Tibetan Crackdown Demands an International Response

 

 

Tibetan Crackdown Demands an International Response

In the United States we take for granted freedoms and privileges which people around the world are struggling to attain for themselves.  Among these freedoms is the right of assembly, the right to the exercise of free speech, the freedom of travel and the right to self-determination.  These freedoms were hard won through the struggle for equal rights, which is continuing to this day. 

These freedoms that we have are not perfect, and the history of our exercise in democracy is not perfect.  A simple examination of the legacy of racism and slavery provides a clear example of the denial of these freedoms almost to this day.  The treatment of native americans, immigrants, women, people of color and other minorities clearly illustrates that the rights and privileges enshrined in our constitution and body of law are not guaranteed, but must be fought for, often in the face of years or even decades of difficult, painful struggle. In spite of this analysis, the fact is that there is a path to self-determination and human rights.  We as a nation are at our best when we are promoting human rights and basic democratic freedoms. 

 

In March, there was an event that happened halfway around the world, which is beginning to awaken international consciousness.  High on the plain of the Indian subcontinent on the tallest elevated plateau in the world on some of the most beautiful land on earth a deeply spiritual nation called Tibet asserted its right to freedom, to self determination, to autonomy and to basic democratic rights.  Tibet has been an occupied nation for nearly half a century.  Annexed by China during the reign of Mao, Tibet has suffered numerous and grievous human rights abuses during the occupation by China.  Tens of thousands of Tibetans have been killed.  Thousands have been jailed and disappeared.  The government of Tibet has been sent into exile and the spiritual center of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, has lived in exile for most of his life. 

 

Here in the United States we benefit to a large extent from our relations with China, and it is time for us to call in some favors.  China has benefited from its economic relationship with the west, which is driving its economic rebirth and steps toward modernization and development.  This growth is driven by cheap goods, massive industrialization, international trade agreements and economic liberalization.  In spite of this economic liberalization, China is still riddled with the contradictions of centralized state control and the basic denial of human rights, which comes out of the framework of centralized state control. 

 

In the United States we have a moral responsibility to speak out for the people who cannot speak for themselves.  Right now, the people of Tibet are suffering terribly for wanting their basic human rights.  They want to worship in a manner suitable to their culture.  They want the freedom of assembly and the right to free speech.  They want political autonomy from China.  They want to live free from the fear of being tortured and imprisoned for expressing dissent.  We have a responsibility to listen to these thousands of monks and ordinary citizens calling for freedom.

 

As a candidate for federal office, I would like to urge you to take steps to let China know that the people of Tibet deserve basic human rights. If China does not call off its troops, release prisoners who have been imprisoned simply for expressing their desire for freedom, reinstate the Dalai Lama as the cultural and spiritual leader of Tibet, and grant Tibet autonomy within China, then we will not buy products made in China. 

 

I would encourage you to look at where the next cheap product you buy is made, and if it is made in China, then I would encourage you not to buy it, until China grants Tibet basic human rights.  Additionally, as a federal candidate I support a boycott of official US participation in the 2008 Olympics.  The people of Tibet have spoken, and it is time for us to listen.  Through non-violent methods we have the tools and resources to pressure China to move into the twenty first century.  China is enthusiastic to show the world her material progress.  It is up to us to help nudge China toward democratic progress as well.

 

If you are in Nashville I would like to encourage you to attend a rally for human rights in Tibet this Sunday, March 30th at 1pm at the Nashville Courthouse.  The rally, entitled "One Human Race," is a response to recent reports of violence in Tibet that began on March 10th – a day known to Tibetans as Uprising Day, when the country revolted in 1959 against the Chinese invasion of 1950.  News reports have suggested that the violence in Tibetan and Chinese provinces comes at a time when China is working expeditiously to portray a clean image for the upcoming summer Olympics in Beijing.

