members with young children, who had to be ushered away when SEIU tried to force their way into the conference banquet hall. Protesters were targeting Rose Ann DeMoro, executive director of the AFL-CIO-affiliated CNA. DeMoro was scheduled to speak but declined to appear after threats were made against her union's leadership.

Despite being welcomed to the conference earlier in the day-and given space to debate supporters of the CNA and the National Nurses Organizing Committee about neutrality organizing agreements-SEIU international and regional staff shouted down speakers at workshops and panels throughout the event.

"Labor Notes has always been a space for open debate, but when a union decides to engage in violence against their brothers and sisters, we draw a line," said Mark Brenner, director of Labor Notes. "Violence within the labor movement is unacceptable and we call on the national leadership of SEIU, including President Andy Stern, to repudiate it."

The SEIU International has a policy of 'Partnership with Capital" at
the expense of its own members and other unions. The SEIU thugs attack
a meeting workers and assault people and 'no arrests were made'. These
thugs have the protection of the boss' government through the open
collaboration of the SEIU International Union. When was the last time
that the SEIU International Union defended a picket line? Hell most of
them have never been on a picket line.

More Real McCain

10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don't):

1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor
of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has "evolved,"
yet he's continued to oppose key civil rights laws.¹

2.
According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq,
Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says
McCain "will make Cheney look like Gandhi."²

3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain
voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President
Bush for vetoing that ban.³

4. McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."⁴

5. The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in
Congress for children. He voted against the children's health care bill last
year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill.⁵

6. He's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires.
The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes!
Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a "second job" and skip
their vacations.⁶





7. Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too reckless to
be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine.
He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."⁷

8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his
campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The
government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists
raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential
candidates.⁸

9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent
years. The pastor McCain calls his "spiritual guide," Rod Parsley,
believes America's founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls
a "false religion." McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher
John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for gay
rights and called the Catholic Church "the Antichrist" and a "false
cult."⁹

10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters
last year.¹⁰

John McCain is not who the Washington press corps make him out to be.

The Real Mccain

Get to know the man. You may be seeing a lot of him in the future!
CPUSA Online

04/07/2008 16:55 IT department sat down with Carolyn Trowbridge National Committee member of the CPUSA from Arizona to talk about her favorite Senator John McCain.

April 6th General Strike in Egypt

Arabisto.com

The text of the document from when all this activity apparently springs is as follows: “All national forces in Egypt have agreed upon the 6th of April to be a public strike. On the 6th of April, stay home, do not go out; Don’t go to work, don’t go to the university, don’t go to school, don’t open your shop, don’t open your pharmacy, don’t go to the police station, don’t go to the camp; We need salaries allowing us to live, we need to work, we want our children to get education, we need human transportation means, we want hospitals to get treatment, we want medicines for our children, we need just judiciary, we want security, we want freedom and dignity, we want apartments for youth; We don’t want prices increase, we don’t want favoritism, we don’t want police in plain clothes, we don’t want torture in police stations, we don’t want corruption, we don’t want bribes, we don’t want detentions. Tell your friends not to go to work and ask them to join the strike.” It was signed by and supported by the Al-Karama Party, the Al-Wasat Party, the Labor Party, Kifaya, the Bar Association, Educational Workers Movement, University Professors, Grain Mill Workers and of course the Ghazl Al-Mahala workers. The U.S. Embassy in Cairo, however, does NOT support it and has threatened to fire anyone who misses work on Sunday.

It is obvious from this text that workers the world over are fed up with Capitalisms failed strategy of Free Market self regulation. While the world enjoys the greatest food surpluses in history, food prices are rising and wages and employment are falling. While imperialist regimes subsidize multi-billion dollar banking interests, they tell the masses to go eat rocks. They also drive home the fact that if workers complain about the impoverishment they are suffering that they will "fire" them and hire someone who is willing to work for peanuts in any event. It is hard (though not impossible) for me to find guilt in anyone who is trying to earn a buck to survive in spite of a workers' strike, but institutionalized hunger and poverty is exactly what allows big business to operate in spite of a workers' strike.

I was SHOCKED on April 1,2008 when the Teamsters had announced that there would be a general strike of the trucking industry in the U.S. but the roads were still crowded with big rigs. The fact is that if some independent truckers stop their trucks, even for a day, they will lose their livelihood altogether. I understand this position. But the economic leverage that big business has over "the little guy" is clearly demonstrated here. Work and go slowly under or strike and free fall into absolute poverty and homelessness.

So, the question becomes not when we will strike to flex our collective economic muscle but when we will Socialize all industry and remove those corrupt "middle men" who contribute little or nothing to the value of a product or service from the economic food chain. Striking does indeed serve a purpose. But it will not be the vehicle for social change. Only sweeping global economic and political reforms hold any chance of removing the element of greed from the global approach toward a free and prosperous global society.

Strike if you will and strike if you must. But solidification of all left and socialist groups, parties, and peoples in their common goal will be necessary to correct the damages wrought on society in general by "free market" and Capitalist Privatization. Only a unified voice aimed at removing the influence of special and private interests from the decision and policy making processes of governments can ever promote the progress that our world so desperately needs. And for this we need leadership from within our ranks. And there is not one headliner candidate in the U.S. Presidential Campaign that fills that bill.

Vermont Supreme Court Rules Search Warrant Required for Overflight Surveillance

Montpelier,
VT: The Vermont Supreme Court ruled last week that police must first obtain a search warrant before making low level surveillance flights over private property.

