So this morning? Let’s talk about anything cheery or proactive.
What community initiatives have been started in your area? What actions have been taken that have caught your eye? Here’s one on rape awareness that caught mine — via a link from LGM — and I’m not certain it’s my style, but I can see the appeal for folks who haven’t openly talked about their own survival story. It’s not an easy conversation to begin, and the people involved in making the shirts to get the conversation started? Just some folks who thought it was important and set about making it happen.
Rick Perlstein’s superb work on Richard Nixon and his place within the history swirling around him during that turbulent period of American history makes for great reading. Rick had a bit of a preview of his latest book, Nixonland, up, and it is worth reading for this nugget alone:
"And then I got into Memphis," he said. "And some began to say the threats—or talk about the threats—that were out, what would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers.
(What threats? Well, for one, a black merchant later testified that he heard a white businessman bark into a phone, "shoot the son of a bitch on the balcony," and mention $5000.)
"Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now.
"Because I’ve been to the mountaintop," he said, and the two thousand communicants clustered at the front of the cavernous hall began cheering, to the relief of King’s associates, because the speech heretofore had not been up to his standards.
"And I don’t mind," he said, as people started rising and shouting in waves, which upon their abeyance brought a quiet reflection.
"Like anybody I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will."
And the energy in the room began once more to crescendo, as a great preacher led his flock to transcendence.
"And he’s allowed me to go up to the mountain.
"And I’ve looked over, and I have s-e-e-e-e-e-n, the promised land.
"And I may not get there with you, but I want you to know, tonight, that we as a people will get to the promised land! So I’m happy tonight! I’m not worried about any-thing! I’m not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the glor-y of the coming of the Lord."
He stumbled, spent, into Abernathy’s embrace. This movement would make a way where there had been no way. They would march; they would win. The party repaired to the Lorraine Motel for the next day’s work of planning, negotiating, exhorting, organizing, shuttling back and forth from each others’ rooms. Here was a strange American thing: that the most distinguished Memphis hostelry for visiting Negroes—Count Basie; Martin Luther King—was a humble motel, but such were the wages of segregation, and so it was that, every time he wanted to go from one from one room to another, the most hunted man in America had to do so traversing the rain-slicked outdoor motel catwalks.
Across the street in a flophouse next to a fire station, a two-bit drifter and petty criminal named James Earl Ray thrust his .30-06 Remington through a bathroom window. King emerged from his room for dinner, chatted up some of his associates, hangers-on, admirers, made the acquaintance of a member of the band that was to play for them that night. The shot rang out….
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood up when his nation needed him to do so, and gave voice to the cries of those who did not feel that their voices would matter. So that others might be lifted up behind him. (YouTube) He was one man among many, many others who worked together in the common cause of justice and decency and equality. And he showed a nation and the world what commitment to a just cause, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, can do when you keep pushing people to open their minds and their hearts to something better, something bigger than themselves.
What is the next issue that needs tackling? What ought we all be working on, together, lifting up our voices to be heard on the mountaintops. How do we go about getting there? What work needs to be done to get things rolling? What is important to you — and how to we make it better or get it moving in the right direction? What can you do about it today to get it moving?
Because that leader that you are looking for? It’s you. Pull up a chair…
(YouTube above is an excerpt from Dr. King’s Drum Major Instinct speech.)
Related posts:
Spotlight
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
Advanced search
g’morning christy, great as always to see you
I believe we must create the firestorm that brings disbarment to yoo, that I believe is the only thing we can do to turn his memos into dust, and dust they must become
Good morning Christy.
Can’t stick around today—lots to do. But I just read Tristero’s take on MLK in Memphis and it is worth spreading around.
Yesterday’s winner for me was Natasha Chart’s post on how we are losing a grip on the rule of law—not just at the top but when it comes to signing our lives away to get a job—binding arbitration.
This seems to be an imperative for us to be working on.
Great post Christy! There is not nearly enough inspiration in the world today.
Oh sure, it’s out there, but we are so busy being served wars, nasty campaigns, economic uncertainty… …it’s easy to forget to look around for the inspirations around us.
The inspirations around us are Lt. Cmdr. Swift, the Wilsons, Bunny Greenhouse, and all those who stood up for the rule of law and continue to do so knowing that their careers and even lives are in jeopardy when they do. We need to lift up the whistleblowers and help them in any way we can.
As looseheadprop has explained, New York State is under federal court order to comply with HAVA, that is we are ordered to buy easily hacked electronic vote counting machines. In our county we have been able to convince the county legislature to form a bi-partisan citizens task force to study and make recommendations on the options for casting and counting our votes. Many concerned citizens favor hand-counting paper ballots while there is a genuine positive feeling toward retaining the old mechanical lever machines which, despite rumours to the contrary, are possibly HAVA compliant. The transition to these machines almost a hundred years ago, unlike the adoption of computerized voting, was not done willy-nilly but was accompanied by much discussion and host of thoughtful legal protocols were established. We will be trying to establish the same thoughtful approach to whatever our next voting means will be.
that’s a great mlk tribute…. but i think it was dday’s. i put a few more at the bottom of ES’s late late nite thread.