 

But the social unrest paints a different picture, calling the world's attention to a brutal decades-long history of Chinese rule in Tibet, in which approximately 1.3 million Tibetans (1/5th of the population) have died due to violence and starvation. Nashville's "One Human Race" rally will emphasize the need for basic human rights in Tibet, and a negotiated settlement between the Dalai Lama and Chinese leaders that will result in a meaningful autonomy for the Tibetan people. The rally will also call for dignity, justice and equality for all people in all lands.

 

"One Human Race" will gather together Nashville-area artists, activists, and educators to rally for religious and cultural freedom in Tibet and beyond. Speakers from various faith communities will unite together to share stories and poems by Tibetan exiles, and call for social justice. Activities will include meditation, prayer, information-exchange, art for kids and adults, dance and music. Parking will be available on the street and in the Courthouse garage (free on Sundays). This event is supported by Project Giving Justice, Tropic Heat Studios, Blue Moves Modern Dance Company, Homeless Power Project and members of the Nashville Peace Coalition and Peace and Justice Center.

 

Following the rally, THE CRY OF THE SNOW LION, a film about Tibet, will be shown on Sunday, March 30 at 7PM at Cafe Outloud, 1707 Church St., Nashville. The film will be followed by a discussion led by Ngawang Losel.

 

For more information:

http://www.myspace.com/onehumanracejustice, onehumanrace.justice@gmail.com, (615) 469-2584 (Office) or (615) 512-0161 (Dan Beck/cell)

 

Chris Lugo for US Senate
9 Music Sq So #164
Nashville, TN 37203
615-593-0304
chris4senate@gmail.com
www.voteforpeace.info

 

Donate Online: Paypal or Click and Pledge

Women Deserve the Right to Choose

 

 

Women Deserve the Right to Choose

 

The federally protected right for women to choose to have an abortion is facing the greatest threat to its continued existence since it was implemented in 1973.  History shows that women's rights to the autonomy of their bodies and their right to privacy is fundamental to women's progress.  States are attempting to do an end run around the federal government by passing anti-choice legislation in lieu of expectant Supreme Court decisions regarding federal protections for women. According to the Feminist Majority, nine states may have anti-abortion  measures on the ballot this November. These so-called "personhood initiatives" threaten not only abortion, but also certain methods of birth control. 

 

Last year the Freedom of Choice Act was introduced into the US Senate, this act states that it is the policy of the United States that every woman has the fundamental right to choose to bear a child, to terminate a pregnancy prior to fetal viability, or to terminate a pregnancy after fetal viability when necessary to protect the life or health of the woman.   This is the type of legislation that is necessary in order to ensure that women's rights are protected in this society.  With a politically stacked Supreme Court leaning toward invalidating Roe with decisions such as the abortion ban in Gonzales vs. Carhart, it is clear that the Supreme Court does not care about the health and safety of women.

 

This is why the federally protected right for women to choose must remain a federal right.  This is why it matters who you elect to federal office.  The current anti-woman policies have been the direct result of years of ideologically driven legislation dictated by neo-conservative ideology which is rooted in archaic principles regarding the role and status of women as child-bearers and homemakers.  The recent anti-abortion ruling in Gonzales vs. Carhart already puts the health and safety of women at risk, and this is only the beginning if we do not elect representatives who will uphold the rights of women.  The right to a safe and legal abortion is being chipped away and it is essential to act now to preserve women's rights and women's lives.

 

I believe that a woman's right to choose is a fundamental right of women, therefore, as a candidate I promise that I will work to do everything in my power to keep abortion safe and legal for all women, not just those in 'safe states' where abortion would be kept legal. Additionally, I will work to ensure that abortion remain a federal right, and that poor women have access to federal dollars in the event of need which is a right many women have not had access to for many years. I will also support affirmative action and equal opportunity for women at all levels of employment, both in government and in the private economy.