The case began after a Forest Service official, believing defendant Stephan Bryant to be "paranoid" about his privacy, suggested to Vermont State Police that they conduct a fly-over to look for marijuana. On Aug. 7, 2003, a state trooper and an Army National Guard pilot flew over the property hovering about 100 feet above it for 15 to 30 minutes, according to Friday’s court opinion. Two plots of marijuana were spotted from the air. Law enforcement then applied for and received a search warrant, and seized about 45 plants.

Ruling that Vermonters’ right to privacy extends to the airspace above their homes, the state’s highest court threw out a felony marijuana cultivation conviction against Bryant. A 57-year-old contractor, Bryant testified at his 2005 trial that he uses marijuana as an analgesic, to
cope with pain he suffers as the result of a construction accident in the 1970s. His property, on a wooded hillside in a remote area of Goshen, is accessible only by a locked gate on a US Forest Service road.

In a 4-1 decision, the justices said the helicopter wasn’t high enough when it made its flyover.

"The occupants were law-enforcement officers, trained in the identification of marijuana, who conducted an overflight at illegal altitudes solely for the purpose of discovering evidence of crime within a private enclave into which they were constitutionally forbidden to intrude at ground level without a warrant," the Court wrote in it’s ruling. "The actions of law enforcement — flying only 100 feet above the ground for up to 30 minutes over a hillside home — were an unreasonable intrusion of privacy that triggers constitutional protection."

"It doesn’t matter if the invasion comes on wheels or on helicopter rotors," said Bryant’s lawyer, William Nelson. "Vermonters have a
right to expect the government will not be intruding on their privacy, whether it’s in their house, in their backyard or on their property."

For more information, contact NORML Legal Director Keith
Stroup at 202-483-5500.

A major blow to the fascist regime and to those who would follow in their steps. While I don't hold out much hope for the preservation of our Bill of Rights in the long run, it warms my heart each and every time my brothers keeper takes a shot to the nuts. It doesn't happen nearly enough!

HIV-Positive Man Wins Acquittal In Texas’ First Cannabis Medical Necessity Defense

HIV-Positive Man Wins Acquittal In Texas’ First Cannabis Medical Necessity Defense --
NORML Legal Committee Member Leads Defense

Amarillo,
TX: NORML Legal
Committee member Jeff Blackburn won an acquittal for a man charged
with possession of marijuana, by successfully raising a medical necessity
defense, believed to be the first to be accepted in Texas courts.

Defendant Tim Stevens, 53, had never been in legal trouble
until Amarillo police arrested
him for possessing less than 4 grams of marijuana. Mr. Stevens†is HIV-positive
and uses medical marijuana in conjunction with his anti-viral medications.

Defense expert Dr. Steve Jenison, Medical Director of the
Infectious Diseases Bureau for the Department of Health in New Mexico, carried the day with his
testimony. Dr. Jenison detailed his success with the New Mexico medical
marijuana program in treating severe symptoms, particularly nausea and cyclical
vomiting, that plague many HIV / AIDS and cancer patients—for many of whom no
effective medicinal alternative exists. "[Jenison]…was a dynamite witness,"
Blackburn said. "All of this evidence came together and made for a solid defense
case -- one strong enough for us to get an instruction to the jury that they
should acquit if they had a reasonable doubt about medical
necessity."

"We prepared a very extensive presentation about the
medical benefits of marijuana," Blackburn continued. "We relied on clearly
established scientific studies and approaches, all of which show that there are
distinct benefits derived from the use of inhaled marijuana." The jury was out
only eleven minutes before reaching a unanimous verdict of "not guilty." County
attorney Scott Brumley called the verdict "unfortunate." "I respect the jury's
verdict. ... That doesn't mean I agree with it," he said.

Blackburn, who also serves as chief counsel for the Innocence
Project of Texas,
which seeks to identify and exonerate innocent people who have been mistakenly
convicted and imprisoned, believes that this victory can be replicated in other
states as well. "Nearly all states have some variant of the old common law
necessity defense."

For more information, please contact NORML Legal Director
Keith Stroup at 202-483-5500.

Chelsea Clinton Again Asked About Lewinsky

Slick Willy's lies were our business when he was President and since he and his megalomaniacal mate have thrust themselves back into the national lime light, it is still our business. If you don't like the questions being put to you, go back to your cushy 6 figure job and quit touting your parents as the messiah incarnate. If you don't like circumstances in which you find yourself, why don't you take a look in the direction of those who have placed you there: Hill and Bill.

Chelsea Clinton Again Asked About Lewinsky

An audience member at North Carolina State University in Raleigh pressed Clinton on Monday to discuss the Lewinsky scandal, which led to the impeachment of her father, former President Bill Clinton. Clinton declined again Monday to discuss her father's relationship with the White House intern, drawing applause when she told the young man that it was none of his business.

Dear Chelsea,
If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
Really.
Two Clinton's are more than enough.

It's Tornado Season Again!

As it is well into storm season this year in the United States, and as I have lived most of my life in "Tornado Alley", I thought that it might be appropriate for me to write something on tornadoes. There have already been several major storms this year producing casualties. I have spent most of my life looking to the south west.

I was recently introduced to a really neat new blog called "Slideshows for your website and Blogs" . From there I navigated to their site called Nachofoto . And there I found this slideshow there which emphasizes the need for awareness of the weather.


Make Your Own Slideshow | More Slideshows

Below are the specifics on the first major weather event that I ever experienced, and probably the worst.