How true, they are indeed heroic & inspirational. Even lesser folks, such as the FAA whistleblower in Southwest Airline case. The fellow whose wife received the newspaper clipping in the mail on how to cope with the loss of one’s spouse, along with a note saying she would be needing it soon.
Act One of restoring the law is the recognition and demand that there must be an accounting for the last seven years. It cannot just be brushed aside by the next administration.
Ford pardoning Nixon, Clinton saying it was between GHW Bush and his conscience…that way is wrong. It disserves America.
We must show our children and grandchildren that we take seriously the responsibilities of governance and citizenship.
True healing comes when the infectious rot is brought out into the sunshine, debrided away, or it will fester and molder under the skin ready to eat away at America’s soul and honor again.
i won’t quote it here, because we’re doing uplifting this morning… but also in the previous thread, i posted a bit of transcription from mark danner’s talk at stanford (after he had debated yoo) and gave links to more.
Amen to that, sister. Coleen Rowley, the FBI agent who blew the whistle on the multiple failures re runup to 9/11 (most notably failures related to Zacarias Moussaui), lives not far from me. Her courage netted her bad juju in her workplace. She was ostracized and reviled by FBI colleagues and top dogs. She knew that would happen. She spoke out anyway. It cost her a lifelong career.
I believe our assignment, should we choose to accept it, is to put even greater pressure on journalists and their publications/broadcast stations to dig deeper more often and settle for nothing less than full disclosure. Truth. Imagine that.
As always, if we are killed or captured, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of our actions…this comment will self destruct in 5 seconds… Good luck.
far, far too late, once the vote is counted there will be no recount, there will be no accounting at all
“it is not who votes, it is who counts the votes”, I forget which despot made that point but there it is
I want to repost something I posted downstairs because we are getting dangerously too close;
I am still reeling over the yoo memos, I can not sleep, I cannot rest, they are in my dreams, my relatives and ancestors in nazi germant call to me now, they open their eyes and they call to me, there is no rest right now
I do not believe there will be an election for Obama or any democrat to win, there is too much to loose for these neo fascists, far too much to loose, they have gathered so much, waited too long, this country is the golden ring, the prize
they have amassed too much power, they are lawless and they know no crime too great
let me repeat that because it is brutally obvious once told;
“they know no crime too great”
taste that phrase, realize what it says
that my friends is a fact, there is NO crime too great, they have committed treason, stolen, killed, tortured, committed mass murder, and they are still in power
“there is no crime too great”
what does a man do when he is near certain he is right but prays he is wrong?
I’ll tell you what a man does, my relatives and ancestors tell me what a man does;
he sits and watches Hitler take the helm…that’s what he does, and that is what we are doing
yoo must be disbarred, bush and Cheney must be impeached, they absolutely must
at the very least, that impeachment will inoculate us from martial law, at the very least we will bring their plans to a screeching halt
off to work, sorry to spoil everone’s saturday
nonplussed, there are no “lessers” among any of these people. In these times we are seeing craven corruption, but we are seeing, as you and RevDeb note, inspiring profiles in courage. While BushCo wages war on the foundations of American Democracy, heroes live among us. I truly believe we shall prevail.
And barbara, together this is no mission impossible….
Heading “out” of computerville for a bit to work up some reflections for my homeblog on attending the Obama keynote at the ND Dem-NPL State Convention yesterday. He is inspiring, she said in her usual spare way *g*
I’m pretty encouraged that 81% of americans think the country is going in the wrong direction. A lot more people are waking up, finally. Those 19 percenters sure cling to their rose colored glasses & make all kinds of tortured excuses for the republicans. They remind me of families where dad is a chronic drunk, one kid is a meth head, another wants to marry her abusive, non-working boyfriend at 17 and mom is embezzling $ from her employer but repeatedly tell everyone how wonderful everything is in their world. Denial, denial, denial. Over the Christmas holidays we had one R relative say that Bush had just run into a string of bad luck!
I just can’t understand the over-the-top loyalty some R’s have for their fubar legislators & party. They treat them as some kind of gods who walk on water. OTOH, trying to get Dems to fall in line is like herding cats.
The problem is, they don’t NEED to cancel elections. They have been working on this for decades, they have patience.
Have you heard any presidential candidates calling for a restoration of the constitution, let alone call for the perpetrators to be brought to justice?!
They can get through a term or two of Democrats, if they have to. Worst case scenario, the most “at risk” for war crimes take a retirement in Paraguay…
Now here’s the uplifting part of the Rowley story. She’s an attorney. After being forced out of the FBI for blowing her whistle, she became an indefatigable activist. She became a much-in-demand guest speaker, mostly addressing the assault on civil liberties and this administration’s contempt for rule of law. and last I knew, accepted only expense reimbursement (no speaker fee). She ran (unsuccessfully) for Congress against one of Bush’s most dedicated henchmen, John Kline. Hardly a week goes by that doesn’t find her standing on street corners and highway overpasses with a handful of others, holding up anti-war banners. That’s not my personal choice for involvement, but I admire the hell out of people with the courage of their convictions in a time when citizen courage seems to be in short supply.
And I’m pretty discouraged that, given the above, by all accounts the pres. election this fall will still be close.