 

Chris Lugo for US Senate
9 Music Sq So #164
Nashville, TN 37203
615-593-0304
chris4senate@gmail.com
www.voteforpeace.info

 

Donate Online: Paypal or ActBlue

Death of the Bees : GMO Crops and the Decline of Bee Colonies in North America

For your consideration:

http://bellaciao.org/en/spip.php?article16762

March  Wednesday 26  2008 (16h31) :
Death of the Bees : GMO Crops and the Decline of Bee Colonies in North America

Global Research March 25, 2008

by Brit Amos

‘Commercial beehives pollinate over a third of [NorthAmerica’s crops and that web of nourishment encompasses everything from fruits like peaches, apples, cherries, strawberries and more, to nuts like California almonds, 90 percent of which are helped along by the honeybees. Without this pollination, you could kiss those crops goodbye, to say nothing of the honey bees produce or the flowers they also fertilize’.1

This essay will discuss the arguments and seriousness pertaining to the massive deaths and the decline of Bee colonies in North America. As well, it will shed light on a worldwide hunger issue that will have an economical and ecological impact in the very near future.

There are many reasons given to the decline in Bees, but one argument that matters most is the use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) and "Terminator Seeds" that are presently being endorsed by governments and forcefully utilized as our primary agricultural needs of survival. I will argue what is publicized and covered by the media is in actuality masking the real forces at work, namely the impact of genetically modified seeds on the reproduction of bee colonies across North America.

Genetically modified seeds are produced and distributed by powerful biotech conglomerates. The latter manipulate government agricultural policy with a view to supporting their agenda of dominance in the agricultural industry. American conglomerates such as Monsanto, Pioneer HiBred and others, have created seeds that reproduce only under certain conditions, often linked to the use of their own brands of fertilizer and/or insecticide.

The genetic modification of the plant leads to the concurrent genetic modification of the flower pollen. When the flower pollen becomes genetically modified or sterile, the bees will potentially go malnourished and die of illness due to the lack of nutrients and the interruption of the digestive capacity of what they feed on through the summer and over the winter hibernation process.

I will argue that the media’s publications distracts public opinion from the true cause which underlies the destruction of bee colonies. As such, outlined are four major arguments which the biotech conglomerates (which produce and market GMO seeds) have used to mislead the public regarding the demise of the bees. These arguments include Varroa mites, parasites, cell phones, and terminator seeds

Argument 1: Varroa mites2

Firstly, while there are some people who want to pin the blame on these mites, such views are unconvincing in that the argument does not make any sense because the main source of disease for these bees is intestinal disease. In fact, ‘many bee experts assumed Varroa mites were a major cause of the severe die-off in the winter of 2005. Yet when researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, traveled to Oakdale, California, where Anderson and a number of his fellow beekeepers spend winter and spring, they could find no correlation between the level of Varroa mite infestation and the health of bee colonies. ‘We couldn’t pin the blame for the die-off on any single cause,’ says Jeff Pettis, a research entomologist from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Bee Research Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland,3 However, treatments against mites may be leaving hives open to the onslaught of powerful pathogens, much in the same way the overuse of antibiotics lead to super bugs in society today. What does that say about our future? We have learned that in the 1960’s and 1970’s, among other human ailments, DDT was a major cause of cancer in humans and animals; however, the substitution of such pesticides was a closely guarded secret. Unfortunately, the long term effects on the human population has yet to be understood as the compromise of the immune system may be happening quicker than we are ready to accept, even regarding the advent of super bugs. One can see that even this medical implication has severe economical implications.

Argument 2: Parasites

Secondly; Crops and even hedges, verges, and woodlands, and even where bees remain are sprayed with pesticides or herbicides. These chemicals are the practical extension of an exasperating belief that nature is our enemy. Pouring poison on our food is a very simplistic way of dealing with our problems however it ignores the root causes. “New genetically modified crops, designed to be immune to certain pesticides and herbicides, have resulted in the increased usage of these chemicals. Pesticides, particularly Bayer’s imidacloprid, a nicotine-based product marketed under the names Admire, Provado, Merit, Marathon, and Gaucho have been concretely implicated4 in the destruction of bee populations before (see also)5. The fact that other bees and insects are not raiding deserted hives to feed on the honey as they normally would lends some credence to the theory of a toxic overload. The toxic overload is certainly a concern, but wouldn’t it also need to be considered that this is systematic in the degeneration of the digestive process, such as in humans inability to digest preservatives and not absorb the enzymes to break down the foods eaten for survival?