Date: 5/26/1973 Time: 1030 pm
Arkansas Counties Affected: Craighead, Poinsett
Length of path (miles): 55 Width of Path (feet): 900
Beg Lat/Lon: 35°18' /-91°20' End Lat/Lon: 35°50' /-90°41' F-scale: F4
(range of winds from 207-260 mph)

Seven people were injured across Northwest Poinsett County. The tornado killed one person at Otwell, Craighead County, and then the tornado moved into Jonesboro, devastating much of the residential and business district, killing one person and doing $44,000,000 damage. Eyewitnesses report seeing two funnels in Jonesboro. Another person died at Weiner. Eyewitnesses report two tornadoes were visible at Jonesboro at the same time.


I slept through this tornado on the north side of Jonesboro as it ripped through the southwest side of town and destroyed the neighborhood that I had lived in two years prior. The wind was so strong at my house that it peeled the roof over my bedroom back like a sardine can. When the storm cleared I joined a group of kids from my junior high school band and with wheel barrow's, shovels and sledge hammers, we walked around town helping people to salvage what they could and finish knocking down unsafe structures and walls that were still teetering. It had completely destroyed Jonesboro High School, McCarthur Junior High, and two or three elementary schools. And hundreds of homes were simply wiped of the earth. It was amazing that there were not more fatalities. The area was designated a National Disaster Area and the National Guard and the Red Cross were deployed for security and assistance.

One of our favorite pass times as kids was to ride around together in our car during bad weather looking for funnel clouds. I have watched many funnels drop down out of the clouds and drift past me. While it was always exhilarating, I was never afraid of them as long as I could see them. If they came toward us we would simply move out of their path and continue watching them. We saw five funnels pass by in succession one afternoon passing over the south side of Jonesboro. It was one of the most fascinating sights I have ever seen. A thousand yards or so apart, one right behind the other they paraded by us.

I have a deep and abiding respect for the power of nature. But as devastating as nature can be, it always seems worse when it strikes under the cover of night. Every household, indeed every individual should have a battery powered NOAA Weather Radio. You can get them for $10 or more virtually anywhere. When a storm hits at night and the power goes out, a NOAA Weather Radio can be your eyes into the darkness.

I would prefer to be outside during a storm. And near a shallow ditch. I will not suggest that this is the best advice. But I have seen way too many houses, buildings and other structures literally exploded and/or ripped apart by a direct hit from a twister. I prefer to take my chances outside in a ditch! Of course, a storm cellar is best. Then a basement. Although, in a basement you might find yourself having some difficulty digging your way out after it passes. But a ditch will offer you some protection from flying debris and an easy exit.

But the most important thing to remember during any stormy weather or other natural phenomena is to be aware of your surroundings. Of course, one might suggest that this is good advice any time and under any circumstances.

Peace

Earth Hour US - Earth Hour 2008

Earth Hour US - Earth Hour 2008

On March 29, 2008 at 8 p.m., join millions of people around the world in making a statement about climate change by turning off your lights for Earth Hour, an event created by the World Wildlife Fund. Earth Hour was created by WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, and in one year has grown from an event in one city to a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour. More than 100 cities across North America will participate, including the US flagships–Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco and Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. View cities involved around the world. We invite everyone throughout North America and around the world to turn off the lights for an hour starting at 8 p.m. (your own local time)–whether at home or at work, with friends and family or solo, in a big city or a small town. What will you do when the lights are off? We have lots of ideas. Join people all around the world in showing that you care about our planet and want to play a part in helping to fight climate change. Don’t forget to sign up and let us know you want to join Earth Hour. One hour, America. Earth Hour. Turn out for Earth Hour!

Misuse of grant money from USAID

USAID is responsible for much covert operations in destabilizing governments that the US President and right wing organizations find "troublesome". Like Cuba and Venezuela, for instance. If one of its chiefs is stepping down for some kind of wrongdoing (which is basically all that the organization does anyway) it must be bad. They sponsor radicals opposed to nations that the US government is opposed to under the blanket of "humanitarian aid". He must have done something baaaaaad! Or at least so in the eyes of the right. The official story is mismanagement of grant money. Perhaps he failed to pay some terrorist somewhere.

Bush Aide Resigns for Alleged Wrongdoing

The White House says an aide to President Bush has resigned because of the alleged misuse of grant money from U.S. Agency for International Development. Presidential spokesman Scott Stanzel says the former aide, Felipe Sixto, had been a special assistant to the president for intergovernmental affairs. Stanzel said Sixto was promoted to that position on March 1 and that he came forward on March 20 to tell his superiors about the alleged wrongdoing. Stanzel said it involved improprieties involving the use of grant money and Sixto's former employer, the Center for a Free Cuba. Stanzel says the matter has been turned over to the Justice Department.

Turning it over to the Justice Department is like asking Congress to investigate their own pay raises. I feel better already!

Dead Remembered, Living Ignored

By John Perry

Please check out the links and pass it on. THIS INSANITY MUST END.

2006 Johns Hopkins Iraq mortality study, conducted in conjunction with Al Mustansiriya University in Baghadad
http://www.jhsph.edu/publichealthnews...

Just Foreign Policy site - Numbers updated, approximate running total of Iraqi deaths
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org

ORB Study -- Updated January 2008
http://www.opinion.co.uk:80/Newsroom_...