Republicans have worked hard to get landslided this fall, with all the stealing, lying and shredding of the Constituion they have served up the past 8 years.
We understand. Hope it was therapeutic and that your day has some sunshine.
STTPinOhio:
I try to find nuggets of hope where I can or I would be completely around the bend by now!
I just learned that my nephew in college will be working in Rep Oberstar’s office in Washington this summer. I’m excited for him.
I’ve heard Sen. Obama talk about respect for the Constitution, having been a professor that has taught constitutional law, but I agree that I would love to hear discussion about bringing these crooks to justice from him.
It would seem that progressives should be encouraged by the poll showing 81% of Americans feeling that the U.S. is moving in the wrong direction. One has to ask, of that 81% how many see a vote for McCain as a vote for a new direction? The corporate media and the Republican slime machine will do their best to convince the public that McCain is a vote for a new path. For those Americans, tens of millions, who have been paying more attention to “Dancing with the Stars” rather than following what this administration has been doing, this will have resonance. Progressives, liberals, Democrats will have to redouble their efforts to show how a vote for McCain will be a catastrophe for the average American. This battle has to be waged at all levels, local, state and national. I’m trying to organize a “rapid response” team of local progressive bloggers to write letters to all local publications and respond on local media blogs. Education one voter at a time.
Boy, ain’t that the truth. And congrats to your nephew!
Good Morning Christy and Firedogs -
am working on a congressional campaign, the kid’s not progressive enough but he’s no Heath Shuler – but really doing it to take the gift of all the enthusiasm generated by 08 and translate it in to infrastructure for our area and our state – and I can not thank ALL of you enough for providing me with the basics and tools
Sometimes you have to give the devil his due.
It’s unbelievable how Rethugs can get people to vote against their own self interest — time and time again.
Their storyline seems to be ‘If you don’t vote for us, married gay couples will move into your neighborhoods and take your guns away, all while having abortions non-stop.’
And it always seems to work.
I’ve been starting seeds. Our local food bank is almost in crisis with the increased cost of food and increased need. I’ve been providing fresh produce for a few years now and will provide more this year. We’re working on setting up community gardens in our area as well.
A couple of weeks ago I shared the story of the young man from our area who was killed in Iraq the end of January. He had tried to raise money for school supplies and soccer balls for kids in Iraq. You suggested I try any soldier which I did. Someone else earlier had raved about 3 Cups of Tea, which I read and was blown away by. Greg Mortenson represents everything that is good about humanity and has an amazing foundation to build even more schools for the kids in Pakistan and Afghanistan. So….I donated money to him and I’m trying to get a Pennies for Peace started. Our local united churches group said that the kids are already collecting change for Heifer International so I’ll have to figure out another venue.
Good morning from L.A. Have only been reading here for a while, but since you asked for anything cheery or proactive, Christy, thought I’d post this: A young woman who is a friend of my daughter co-founded a nonprofit a little while back. She just sent me their one yr. anniversary newsletter yesterday. She’s 27 yrs. old & has started the Niapele Project to help school children in Ghana. She did this after visiting Africa on a vacation break from grad school & seeing a need for help she just couldn’t ignore.
Her name’s Celina Guich, she’s still working her day job, & here’s their website. Young women like Celina are a reason to cheer up @ the end of a bad news week:
The Niapele Project
I don’t feel that I “work” on anything. I pay attention, I try to convince the people I know to support Dems, I donate (a pittance) to candidates and causes and I volunteered to work a few days for my Congressman. But my frustration grows because I don’t think I really make a difference and I don’t know what else to do. The forces against us are very powerful (media and corps) and I don’t have the power, influence or money to combat that. And I don’t think they really give a damn about public discontent. Remember Haig’s comment: “Let them protest all they want as long as they pay their taxes”.
This has been a week where all forms of cancers are surrounding me, and wreaking havoc on my emotional life.
From my dad’s passing, to the neighbours wife announced passing, with the Yoo memos, as well as the media maverikingmaking of McCain…
I’m grateful that in one hour, I’ll be with Nick, a brilliant ten year old who did not want to join his family who have just lost their uncle to cancer…
We’ll go out for a walk, play hockey in the street, probably play with his XBox, laugh and have a real good meal I’ll make from whatever is in the fridge.
Taking care of this kid is a gift.
Before I put in the next batch of biscuits, I thought I’d share this polar bear and husky story.
Well, Senator McCain I guess late is better than never, but it really wasn’t a “mistake.” It was part of a cynical calculated strategy that you and your party used to ride into power.
We should never forget that the GOP’s patron saint, Ronald Reagan, began his 1980 campaign by going to Philadelphia, Mississippi and giving a speech on state’s rights, while failing to mention the three young men, Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney, who died there in 1964 during the “summer of freeedom.” It was a stomach turning event that disgraced him and his party.
I learned during one of FDL’s recent Book Salons that the site of their tragic death has never been memorialized. I believe our Democratic nominee, should consider beginning their fall campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi as part of a dedication of a proper memorial for these fallen men. Senator McCain should be invited to attend. That would truly signal a new beginning.