Argument 3: cell phones

Thirdly, there was also a misconstrued study on cell phone radiation 6 and its effects on the bee’s ability to navigate which turned out to be an over-zealous unthinking reaction by an article in the Independent news. Some have also mentioned other navigational hindrances such as UV radiation, shifting magnetic fields and even quantum physics7 as a reason to the destruction of the bees.

There is certain implications to this theory, and it has been proven that electromagnetic radio wave lengths to affect the navigation of the bees. However the sun emits radiation spurts all the time, yet this has not offered a hindrance to the bees.

Argument 4: Terminator Seeds

Lastly, ‘Leaked documents seen by the Guardian show that Canada wants all governments to accept the testing and commercialization of “Terminator” crop varieties. These seeds are genetically engineered to produce only infertile seeds, which farmers cannot replant, also to mention that the bees that are trying to collect pollen, found to have their digestive tract diseases, such as amoeba and nosema disease’8. These diseases are mainly located in the digestive tract system. After studies of the autopsy, the most alarming trait is that the lower intestine and stinger have discolored to black vs. the normal opaque color, Synominus with colon cancer in humans.

Continue the long article and watch the photos:

http://internationalnews.over-blog.com/article-18128535.html

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8436

By : Internationalnews
March Wednesday 26 2008

UW-Madison News Release--'Training' To Be Compassionate

> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
> 3/25/08
>
> EDITOR'S NOTE: After 7 p.m. CDT on March 25, the open-access article will be freely available in full at http://www.plosone.org/doi/pone.0001897.