Iraq Veterans Against the War -- Winter Soldier page http://www.ivaw.org/wintersoldier

The Real News -- Check out their Winter Soldier Coverage and get on their mailing list http://www.therealnews.com

Stand with the Tibetan people

I just signed an urgent petition calling on the Chinese government to respect human rights in Tibet and dialogue with the Dalai Lama. This is really important, and I thought you might want to take action:

www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_end_the_violence

After nearly 50 years of Chinese rule, the Tibetans are sending out a global cry for change. Violence is spreading across Tibet and neighbouring regions, and the Chinese regime is right now making a crucial choice between tougher crackdown or dialogue.

President Hu Jintao needs to hear that "Made in China" exports and the upcoming Olympics in Beijing will have the support of the world's people only if he chooses dialogue. But it will take an avalanche of global people power to get his attention. Click below to sign the petition--in just 7 days, the campaign is over half way to the goal of 2 million signatures!

www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_end_the_violence

Avaaz.org - The World in Action

Bush Scolds Congress About Iraq

George Bush has shown us beyond all doubt that when we as a nation need to make any kind of decision, all we need do is hear his recommendation... and do the complete opposite! If he says that something, anything, "makes no sense" we can rest assured that it is the only thing that makes any sense at all.

What I have difficulty with is the fact that anyone at all is even listening to anything the clown says. And this aside from my complete bewilderment that he is not being tried and judged guilty of high crimes against the American Citizens and all humanity.

Bush Scolds Congress About Iraq

President Bush on Thursday defended the slow pace of progress in Iraq, asserting "it is not foot-dragging" as Iraqi politicians try to reach agreement on political, security and economic goals.

Bush derided calls from Congress for troop withdrawals or deadlines so that the military could focus more on the anti-terror battle elsewhere. "This argument makes no sense," he said.

Bush offered his assessment of the war in a speech before a military audience of more than 1,000 people at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton.

Within weeks, Bush is expected to endorse the recommendations of Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq. Petraeus has proposed a pause in troop cutbacks to assess the impact of having withdrawn five combat brigades since December. He has argued that it would be reckless to shrink the American force so rapidly that the gains achieved over the past year are compromised or lost entirely.

Comcast to Stop Hampering File-Sharing

When the Big Boys back down from an issue involving free versus pay, watch them closely. Nothing in a capitalist society is free (except the public beatings they dish out) and they will find another way to stifle any kind of communal sharing of anything.

Comcast to Stop Hampering File-Sharing

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Comcast Corp. (CMCSA), an Internet service provider under investigation for hampering online file-sharing by its subscribers, announced Thursday an about-face in its stance and said it will treat all types of Internet traffic equally.

Since user reports of interference with file-sharing traffic were confirmed by an Associated Press investigation in October, Comcast has been vigorously defending its practices, most recently at a hearing of the Federal Communications Commission in February.

Consumer and "Net Neutrality" advocates have been equally vigorous in their attacks on the company, saying that by secretly blocking some connections between file-sharing computers, Comcast made itself a judge and gatekeeper for the Internet.

Leave Us with Nothing

Tibet Monks Disrupt Tour by Journalists

"We never thought this kind of thing would happen and leave us with nothing," Li Kunjian said.

And while people in Western China lose everything they have to riots brought on by human rights and national sovereignty violations, back here in the States people lose everything that they have to the unscrupulous lending practices of mortgage brokers and bankers who then sold the debt to the American public in a bailout designed to save the banks but does nothing to help the marks that they victimized in their tireless pursuit of wealth and power for the wealthy.

The U.S. Government has no right to speak to the unsavory practices of the Chinese Government. But, I think, the people have a right to speak to both of these fascist, imperialist regimes and call them on their unbridled assault on the people desiring little more than freedom to live their lives sans oppression and discrimination.

McCain eyes U.S. free trade deal with EU

McCain eyes U.S. free trade deal with EU

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The United States should build on the North American Free Trade Agreement by negotiating a new free trade deal with the 27 nations of the European Union, Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Wednesday.

And we all know how well NAFTA has worked out. Can we ship any more jobs out of the United States?

New York Police Beat Tibetan Protesters Outside UN

Kinda makes ya all warm and fuzzy inside. Proud to be Amerikun.

New York Police Beat Tibetan Protesters Outside UN: Posted 26/03/08 7 Minute Video

Obama's Ex-Pastor Cancels Speeches

So, if I'm reading this right, a presidential candidate has to rebuke his minister (which is apparently not enough), and the personal safety and welfare of that minister and his family is in jeopardy because he said something that many of us think every day. Yeah, the first amendment is alive and well.

Obama's Ex-Pastor Cancels Speeches

Wright cited three reasons for canceling (scheduled speaking engagements): "the safety of the institution to which he has been invited; the safety of his family, which has been placed in harm's way; and for his own safety."

Man Nabbed for Pot-Smelling Cash Deposit

If they would decriminalize pot, we may not have to hide it in the same place we hide our money. Another good reason NOT to use banks.

Man Nabbed for Pot-Smelling Cash Deposit

STURGEON BAY, Wis. (AP) - The musty smell of a man's money led to his arrest on possible drug charges. The 21-year-old Sturgeon Bay man tried to deposit money smelling of marijuana at a bank here last week, according to a Sturgeon Bay police report obtained by the Door County Advocate. The $4,000 in bundled bills did not smell like burned marijuana but had a musty odor of ground sweet leaves, the report said. The smell was so strong and distinct that a teller put the cash in a plastic bag. Sturgeon Bay police tested it for marijuana, and it came back positive, the report said. The man was arrested when he returned to the bank to make a withdrawal. Police later found bagged marijuana at the man's home. "All the pieces just came together," Police Chief Dan Trelka said. The man is being held in the county jail on a probation violation, while the Door County district attorney's office reviews his case. It will be up to the district attorney to file formal charges.