Morning everyone — got a bit of a sleep-in this morning. (yay!) Mr. ReddHedd and The Peanut got up and let me sleep, and I awoke to fresh coffee and a very rested self, and a dishwasher being unloaded. Boo yah!
We’ve got Finding Nemo playing in the living room, and a feeder full of birdies outside my window — much to our kitty’s delight this morning, it includes the chubby cardinal pair. You can just see her thinking “mmmmmmmm…those look tasty” as she watches them, even though they would kick her pampered behind if she ever got a shot outside. *g*
How is everyone this morning? Thought we could all do with a bit of inspiration after mucking through the Yoo memo for most of last week…
Republics have exploited those issues for many elections, but I wonder if they will work this year? When voters feel secure, they may think that gays and guns matter to their own lives. However, when they are worried about losing their job or house, I doubt they take much solace from gays being unable to marry or from guns being easy to buy.
I watched a panel discussing Iraq refugees, consisting of a UN representative, the Syrian Ambassador, and I think the Jordanian Ambassador (or UN Ambassador)…anyway…the Syrian Ambassador was talking at length about the 1.5 million refugees that have been accepted into Syria and the Syrian pleas for water treatment plants, ambulances, and other supplies that have been denied…but the thing that really caught my ear and made me sit up was the statement he made about the extremely high level of cases of childhood cancers in the Iraqi refugee children!! Some investigation and sunlight on the use of depleted uranium by the US in Iraq during both gulf wars seems to be warranted…to add to the war crimes portfolio…
Oh, and today the MSM is all about how McCain is winning!!!! If 81% of America wants change….how can that be??? It can’t. The media is truly one of our biggest problems. We cannot have another Republican administration…this must not be allowed to happen. We have to pushback at the media harder.
He can “respect it” all he wants, but unless he wants to ENFORCE it, I’ll be calling for his impeachment one day.
OK, maybe that is harsh, but I’m fed up with people not being fed up!
If Obama was to go around talking about holding the current administration accountable for their trashing of the Constitution….he might as well slit his wrists so to speak….he can’t talk like that and make it to November…just sayin’. He is a Constitutional expert…that is what his work has been in the past.
THANK YOU CHRISTY! A MILLION THANK YOUS TO EVERYONE AT FDL FOR UPHOLDING TRUTH< HONESTY INTEGRITY AND RIGHT HUMAN RELATIONS!</p>
Oh so the puppy has a name…uh oh….*G* how cute!!
Felicity is an emptied dishwasher…
This month at our DFA meeting Arizona Advocacy Network did a presentation on the Myths and Facts on Immigration…. the powerpoint can be viewed here:
Why we must not be bystanders
The community is a mess….. Sheriff Joe has been doing raids at various points in the county gathering up BROWN people acting as local branch of ICE…. so far he has bragged that he has rounded up 90,000 people but the back story is that 800 of that number could NOT prove their citizenship on first pass….
A member of our group said that her adopted daughter from Honduras has been stopped and any thing could generate a reason for a stop…. cracked window, car lights out, it is Phoenix’s own driving while brown….
This year we could throw Sheriff Joe out of office and make sure that he does not start his next career with Glen Beck or the Dobbs
Here is something interesting. What is your take? It says that the war will be “illegal” as of 1/1/09:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyo…..582/490631
Good morning Christy. Morning firepups.
He is a complete maniac. Why hasn’t Arizona Senator McCain done something about these activities??? Someone should ask him about it.
Morning Christie, and thanks for a week of making something confusing more accessible to this mom. I am inspired by the dogwoods blooming on our North Carolina hill, and my son turns nine next week, closer to being another progressive voter. I am inspired also that the candidate I volunteer for, Jim Neal, keeps reaching out and working for every vote as we get close to our May 6th primary.
Sheriff Joe and McBush are BFF…. BIG BFF
Then that BFF relationship deserves some BF publicity!!! *G*
I’m trying….. if anyone was fooled by McBush’s apology for not voting for the MLK holiday yesterday….. McBush supported Gov. Mecham canceling the MLK holiday for AZ state employees in 1986… this gov who was impeached….
Morning Betsy — how are you feeling these days? That back issue get resolved for you yet?
Thank you so much for this. Woke up very tired this am, and learned another friend has lost his mom. There are enough truly sad things without adding more senseless tragedy….this stupid war, trashing our country, a Pres. out saying idiotic things to the world. Of course, a gorgeous big ol fence along the Rio Grand in south TX. Thank you for a post of a very brave man whose life was blessed and brave and truly not easy.
Oy! I thought this was a positive news thread. Ask about my back during an “agony and depressed” thread.
Sorry for your and your friend’s loss.
Thank you for putting this out there. The hate that King engendered was palpable and should not be forgotten. Nothing like Mc. playing to the haters 20 years later. What does an apology do for him or anyone else? Does the King family really care?
Betsy, Thank you. BL
Good Morning, Firepups!
It’s been a tough couple of weeks for me. I fell running to catch a bus on 3-24, and broke my wrist. Emergency Room staff set it [after putting me under], but things weren’t aligned properly. So I had surgery this past Wed. with a terrific orthopedist. Getting around one-handed isn’t easy, and there’s so much that Mr. NJP must do since I can’t do it for myself [drive, wash dishes, cook]. And he’s been so busy with making the arrangements for his parents to move to a facility near us [skilled nursing for his mom, assisted living for his dad], so I’ve been feeling terrible about adding to his burdens.