>
> CONTACT: Dian Land, (608) 263-9893, dj.land@hosp.wisc.edu
>
> STUDY SHOWS COMPASSION MEDITATION CHANGES THE BRAIN
>
> MADISON - Can we train ourselves to be compassionate? A new study suggests the answer is yes. Cultivating compassion and kindness through meditation affects brain regions that can make a person more empathetic to other peoples' mental states, say researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
>
> Published March 25 in the Public Library of Science One, the study was the first to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to indicate that positive emotions such as loving-kindness and compassion can be learned in the same way as playing a musical instrument or being proficient in a sport. The scans revealed that brain circuits used to detect emotions and feelings were dramatically changed in subjects who had extensive experience practicing compassion meditation.
>
> The research suggests that individuals - from children who may engage in bullying to people prone to recurring depression - and society in general could benefit from such meditative practices, says study director Richard Davidson, professor of psychiatry and psychology at UW-Madison and an expert on imaging the effects of meditation. Davidson and UW-Madison associate scientist Antoine Lutz were co-principal investigators on the project.
>
> The study was part of the researchers' ongoing investigations with a group of Tibetan monks and lay practitioners who have practiced meditation for a minimum of 10,000 hours. In this case, Lutz and Davidson worked with 16 monks who have cultivated compassion meditation practices. Sixteen age-matched controls with no previous training were taught the fundamentals of compassion meditation two weeks before the brain scanning took place.
>
> "Many contemplative traditions speak of loving-kindness as the wish for happiness for others and of compassion as the wish to relieve others' suffering. Loving-kindness and compassion are central to the Dalai Lama's philosophy and mission," says Davidson, who has worked extensively with the Tibetan Buddhist leader. "We wanted to see how this voluntary generation of compassion affects the brain systems involved in empathy."
>
> Various techniques are used in compassion meditation, and the training can take years of practice. The controls in this study were asked first to concentrate on loved ones, wishing them well-being and freedom from suffering. After some training, they then were asked to generate such feelings toward all beings without thinking specifically about anyone.
>
> Each of the 32 subjects was placed in the fMRI scanner at the UW-Madison Waisman Center for Brain Imaging, which Davidson directs, and was asked to either begin compassion meditation or refrain from it. During each state, subjects were exposed to negative and positive human vocalizations designed to evoke empathic responses as well as neutral vocalizations: sounds of a distressed woman, a baby laughing and background restaurant noise.
>
> "We used audio instead of visual challenges so that meditators could keep their eyes slightly open but not focused on any visual stimulus, as is typical of this practice," explains Lutz.
>
> The scans revealed significant activity in the insula - a region near the frontal portion of the brain that plays a key role in bodily representations of emotion - when the long-term meditators were generating compassion and were exposed to emotional vocalizations. The strength of insula activation was also associated with the intensity of the meditation as assessed by the participants.
>
> "The insula is extremely important in detecting emotions in general and specifically in mapping bodily responses to emotion - such as heart rate and blood pressure - and making that information available to other parts of the brain," says Davidson, also co-director of the HealthEmotions Research Institute.
>
> Activity also increased in the temporal parietal juncture, particularly the right hemisphere. Studies have implicated this area as important in processing empathy, especially in perceiving the mental and emotional state of others.
>
> "Both of these areas have been linked to emotion sharing and empathy," Davidson says. "The combination of these two effects, which was much more noticeable in the expert meditators as opposed to the novices, was very powerful."
>
> The findings support Davidson and Lutz's working assumption that through training, people can develop skills that promote happiness and compassion.
>
> "People are not just stuck at their respective set points," he says. "We can take advantage of our brain's plasticity and train it to enhance these qualities."
>
> The capacity to cultivate compassion, which involves regulating thoughts and emotions, may also be useful for preventing depression in people who are susceptible to it, Lutz adds.
>
> "Thinking about other people's suffering and not just your own helps to put everything in perspective," he says, adding that learning compassion for oneself is a critical first step in compassion meditation.
>
> The researchers are interested in teaching compassion meditation to youngsters, particularly as they approach adolescence, as a way to prevent bullying, aggression and violence.
>
> "I think this can be one of the tools we use to teach emotional regulation to kids who are at an age where they're vulnerable to going seriously off track," Davidson says.
>
> Compassion meditation can be beneficial in promoting more harmonious relationships of all kinds, Davidson adds.
>
> "The world certainly could use a little more kindness and compassion," he says. "Starting at a local level, the consequences of changing in this way can be directly experienced."
>
> Lutz and Davidson hope to conduct additional studies to evaluate brain changes that may occur in individuals who cultivate positive emotions through the practice of loving-kindness and compassion over time.
>
> ###
>
>
>
> ****************************************************
> For questions or comments about UW-Madison's email
> news release system, please send an email to:
> releases@news.wisc.edu
>
> For more UW-Madison news, please visit:
> http://www.news.wisc.edu/
>
> University Communications
> University of Wisconsin-Madison
> 27 Bascom Hall
> 500 Lincoln Drive
> Madison, WI 53706
>
> Phone: (608) 262-3571
> Fax: (608) 262-2331
>
>
>

Re: The Nation: Toward a *New* New Deal

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/032308Y.shtml

    Go to Original

    Toward a New New Deal (Forum)
    The Nation

    07 April 2008 Issue

    Seventy-five years ago, facing the catastrophic, worldwide failure of the free market, Franklin Roosevelt launched what is perhaps the greatest democratic experiment of the twentieth century. Touching nearly every aspect of American life, the New Deal transformed banking, business, labor, agriculture, arts and literature, urban and rural landscapes and, of course, the relationship of citizens to government itself. Today, decades of conservative rule have jeopardized much of the New Deal's legacy. Many of its reforms and regulations have been gutted, and much of the infrastructure it built crumbles from neglect. Yet the New Deal endures, not just in institutions like the FDIC and Social Security but in the very idea that where and when there is crisis government should rise to the challenge for the good of the common people. How can a look back help us confront the challenges of the present - from the tangled housing, credit and financial market crises to global warming to the small-mindedness of public policy and debate today? What is the unfinished business of the New Deal? And what can we learn from its failures and limitations? On this historic occasion we asked an esteemed collection of activists, writers, scholars and artists to reflect on the "usable past" of the New Deal. Their answers follow.