US moves towards engaging Iran

"Engaging"? Bush & Co. backs down from Iran? Must be planning a South American invasion. Can't stretch those troops too thin, you know.

US moves towards engaging Iran

Any number of reasons could be attributed to the Bush administration finally jettisoning a war strategy toward Iran. First and foremost comes the unbearable financial cost of waging a war with Iran, which would have to be underwritten by China, Saudi Arabia and Japan. As Nobel Laureate and US economist Joseph Stiglitz stated last week, the impact of the subprime crisis in the US will persist for two to three years, and only after that time could the US economy hope to recover. Stiglitz blamed the Iraq war for dragging down the US economy. "It has proven to be an enormous error," he said, stressing that the Iraq war has been "a disaster in every way".

Judge Sentences Man 10 Days Per Word

He will probably be evicted (paroled) well short of whatever his sentence eventually turns out to be.

Judge Sentences Man 10 Days Per Word

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - A man has talked himself into nearly two years in jail after threatening to kill a Shelby County criminal court judge. Joshua Beadle has been held in contempt and sentenced to 10 days per word after a judge ordered him to stop the threatening comments. Judge Lee Coffee stopped counting at 70 words and sentenced Beadle to 700 days in jail. Beadle was shackled and outfitted in a special hooded spit mask during the hearing Monday after spitting at the judge at a hearing in January. Beadle missed the judge and instead hit a clerk's computer. Through his nylon-and-mesh spit mask, he apologized to the clerk on Monday and assured her that his intended target was the judge.

Sorry, people of Iraq. Our intended target was Iran. Our aim is just not that good when we are in a hurry.

Make oil a public utility

Now, why would the elite allow something that makes this much sense to happen when they have manipulated, bribed and conned our government to send our young men and women to die for the sake of privatizing oil that is already nationalized? When we are provoking war in the Middle East and South America over countries that have nationalized their oil industries. They make way too much profit for themselves to allow it to just slip away from them in the name of the public good.

Truth is that capitalism could care less about the public good. It's most vital defining element is greed.

Make oil a public utility

The furious moans and groans about gasoline and heating oil prices have been met with a public-be-damned attitude from the oil industry -- and nothing is being done to rectify the problem. Prices continue to sky-rocket.


Why not designate oil companies as public utilities?

A public utility has been defined as "a business that provides an everyday necessity to the public at large" -- such as water, electricity, natural gas, telephone service, transportation, cable TV and other essentials.

Because of the need for and dependence on these commodities and products, the business of supplying them is readily subject to abuse. Without regulation, price gouging can become rampant in a time of great demand and economic turmoil, such as this.

A public utility regulated by the state or federal government, or the two working together, is entitled to charge reasonable rates for its products and services. It also is entitled to earn a reasonable profit. But that's far less than what Big Oil is making. Public utilities are corporations that distribute dividends to their shareholders amounting to perhaps 5 percent a year of the stock's value.

Oil energy fits squarely into the criteria for a public utility. How can it be distinguished from electricity and natural gas? It can't be. But right now, it's a political "untouchable."

"Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head"

I decided to have a little fun with tragic current events by putting news reports together into a cheery song. The song tells the tale of construction cranes collapsing, victims of the global war, the sub-prime mortgage crisis, jobs being sent abroad, governmental social program failures, and police brutality in a jaunty little tune.

(Sung to the tune of "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head" By B.J. Thomas)
Hear the tune here: http://wilstar.com/midi/raindropskeepfalling.htm and sing along.

Cranes keep a falling on my head
But that's not the reason that my
Friends all turn up dead
Dyin' overseas
Oh, cranes, they keep fallin' on my head
Keep on fallin'

Cause I just done me some talking to the bank
And I said I didn't like the way I just got yanked
Foreclosure's such a bite
Oh, cranes, they keep fallin' on my head
Keep on fallin'

But there's one thing I know
The cops that come to meet me won't just greet me
It won't be long till Freedom Cops come up to beat me
to beat me

Cranes keep a falling on my head
But that doesn't mean my family will e'er get fed
Jobs are shipped abroad
But, I'm never gonna stop the cranes, they keep fallin'
Because I'm free, I live in Democracy

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

This March marks the ninth annual National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. It's a time to focus on the prevention and early detection of colon cancer and rectal cancer.

Perhaps we should consider excising some of the cancerous ass holes running the United States, as a nation and a people, into the crapper.

Judges bought and paid for

Another example of the judiciary co-opted by capitalist concerns. Anything approaching fair treatment of the consumer is struck down by Judges who are bought and paid for by big business. Just another chip out of the foundation of the crumbling Christian social structure.

Court Overturns Air Passenger Rights Law

A federal appeals court has rejected a law requiring airlines to provide food, water, clean toilets and fresh air to passengers trapped in a plane delayed on the ground. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that New York's new state law interferes with federal law governing the price, route or service of an air carrier. It was the first law in the nation of its kind. The appeals court said the new law was laudable but only the federal government has the authority to enact such a regulation. The law was challenged before the appeals court by the Air Transport Association of America, the industry trade group representing leading U.S. airlines.