I’ll mend, with time. Mr. NJP will cope with the extra workload. But there are so many people for whom things won’t get better, ever. I worry that the assault on our Constitution will render it permanently damaged. I fret that the ill-conceived war we started will spawn nothing but more hatred in the world. I fear that people here at home will lose jobs and homes as the economy contracts.
Here at the ‘Lake I am grateful to the front-page writers and the commenters who see things, clear-eyed, and work to change things on the ground and change the discourse in our media. Thanks to all of you, and the letters you write, the petitions you circulate, and the facts that you bring to light, I have hope.
Work for peace, every day.
The war is ALREADY ILLEGAL. It is only the sycophants sucking at the chimps teat that think it is not…. oh yes and the do nothing congress. The rest of the world knows that the invasion was illegal, the occupation is illegal etc etc etc.
I’d like to know what drugs McCain takes…should be on those health records he won’t release.
I thought everyone could use it this morning — I know I needed something more along the inspirational lines after the past week of dredging through the muck. The thing about Dr. King’s story that has always fascinated me is how although he was flawed and altogether very human in terms of personal issues — something the wingnuts endlessly like to taunt liberals about — he still managed to have a soul that was large enough to understand that working for the greater good rather than just enriching himself and his cronies was what he was meant to do. And then, despite the risks inherent in it, he did it. He put himself out there, day in and day out, and pushed for something greater than the sum of the individuals involved in the civil rights movement.
The Founders were far from perfect either, and yet they began a revolution which sparked a discussion of “government by and for the people” across the globe. A discussion that has not stopped, no matter the Bush Administration’s best efforts to co-opt it for their own power grabs.
We need more discussion about the greater good — more actions designed to force that issue off the tables of the politically active and onto the laps of the rest of the country. We have all forgotten how much power we can wield by lifting our collective voices and actions as one — and the KStreet and power crowd doesn’t want us to remember. I think it’s high time to give them all a wake-up call…I just haven’t figured out the best way to do so.
Best wishes for complete healing.
that’s a great strategy, we need that information…nicely done ls
True.
And if you need some more inspiration this morning, Scott Horton has some excerpts from “Letters From A Birmingham Jail” up at No Comment…
I have to agree. Please add Addington to your list for disbarment. You didn’t spoil my Saturday. Like you, I live with this knowledge of the evil done and our responsibility to make things right all the time. The day of the week does not matter. Still, it is important to take joy in what they have not tainted. Sunrises are still beautiful. Flowers still are pretty and smell nice. Children are still a promise to the future. That gives us strength and keeps us from dispair.
i think that is why the story of schindler made such an impression on me. he treated his wife despicably was a slimy business man… and yet he also risked his life and used all his personal fortune to save the lives of those he had, at first, exploited.
my take home message and personal inspiration from his story is that all of us, no matter how flawed and no matter what we have done to be ashamed of, have within us the possibility to rise above all that in our concern and care for the people we come to know.
This is the best thing I’ve read re: Yoo
“This should have been John Yoo’s week for being roasted on the public spit. His memos came out. There’s an interview in Esquire where he attempts (badly) to get out from under his role as the waterboarding consigliere. He stands — behind a podium at a respected law school — revealed as the almost perfect apparatchik, a guy who would have found a way to make the trains to the internment camps run on time. The Frontline series on Bush’s war demonstrates pretty clearly that moral courage was in short supply in and around the Avignon Presidency. (Secretary Powell? Isn’t this your soul in the sink? Hello? Bueller?) But the people who really are astonishing are people like Yoo, who sprang with such alacrity to the task of dismantling America. A guy picks up the phone at the DOJ over a weekend and he’s blue-penciling the Bill of Rights, and the respective role of the Congress and the president, and the integrity of international treaties, and virtually everything that differentiates the United States from East freaking Germany? Too bad the janitor didn’t pick up the phone. Is there any doubt that, if C-Plus Augustus had wanted a legal opinion that allowed him to pick off pedestrians at random from the Truman Balcony, Yoo would have written a memo to that very effect? He should be pumping gas in the Imperial Valley for a living. He should be kept away from the law for the same reason we keep Charlie Manson out of the cutlery drawer. He should have been the story but, of course, Barack Obama went bowling.”
Charles Pierce, Slacker Friday letter to Eric Alterman, Altercation
search term abortion returns to POPLINE
Im guessing that may be one-handed typing!! Thank you for the affirmation and encouragement. I am sorry for you and Mr. N. Those parent decisions can be so stressful, in part, because it is all the harbinger of things to come. Good luck to you both. A fall like yours can be pretty scary. I hope you are finding ways to take it easy.
that is effing brilliant and pierce is my hero for the day.
Global warming and economic justice are big issues for me. Too big except to do the small things by an individual that make a contribution to the large picture.
If Obama is the nominee, we can work hard to make sure that we get more people out to vote who are moving beyond the racial divide than those who perpetuate it. If it is Clinton, we do the same for the gender divide.