    Featuring:

    Bill McKibben: A Green Corps
    http://thenation.com/doc/20080407/mckibben

    Michael J. Copps: Not Your Father's FCC
    http://thenation.com/doc/20080407/copps

    Andrea Batista Schlesinger: A Chaos of Experimentation
    http://thenation.com/doc/20080407/schlesinger

    Eric Schlosser: The Bare Minimum
    http://thenation.com/doc/20080407/schlosser

    Frances Moore Lappé: The Only Fitting Tribute
    http://thenation.com/doc/20080407/lappe

    Adolph Reed Jr.: Race and the New Deal Coalition
    http://thenation.com/doc/20080407/reed

    The Rev. Jesse Jackson: For the 'FDR'
    http://thenation.com/doc/20080407/jackson

    Andy Stern: Labor's New Deal
    http://thenation.com/doc/20080407/stern

    Anna Deavere Smith: Potent Publics
    http://thenation.com/doc/20080407/smith

    Sherle R. Schwenninger: Democratizing Capital
    http://thenation.com/doc/20080407/schwenninger

    Stephen Duncombe: FDR's Democratic Propaganda
    http://thenation.com/doc/20080407/duncombe

    Howard Zinn: Beyond the New Deal
    http://thenation.com/doc/20080407/zinn

The War at Home - Cindy Sheehan's uphill battle

The War at Home - Cindy Sheehan's uphill battle.
Miyoko Ohtake
Newsweek Web Exclusive
Updated: 5:10 PM ET Mar 21, 2008

Cindy Sheehan barely fits into her "campaign limo," her sister's blue Hyundai Tiburon. She ducks low to avoid hitting her head on the way in, and her knees are nearly at her chest when she sits, even with the seat rolled all the way back. Traveling over the Oakland Bay Bridge, her campaign manager at the wheel--steering with one hand and scrolling through e-mails with the other--the 6-foot-tall antiwar activist turned congressional hopeful tries in vain to stretch out in the passenger seat.

It's raining when they pull into a parking spot near Berkeley City College, where Sheehan is about to give a speech, but she opens the window anyway; it's the only way to exit the car. The interior handle is broken, so the door must be opened from the outside.

It's not easy--but then little on Sheehan's long and improbable journey to this place has been. When she first set up her lawn chair outside George W. Bush's Texas ranch in the summer of 2005--a grief-stricken mother demanding to speak to the president about the death of her son Casey in Iraq--she had no idea how she would capture the media's imagination and spark a movement. Her 26-day roadside vigil three years ago drew thousands of supporters to Crawford, Texas, and prompted marches and protests across the country. But her celebrity came with steep costs; divorce, heartbreak and exhaustion caused her to quit her antiwar activism in May 2007 to return home to Dixon, Calif., to mother her surviving children.

Her retirement didn't last long. Earlier this year, Sheehan moved to San Francisco and filed to run as an independent against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom she blames--along with Bush--for perpetrating the war in Iraq. When Pelosi, a Democrat, refused to hold impeachment hearings against Bush last summer, the Speaker found herself in Sheehan's cross hairs. "Her refusal to hold George Bush and Dick Cheney accountable is when I just said, 'That's it. We have to hold her accountable'," Sheehan told NEWSWEEK at her San Francisco campaign headquarters.

Sheehan's battle is all uphill. After all, Pelosi was re-elected to her 11th term in 2006 with 90 percent of the vote in one of the most reliably Democratic districts in the country. In September, 56 percent of San Francisco Bay area voters approved of Pelosi's job in Congress, according to research by the Public Policy Institute of California. But Sheehan insists she can gain traction against Pelosi by playing off San Francisco's fierce--and often theatrical--antiwar sentiments. In 2006, 59 percent of voters approved a ballot measure to impeach Bush and Cheney. Last year, protestors from the antiwar group Code Pink held an around-the-clock vigil outside Pelosi's house in the city's upscale Pacific Heights neighborhood to protest the Speaker's failure to introduce legislation to cut war funding and bring the troops home. Even though Pelosi has said she favors a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops, antiwar activists are disgusted by her failure to do more to cut off funding for the war, and Sheehan thinks she can persuade the city's voters that Pelosi is a sellout. "She is a supporter of the status quo, the establishment and the elite," Sheehan says.