HR 393 - Universal National Service Act of 2007

And who didn't see this coming? As the American Serviceman body count in Iraq slips past 4000, the Armed Forces are running out of bodies to fill the dead boys' boots. "Stop-Loss" can't cut it any more. The 6 day to 6 month and $60 billion incursion into Iraq has turned into a $600 billion operation with no end in sight. And the body count on both sides is soaring. And we know who will be sent to the front lines, too. Poor to middle class kids who might have a high school education. A fucking DRAFT! One that I am sure has loop holes for rich bitch kids to slip through!

HR 393 - Universal National Service Act of 2007 - U.S. House Bill

H. R. 393 To require all persons in the United States between the ages of 18 and 42 to perform national service, either as a member of the uniformed services or in civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, to authorize the induction of persons in the uniformed services during wartime to meet end-strength requirements of the uniformed services, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to make permanent the favorable treatment afforded combat pay under the earned income tax credit, and for other purposes.

Contact Your Representative

Contact Your Senators

Tell them what to do with this piece of paper!

I suppose 15 months makes this less of a story. But the bill was presented... by a democrat. And hardly a peep was heard anywhere, by anyone about it. Luckily, it died without so much as a whimper. But the idea that it was even presented, and by a democrat at that, and few heard a thing about it suggests to me that it could be presented and passed without public knowledge in the future. We need to be vigilant in making our positions clear on such matters before they attempt to act in our stead.

Breaking News: NORML Teams Up with Rep. Barney Frank To Introduce Federal Decriminalization Legislation

NORML is pleased to announce that it has partnered with our longtime ally, Democratic Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, to introduce legislation in the House of Representatives that would strip the federal government of its authority to arrest responsible cannabis consumers. The bill, referred to by Frank as the 'Make Room for Serious Criminals Act,' is the first federal cannabis decriminalization bill introduced in Congress in 24 years.

“It's time for the politicians to catch up with the public on this [issue],” Frank said Friday during an appearance on the nationally syndicated television program 'Real Time with Bill Maher,' in which he announced the imminent introduction of the measure.As drafted, Frank's proposal would eliminate all federal penalties prohibiting the personal use and possession of up to 100 grams (3 1/2 ounces) of marijuana. Under this measure (based on the recommendations of the 1972 National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, also known as the Shafer Commission), adults who consume cannabis would no longer face arrest, prison, or even the threat of a civil fine. In addition, this bill would eliminate all penalties prohibiting the not-for-profit transfers of up to one ounce of cannabis between adults. In short, for the first time since 1937, the possession, use, and non-profit transfer of marijuana by adults would be legal under federal law!Marijuana decriminalization currently enjoys support from the majority of Americans. According to a recent CNN/Time Magazine poll, 76% of US citizens favor a cannabis policy that does not place responsible adult cannabis consumers at risk of arrest and prosecution. Nonetheless, nearly 830,000 Americans were arrested on marijuana charges this year, 89% of which were for personal possession.


Currently, twelve states, representing over a third of Americans - Alaska,California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Oregon, along with numerous major cities such as Seattle, Milwaukee, Madison, and Ann Arbor -- have enacted various forms of marijuana decriminalization, replacing criminal sanctions with the imposition of fine-only penalties for minor pot violators. Similar proposals have passed this year in the House in New Hampshire and the Senate in Vermont, and Massachusetts will be voting on a similar initiative this November.NORML is pleased to be leading the effort for sensible cannabis law reform at the federal level. With your support, we look forward to ending the obsolete and destructive practice of arresting responsible adult cannabis consumers.

Regards,

Allen St. Pierre

NORML
Executive
Director
director@norml.org

Clinton 'Misspoke'?

Clinton 'Misspoke' About '96 Bosnia Trip

During a speech last Monday on Iraq, she said of the Bosnia trip: "I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base."

According to an Associated Press story at the time, Clinton was placed under no extraordinary risks on that trip. And one of her companions, comedian Sinbad, told The Washington Post he has no recollection either of the threat or reality of gunfire.

Shades of "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" and "it depends on what your definition of is is". Liar of the worst sort. Denial in the face of fact and witness. Typically Christian.

Another Front in the coming new World War

As the world presses forward ignorant of the aggressive tactics of Dominionists due in large part to suppression and manipulation of the press, this article connects the dots to reveal those methods with documented evidience.

George Ciccariello-Maher: The Coming War on Venezuela

Here again we have an inversion, in which the U.S. government has adopted the very strategies that had previously been deployed against it, and in this case the audience was international: the foreign press was so eager to show a violent repression of the students that it exaggerated the response of the largely unarmed police and, in an infamous incident, transformed an armed attack by opposition students against Chavistas at the Central University into just the opposite. The objective? To discredit and isolate the Chávez regime internationally, clearing the way for more directly offensive action.

Secondly, we have seen a concrete example of such offensive action in Colombia's recent illegal cross-border raid into Ecuador. The particular players involved should not distract our attention: this was a test-run, both militarily and diplomatically, for future U.S. interventions in the region. With Colombia standing in as proxy for the U.S. and the more recently-established Correa government standing in as proxy for the Chávez government, this was above all a test of the international response.

This article is a must read!

Tibetans Expect Little Help From World

What I see coming forth in the world in the area of support for Tibet is a case of 2L², too little too late. But I'm sure we appreciate the gesture.

Tibetans Expect Little Help From World

Nearly six decades of struggle against the might of China has taught the Tibetans one thing: Ask the world for little, expect less.