Listening to Dr. MLK is still and always inspiring. I cannot believe it is 40 years!
I volunteer in the schools. I am working on the issue of organizing and empowerment with mid-schoolers this semester.
I am also working on a project to raise funds for orphans in sub-Saharan Africa.
If it can happen in Zimbabwe, it can happen here. =-/
My bad choice of words.
He did in fact say “enforce it”, and if he doesn’t, he should face impeachment just like Darth & Co. should.
thank you njp.
I would love to see a complete timeline of the entire Bushco “operation on America”….from the 2000 election until today….day by day, week by week…the phony election, spying, 9/11, anthrax, more spying, the Executive orders, the signing statements, the war propaganda, the torture memos, Katrina, politicization of the DOJ, Blackwater, etc.; if it was concise, it would show without a doubt the pattern of their treason against the United States of America.(Yes, I know…Hugh’s list) and then have it presented in full to Congress; i.e., make the case.
This probably sounds stupid…but I can dream can’t I…
every time ou buy something from oversees or another iece of clothing made in China it comes through a Port to the USA. 40% of all goods are moved through the ports of LA and Long Beach. In the last few years, authorities have cleaned up stationery sources of pollution–think dry cleaners, metal plating businesses, even fast-food charbroilers–but not ships or trucks that move all the goods. they are not stationery sources. We are at the point that the largest source of air pollution–known toxics that cause cancer and heart disease and lung disease, that stunt children’s lung growth and cause 5,000 deaths a year in CA–come from the goods movement industry.
A friend who is a physician says we live in The Diesel Death Zone. The shippers — ships, RR, truckers, the Ports — all want to externalize these costs; meaning they dont want to pay anything to clean up or mitigate there mess. More than $300 billion in goods moves through our ports and just last week we got the PORT to agree to spend a measely $12 million this year and another $40 or so over the next 4 years cleaning some of that pollution–for instance by putting air filters in schools and some homes. It is a start, but the ports and the goods movement industry are among some of the greediest folks around.
In the Drum Major Instinct Speech – an impromtu speech, the night before he died, that he almost didn’t give – MLK shows All of US what it means to rise above our fears and Operate from Stillness.
By his example, Dr. King made ‘I Am a Man’ a statement of Every man’s and woman’s transcendent potential to arrive at the Promised Land of Struggle-free Peace within themselves.
He said he might not get there with us, but that that was Okay, because he had already seen the Glorious Place we were all marching towards. He was already at Peace, fearing no man, sublimely confident that the river carrying all Freedom-seekers – carrying All of US – eventually merges into the sea of Universal Love and Compassion.
So authentic was this man’s relationship to All Creation, that not even Death could break the Freedom he had found.
We can’t thank him enough.
It is by his example that All of US suffering Man’s limitations can know – if we Fearlessly and Non-Violently follow the torch of Freedom – We Too Shall Overcome!
A UK friend forwarded the following message to me. Information is more than a year old . . . nevertheless, I think it shows in a small way how we can hope to speak truth to power:
US Government says…be afraid, watch tv, consume, obey, shut up, be happy, we are the boss, we know what is best for YOU!
BUT:
Wyoming sheriffs put feds in their place
February 18, 2007
Here’s one the mainstream media isn’t going to tell you: County sheriffs in Wyoming are demanding that federal agents actually abide by the Constitution, or face arrest. Even better, a U.S. District Court agreed according to the Keene Free Press:
The court decision was the result of a suit against both the BATF and the IRS by Mattis and other members of the Wyoming Sheriff’s Association. The suit in the Wyoming federal court district sought restoration of the protections enshrined in the United States Constitution and the Wyoming Constitution.
Guess what? The District Court ruled in favor of the sheriffs. In fact, they stated, Wyoming is a sovereign state and the duly elected sheriff of a county is the highest law enforcement official within a county and has law enforcement powers exceeding that of any other state or federal official.” Go back and re-read this quote.
The court confirms and asserts that “the duly elected sheriff of a county is the highest law enforcement official within a county and has law enforcement powers EXCEEDING that of any other state OR federal official.” And you thought the 10th Amendment was dead and buried — not in Wyoming, not yet.
Bighorn County Sheriff Dave Mattis comments:
“If a sheriff doesn’t want the Feds in his county he has the constitutional right and power to keep them out, or ask them to leave, or retain them in custody.”
“I am reacting in response to the actions of federal employees who have attempted to deprive citizens of my county of their privacy, their liberty, and their property without regard to constitutional safeguards. I hope that more sheriffs all across America will join us in protecting their citizens from the illegal activities of the IRS, EPA, BATF, FBI, or any other federal agency that is operating outside the confines of constitutional law. Employees of the IRS and the EPA are no longer welcome in Bighorn County unless they intend to operate in conformance to constitutional law.”
The implications are huge:
But it gets even better. Since the judge stated that the sheriff “has law enforcement powers EXCEEDING that of any other state OR federal official,” the Wyoming sheriffs are flexing their muscles. They are demanding access to all BATF files. Why? So as to verify that the agency is not violating provisions of Wyoming law that prohibits the registration of firearms or the keeping of a registry of firearm owners. This would be wrong.