Pelosi's also got a massive advantage in resources going into the fight. Pelosi, whose spokesman declined comment on Sheehan's challenge, had raised $1.6 million for her re-election campaign as of March 21. By contrast, Sheehan has raised $49,000 to date. Her strength, Sheehan says, lies in her human resources. "I'm superconfident we're going to win because we have the people on our side," Sheehan said. "With my name recognition, my face recognition, I can't walk down the street without someone stopping me." She has a campaign manager, a paid staff, armfuls of volunteers and a storefront office in the city's gritty Mission district.

The antiwar movement got a boost last month when Ralph Nader, announcing his 2008 presidential campaign, tapped a San Francisco politician, former city supervisor and Green Party mayoral candidate Matthew Gonzalez, as his running mate. Gonzalez endorsed Sheehan last December and has since been on board as an adviser and speaker at public events.

But Sheehan will need to bulk up her platform if she intends to be a real threat to Pelosi. "If she wants to be taken seriously as a candidate, she has to have views about health care and views about Social Security reform and the whole set of domestic issues, immigration and so on," says Bruce Cain, a political science professor at the University of California, Berkeley. "She's got to have a complete platform or she'll be giving the impression that it's merely a protest vote."

Sheehan takes issue with the idea that she's not in it to win it. "If this was just a symbolic campaign, we'd set up an office, and we'd just come in and play Solitaire all day," she said. She is running hard. A day on the campaign trail starts at 10 a.m. and is nonstop for the next 11 hours--a morning meeting at campaign headquarters, a speech to a crowd of 200 at Berkeley City College at noon, strategic planning meetings with her campaign consultants in the afternoon, a meeting with San Francisco Unified School District high-school students in the late afternoon and an intimate dinner with supporters, hosted by Gonzalez, to plan upcoming events. She takes one day off each week to do what she had intended when she retired from activism last May: spend time with her children. Each Sunday she travels to Sacramento to cook dinner for Carly, 26; Andy, 24, and Jane, 22, who is pregnant with a son due in May.

The coming weeks are crucial. In order to secure a spot on the ballot in November, Sheehan must collect 3,000 signatures from registered voters in the district, beginning April 25, and submit them to the county elections office by July 24 or pay a $1,652 filing fee. By Aug. 8, Sheehan must submit 10,198 nomination signatures--3 percent of the number of registered voters in the Eighth District prior to the 2006 general elections. Her aides hope the compact nature of the terrain will help them reach that goal. "The advantage of being in the second-smallest district in the U.S. is that we will be able to literally walk every street and shake hands with each of the 600,000 constituents," said Sheehan's campaign manager, Tiffany Burns. But even if the door-knocking and hand-shaking convinces voters to cast their ballots against Pelosi, Sheehan will also need to persuade them that she is the best alternative to Republican candidate Dana Walsh, Libertarian Philip Berg and Democrat Shirley Golub, who is challenging Pelosi in the June primary.

Sheehan knows that her fortunes will turn largely on the way folks in the Eighth District feel about the war, a conflict whose artifacts--Casey's military portrait, a picture of the Purple Heart he was awarded at his funeral, a congressional commendation from New York Rep. Charles Rangel--decorates Sheehan's otherwise cheerfully painted yellow office. "If there's any good to come out of Casey's death, I hope it is to make this country the country he supposedly died for," she said. Despite her busy schedule, Sheehan is still grieving her dead son. She cries in her office and again at dinner. She laments the fact that her grandson will never meet his Uncle Casey.

Despite the activists who took to the streets Wednesday to protest the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq, polling from the presidential primaries has shown that the economy has become the leading issue in voters' minds. Sheehan says this only helps her campaign: "Our tanking economy is directly connected to the war economy," she says. "An economic-stimulus plan that no one's talking about is bringing our troops home and putting that money into America."