However, on Friday, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi lent her voice, calling China's crackdown "a challenge to the conscience of the world." Pelosi was the first major foreign official to meet the Dalai Lama since the start of the unrest, visiting him in Dharmsala, the hilltop town in northern India where he has his headquarters.

"If freedom-loving people throughout the world do not speak out against China's oppression in China and Tibet, we have lost all moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world," Pelosi told thousands of cheering Tibetans, including monks and schoolchildren.

But it is difficult for most countries to do more than call on China to show restraint, finding themselves walking a tightrope between their sympathy for the Tibetans and their very real economic and strategic needs to maintain good relations with Beijing.

So, as we can see, economic concerns outweigh the concerns of human rights.

Bush: Iran announced desire for nuclear weapons

And the war drums start beating louder as Christianity (read capitalism) prepares for Jesus' rule here on earth... and the countdown to the end of time itself as suggested in the Mayan Calendar. The end of time reckoned there precisely at 4 years, 8 months, and 19 days from the time of this writing.

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 03/20/2008 | Bush erroneously says Iran announced desire for nuclear weapons

The president reiterated his view that Iran has a right to civilian nuclear power. But, he said, the low-enriched uranium fuel for its reactors should be supplied by Russia, a proposal that Tehran has repeatedly rejected. "The problem is the (Iranian) government cannot be trusted to enrich uranium because one, they've hidden programs in the past and they may be hiding one now. Who knows?" said Bush. "Secondly, they've declared they want to have a nuclear weapon to destroy people, some in the Middle East. And that is unacceptable to the United States and it's unacceptable to the world."

I'm not suggesting anything hokey here. I'm just sayin'...
If we can't change fate, we should at least stand together to TRY and stop those who would play to a dooms day mentality. We should TRY to stop the aggressors! Just as the argument that if there were no profit in the drug trade, drugs would be less of a problem, IF THERE WERE NO PROFIT IN WAR THERE WOULD BE LESS WAR!
Stop allowing your elected representatives to continue FUNDING war with YOUR MONEY!

Henry David Thoreau did something just like that... and he was really a pretty great guy. It is not unpatriotic to take a public and vocal stand when you are refusing to help fund something that you fundamentally don't support. And that goes for just about any of your beliefs toward public funding. But WAR?! Come on!

Click on the "Stupid" sign in the right hand side bar and send a message to the White House. Really! Why not? Tell them. And look up your senators and representatives and tell them to. I mean, after all, it doesn't take a lot just to tell them how you feel. Even if you approve of their performance (gag!), what does it hurt to tell them what you think? They need to know what their constituents think, too, even if they disagree with you. They need to know. And we need to tell them. And every day that killing at the hands of Americans goes on, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, we need to remind them of how we feel about it.

It doesn't take a lot of effort to bitch about something and sometimes it makes us feel better. And sometimes it helps.

Counter Protesting

The circular logic of supporting the troops: Young men died for our right to protest your protest.

War Protesters Halt Traffic, Recall Dead

Outside a military recruitment office in Washington, protesters were met by a handful of counterdemonstrators, one of several shows of support for the war and the troops.

Colby Dillard, who held a sign reading, "We support our brave military and their just mission," pointed to some red paint that one of the war protesters had splattered on the sidewalk.

"The same blood was spilled to give you the right to do what you're doing," said Dillard, who said he served in Iraq in 2003.

Missouri high court overturns ruling blocking eminent domain

And the march of fascism across the backs of the people continues on unimpeded. When the judiciary system is co-opted by the elite class, there is little option left the people. Do I smell revolt? I certainly smell something, and it ain't pretty.

Missouri high court overturns ruling blocking eminent domain

On Tuesday the state Supreme Court overturned a lower court's ruling that would have blocked many communities from using eminent domain for private development supported by tax breaks.

The ruling could affect cities and towns where as many as two-thirds of Missourians live. It also clears the way for the St. Louis suburb of Arnold to take the dentist office of Homer Tourkakis — if the city can prove the property is blighted.

Property rights groups condemned the ruling, warning that it could prompt more local governments to take private property. And Tim Sandefur, an attorney who represented Tourkakis, called the decision "a disaster."

"This is scary," said Ron Calzone, the chairman for Missouri Citizens for Property Rights. "This is a scary, scary decision."

The Cost of War

Five years ago today, President Bush declared war on Iraq. He went on TV and addressed the American people, saying, "The people of the United States and our friends and allies will not live at the mercy of an outlaw regime that threatens the peace with weapons of mass murder."

And while our troops overseas and their courageous families here at home have paid the highest price, every American has been impacted by the President's war.




http://www.americansunitedforchange.com/costofwar

China's Bin Laden

Demonize your avowed enemy of state to distract attention from your own shortcomings. Right out of the Republican playbook.

China: Dalai Lama Wants to Sour Olympics

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao accused supporters of the Dalai Lama on Tuesday of organizing violent clashes in Tibet in hopes of sabotaging the Beijing Olympics and bolstering their campaign for independence in the Himalayan territory.

The Dalai Lama urged his followers to remain peaceful, saying he would resign as head of the Tibetan government-in-exile if violence got out of control. But he also suggested China may have fomented unrest in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa and nearby provinces to discredit him.

In striking an uncompromising line, Wen underscored the communist leadership's determination to restore order in Tibet and Tibetan areas of neighboring provinces.

"There is ample fact - and we also have plenty of evidence - proving that this incident was organized, premeditated, masterminded and incited by the Dalai clique," he told reporters at his annual news conference at the end of China's national legislative session.