The sheriffs are also demanding that federal agencies immediately cease the seizure of private property and the impoundment of private bank accounts without regard to due process in Wyoming state courts.
This case is not just some amusing mountain melodrama. This is a BIG deal. This case is yet further evidence that the 10th Amendment is not yet totally dead, or in a complete decay in the United States. It is also significant in that it can, may, and hopefully will be interpreted to mean that “political subdivisions of a State are included within the meaning of the amendment, or that the powers exercised by a sheriff are an extension of those common law powers which the 10th Amendment explicitly reserves to the People, if they are not granted to the federal government or specifically prohibited to the States.”
Good morning Christy, pups!
That’s right. The invasion was an act of aggressive war and as such was illegal under international law from the beginning.
excellent! what ever happened with it?
The goods movers are probably the most powerful group in the country, and they have turned against Bushco because of fuel prices…they could stop the corps in their tracks…if they should so decide..
This is kinda cool:
27 Household Uses for Citrus.
* Rub lemon on your faucets to remove lime scale, hard water stains, and soap residue. It also works on porcelain.
* Whiten tennis shoes by spraying them with lemon juice and placing them in the sun
* For a mild, stain-free bleach, soak your delicates in a mixture of lemon juice and baking soda for at least half an hour before washing.
* Remove unsightly underarm stains from shirts and blouses simply by scrubbing them with a mixture of equal parts lemon juice (or white vinegar) and water.
* To get rid of mildew on clothes, make a paste of lemon juice and salt and rub it on the affected area, then dry the clothes in sunlight. Repeat the process until the stain is gone. This works well for rust stains on clothes too.
(more)
and also, wasn’t our bombing of serbia “an act of aggressive war and as such was illegal under international law”?
The problem is that most people don’t realize that it has been illegal all along. Some kind of hard evidence and a document of substance that could be publicized could make the point to the broader audience. Activists know it already, but the general public doesn’t.
and if he doesn’t, he should face impeachment just like Darth & Co. should.
Sadly, Darth and Co. are not facing anything. I shudder to think what they could be planning before the election.
IMO if they weren’t planning anything there would be no reason for Directive 51.
HI Christy
The good news for me is “Earth the Sequel” by Fred Krupp and Miriam Horn
The solutions to Global Warming and a badly needed new industry for the economy.
Love Dr. King and how he moved humanity up a notch.
Consider we are a material self centered competitive society. Our educational Institutions have become cheating factories where thought is not provoked. Our Financial Indistry is run by out and out thieves.
Our insurance industry is involved in more rip-off than service. Our infrastructure like our vehicles are designed to fail. Energy grid, roads water and wastewater are in trillons decay. We have exploited in a non sustainable way, our natural resources. We have created a debt that the next three generation are shouldered with. I like Ian Welch’s explanation of our fiscal future that reveals the faults in our approach to a healthy national economy.
Lastly our local,state and national government services will not be able to provide at the level we have become accustomed to. So as a semi third world country the social problems we face will become magnified the coming decade. So having the Lake as a forum to stay informed will be one of the bright spots. This is what we are handing to the next generations, I hope they are up to the task.
BTW, the next big bugga bugga stories from the fear mongerers is going to be the “nuke” card. It has already started…
This video from the Obama campaign (via Michelle Obama) lightened my day yesterday. I presume many of you got it, but in case you didn’t watch it, take the time. Watch students catch the message. And it correlates with a column in the NYTimes that for many, Obama makes them feel better about themselves and their potential. Here is the video link: http://my.barackobama.com/page/invite/yestheycan .
It also reminds me of watching a husky Maori kid teaching some pasty skinny white kids the haka at the middle school behind my house. It is about pulling up something inside ourselves from our past. I saw those small boys get a sense of their possiblities. Here is a youtube that explains the haka in a way that could inspire us, too, to call the spirits of those who wrote the Constitution up into ourselves, to call the courage of MLK up into ourselves, to move forward. Wtch it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BV70g0DVgNA
Bringing this up from downstairs…
Is there anyway we can focus laser beam like on the media (via calls and faxes) to force these a-holes to at least notice this story?
I mean it’s about war crimes!
Not Britanny, Linsey, Dancing with American Idol Stars…,
But war effing crimes!
yes, but i don’t want to be an activist who applies a different standard to my team.
Here’s some good news:
A federal judge in Maryland on Thursday ordered liens on the Westboro Baptist Church building and the Phelps-Chartered Law office.
I’m not sure. I don’t think we were planning on occupying the country for our own enrichment.
How’s that?
For those unfamiliar, good news, bad news, silly news and blog posts appear regularly at my place. Content updates at least 4x a day. Reality Based News Feed
man, that made my day, let’s see where that goes
of course the fed has the power of the purse and can deny funding, that’s if that state recieves more then it contibutes, it looks to me like they are willing to stop contributing to the government
this is the beginning of a civil war if goes as far as it can go
Totally OT, but Patton Oswalt on GWB.
No wonder they like to avoid the 10th Amendment.