Life's Little Instruction Book

CounterPunch: The Fed's Wall Street Dilemma

Americans learned two new truths last week from the Bush Administration's version of Life's Little Instruction Book: if you're a Wall Street miscreant you're thrown a lifeline; if you're a Wall Street crime fighter you're thrown a land mine.

And if you are a home owner who got suckered by these charlatans, pack what you can and get the hell out... before the Nazis break down your door and haul you off in stocks. Ain't capitalism grand?

My Lai massacre remembered

And we will collectively forget about the atrocities that continue in the name of Capitalism even to this day! We are surely doomed to repeat history time and again.

My Lai massacre remembered, but others forgotten - Asia-Pacific

Hanoi is staging a weekend-long ceremony to mark the massacres, in which a company of US Army soldiers, unable to find any of the Viet Cong guerrillas they had been ordered to clear from the village, instead killed up to 504 defenceless men, women and children.

But while the massacres at My Lai are recorded in Vietnamese history books, and at the My Lai Museum, most of the atrocities committed during the Vietnam War go largely unremembered.

US Draws Portrait of Iraq Bombers

The real irony here is that Sunni Muslims are historically the official allies to Western Governments. Iran is predominantly Shia, the faith of the majority of Islam. The Islamic Minority is the West's professed political ally and the supplier of the majority of jihadists and suicide bombers.

I would submit that the Capitalistic Imperialist Regimes have very strange bedfellows and are poor judges of companions. But that would imply that they do not recognize the character of the company they keep.

US Draws Portrait of Iraq Bombers

According to the summary, interrogators concluded that most foreign fighters are Sunni Muslim men from 18 to 30, with the mean age of 22. They are almost always single males with no children, and tend to be students or hold blue-collar jobs ranging from taxi drivers to construction and retail sales.

Chinese Security Forces Swarm Tibet

Unfortunately, the Tibetans will likely receive little or no outside support or assistance as is the case with Kosova for the simple reason that they have no natural resources such as oil to speak of and is not strategically located for the location of a pipeline. Hence, there is no profit benchmark set for assisting the indigenous people for any reason.

Come to think of it, that is probably the main reason no one really cares about the atrocities of the Gaza Strip. I guess that there is just no profit in free, happy and healthy people.

Chinese Security Forces Swarm Tibet

Soldiers on foot and in armored carriers swarmed Tibet's capital Saturday, enforcing a strict curfew a day after protesters burned shops and cars to vent their anger against Chinese rule. In another western city, police clashed with hundreds of Buddhist monks leading a sympathy demonstration.

The violence erupted just two weeks before China's Summer Olympic celebrations kick off with the start of the torch relay, which passes through Tibet. China is gambling that its crackdown will not draw an international outcry over human rights violations that could lead to boycotts of the Olympics.

The latest unrest began Monday on the anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. Tibet was effectively independent for decades before communist troops entered in 1950.

Beef Update: Venezuela Nationalized Major Slaughterhouse Chain -Chavez

CARACAS (Dow Jones)--Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez announced Friday that the
government nationalized a chain of slaughterhouses that makes up the bulk of the
meat-processing capacity in the country.

"We nationalized, through an acquisition, a great chain of
(slaughterhouses) that makes up 70% of the installed capacity in Venezuela,"
Chavez said in televised remarks. "We're also acquiring milk-products company
'Los Andes' that represents 30% of the milk-processing capacity in the country,"
he said.

The state's move to nationalize these businesses responds to Chavez's attempt
to bring key food-industry companies under closer state control. The president
has threatened in the past to nationalize, or forcefully acquire, any business
considered of national importance, particularly those involved in the
food-processing industry.

Chavez's threats come at a time when he denounces rising prices, a problem of
late for the Andean country, which saw inflation reach 22.5% in 2007. Venezuela has suffered from food
shortages for years now, a problem that has gotten worse, with staples such as
milk and certain cuts of meat disappearing from stores.

Government officials have made clear in the past their belief that
government-run businesses can better serve customers than the private sector
does. Chavez insists that privately owned companies respond to the needs of
their owners and neglect consumers.

"It's not just a matter of changing the ownership of this businesses,"
Chavez said during his speech. "It's a matter of changing the (economic)
model...(adopting) a socialist model."

-By Raul Gallegos; Dow Jones Newswires; +58-212-564- 1339; raul.gallegos@ dowjones. com

The Same Old Thing

AmericansUnitedforChange.com

'Nuff said?

Bear Stearns Bailed Out by Fed, JPMorgan

When multimillion dollar earners are threatened in any way, the Fed and Wall Street comes running to the rescue. But when millions of average citizens are threatened with losing everything that they have ever worked for, all they get is armed militia beating on their doors with weapons drawn to evict them. Since the bankruptcy laws were changed to the detriment of the borrowers, the next thing that we can look forward to is the return of "debtors prison".

Bear Stearns Bailed Out by Fed, JPMorgan

NEW YORK (AP) - Bear Stearns Cos. (BSC) (BSC), one of Wall Street's venerable investment banks, received a bailout Friday by the federal government and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) (JPM) in a surprise, last-ditch effort to save the 86-year old institution.

The Federal Reserve responded swiftly to pleas from Bear Stearns that its coffers had "significantly deteriorated" within a 24-hour period. Central bankers backed an arrangement to bolster the company, and stood ready to provide extra resources to combat a credit crisis that now threatens one of America's biggest financial institutions.