Much in that series of “Impossible is nothing” can give you an inspiration to get up and get moving, actually. You may think it cheesy, but it is an antidote to the demoralizing drumbeat of MSM. Here’s another: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…..re=related
I’ve got CNN on. They just did a piece on ‘Babies for Obama’ which is a youtube video of different babies saying ‘Obama’. Cute and funny. Then they had an expert (expert on what, I don’t know) on saying that the tots were just repeating what the adults said, that Obama was an easy word for little ones and that it was basically jibberish.
Honest…this was on CNN. Laugh or cry?
Hang in there Quebecois. Kid energy is a wonderful thing. Drink it in.
occupation is not required to characterize an attack as a war crime of aggression.
but given the permanent basing and troop levels, i suppose an argument could be made that there is an occupation (not saying i would make that argument – i don’t know enough to say).
Oh Q! So sorry for all this. You and that 10 yr old will help each other, I am sure.
epu’ed from previous thread:
going through some of the mlk tributes from yesterday…. here are few of my favs:
from chris floyd:
john caruso quotes king and decries the “Smilin’ White Disney Martin Luther King”
and from mike marqusee:
OT- but time for my weekly African American Rethug pundit rant.
The next time you run across Ron Christie, Joe Watkins or Amy Curlyhair, ask any of them “For all of your boot-licking and water carrying for this criminal enterprise, how many African American members of Congress (either house) have an (R) next to their name?”
That would be ‘none’.
Out of almost 600 seats. Not a one.
I return you now to your regularly scheduled post.
Wow, thanks.
Ding.
Now that is inspiring.
This is pretty local, but…
Here in SF, a bunch of us DFH are doing a garage “round-robin”. Cause our houses (at least the DFH’s houses) tend to be tiny, the garage space not used for parking just grows stuff – and then the stuff metastasizes up to the ceiling.
We’re having a “garage party” this AM [archeologist on stand-by]. As the only non-vegan in the group, I’m the official Black Widow wrangler (sometimes the jar and the spider just don’t get along).
At the last garage party, my tree-hugging (and sitting) friends used each spider round-up for a break….and hummed the theme from “Rawhide”
Happy Saturday, folks.
Get along, little arachnids
You are most welcome.
Being African American, I realize how Democrats often take our vote for granted, but Republicans don’t even fake it well.
Just look at McCain yesterday.
Years of opposition to Dr. King’s national holiday, but now, since he’s running for POTUS we get a half hearted apology.
Yet the three talking heads I mentioned @104 will gladly do their bidding.
I find it disgusting.
Boehner’s Blood Money upstairs…
That video of the high school kids in the Bronx who were inspired to write their own Yes We Can speeches made me cry. Something good is happening.
My bad, I meant the “Promised Land Speech” from April 3rd, but the “Drum Major Instinct Speech” is good, too!
I know this is EPU-land but I saw this last night and thought of Christy. Wanted to share it – and tell her how much her words inspire and empower.
Thank you, Christy.
A friend just sent me this video. Monsanto and the world – 1hr 40 mins:
http://video.google.com/videop…..2223259236
Hi everyone.
Just time to lurk occasionally these days, but trying to keep in touch at least on the receiving end. Thanks for all the interesting comments.
Our little bright spot this week, besides eachother: Our favorite Bluebird lovey-dovey couple are hard at work tidying up and getting started on a nest in their usual nestbox right next to the house. ;->
I’m as old as McCain, so I may not remember rightly, but I believe their bodies were dumped into the concrete of a dam that was being built. I’m thinking the FBI got a tip and had to take some of the dam apart to find them. I remember the tension of those weeks hunting them when you just knew they were dead.
After 8 years of Bush and Lieberman, two of our ‘better than normals’ have fallen so low…
The Straight Talk Express now comes to a town near you as Cranky Old Man on a “Non-’Political’ Bus Tour.
And CNN has Dobbs, drooling and spitting as he’s about to be asphxiated/and or electrocuted by the humongous flag wrapped around his desk.
The merging of these two perversions is evident in a story just aired on CNN They just did a story where they, CNN, chose to label a very young girl a “heckler”, after she asked McCain what the purpose of his visit was to her town in Virginia.
“All you’re talking about is politics,” she said, “andI was told this was to be a non political event”. McCain did talk about politics. She sat quietly in the bleachers, and politely raised her hand at question time.
CNN and McCain were obviously upset by this ‘upstart’.
These are the kind of ‘upstarts’ we need charge of Congress, our WhiteHouse, and most especially -the MSM.
Me? I spent the morning hours phone banking tpo recruit volunteers to help ensure that right-wing financed signiture gatherers didn’t gather enough signitures to qualify for a ballot initiative to amend the California Constitution to prohibit same sex marriage in advance of the expected State Supreme Court decision (possibly this August) regarding the legality of extending licenses to marry by San Francisco.
I married My husband, not because he was a man, but because he was; and is; the person I LOVE. Shouldn’t every adult have the fundamental right to marry the loved one of their choosing? There’s still 14 more days to stop the CA intiative to ban marriage equality. Do the right thing, even if it is no more than refusing to sign the initiative.
Thanks to Carolyn and Betsy for the support.
It was a fine late spring day, filled with joyful kids running around:
http://picasaweb.google.com/pi…..2254137170