Sheehan declines to discuss what she'll do if this campaign falls short. "I haven't even looked that far," Sheehan says. "I don't put that negative energy into the universe because I'm pretty sure I'm already going to win. I'm already decorating my office in Washington, D.C., in my head."


URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/124557

Our Hands...

Our Hands...

A hammer is light,
Swinging it flashes,
Nails driven quicksilver,
Houses or crosses,

In our hands.

Fish hooks and old leather,
Falling coconuts adrift,
Dying palms in a rising sea,
A plastic swirl bigger than the USA,

All at our hands.

A garden of summer delights,
Picnic for the hungry,
By the lazy riverside,
Flying cottonwood seed,

Prepared and tended by our hands.

Double edges need no swords.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
© 03/06/2008

If I am NOT an LHC Candidate, can I post to the LHC blog?

At this time, only LHC candidates and operational staff are being given direct posting access to the LHC blog. ( http://longhousecoalition.blogspot.com/ )

HOWEVER, at the bottom of each posting is a link that states the nummber of comments in response to that particular blog post. Simply click on the "number of comments" link, and you will be directed to a form that allows you to comment on that post, provided you have a Blogger or Google account.

All friends of the LHC and interested parties are completely welcome to continue to use our companion Yahoo discussion group at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Longhouse_Coalition_Info/ .

The LHC blog is mostly about alerting new people to the existence of the Longhouse Coalition. It is about outreach, and gaining momentum for what the LHC is trying to accomplish; a major change of heart in American politics and the state of life on this Earth.

There are no changes being made to our Yahoo group. Everyone currently receiving messages through the Yahoo group will continue to do so. New people are still welcome to join and use the Yahoo group, and LHC candidates and Ops staff will still get those messages as per their personal preference settings. The Yahoo group will be as valid and valuable as it has ever been.

Simply put, there are a lot of folks out there that use varying methods of communicating online, and we need to reach as many as we can with our message of hope and constructive action.

Regards,

Dan Stafford
LHC Webmaster

Where Can I See The LHC Blog?

The LHC blog is up at http://longhousecoalition.blogspot.com/ .

Please feel free to check it out and pass the address around.

Regards,

Dan Stafford
LHC Webmaster

Why is the LHC Blog important?

The LHC Blog is a tool that Dave Mortenson and myself are trying to open up to LHC candidates.

The cool thing about a **correctly configured** blog is that it will announce itself to about ten different lists of recently updated blogs **each time it is posted to.**

What this means is that consistent posting throughout the day tends to drive up traffic to the blog - which has links leading back to the main site and the yahoo group. It does this because every post puts it up in front of more eyes.

I've recently sent out invitations to our candidates to join the blog, which will allow them to simply send e-mail such as those posted to the Yahoo group, by sending to the BLOG ADDRESS ONLY, and have them go out both ways with just one e-mail. The only thing required is setting up an account with blogger.com -now owned by Google. Once that's done, it's a simple e-mail away.

If you're a candidate who has NOT received an invitation to join our blog, please 1. Check your junk mail folder for the invite, and 2.Let me or Dave Mortenson know that you haven't received it.

If you have received an invitation and either have concerns or a reason for not accepting, please also let one of us know.

It's important that we get as many of us posting also to the blog aspossible to help spread the word about the Longhouse Coalition and what we are trying to accomplish.

Thank you All,

Dan Stafford
LHC Webmaster
(Re-posted to Yahoo to allow it to be sent through the blog and appear there as well.)

I have now configured our blog to post to our Yahoo Group

I am now writing this message through the LHC blog - simply e-mailing the blog (once you've accepted and created a membership account) will now automatically also post to the LHC Yahoo discussion group. You don't even have to address it to two places, just address your post e-mail to the LHC Blog e-mail address, and it will now go to both. The web is such a cool thing!

Regards,

Dan Stafford
LHC Webmaster

Re: BBV EXCLUSIVE - Massive ballot-rigging technique?

Black Box Voting wrote:
> The video below provides bits of the backstory for our discovery of a potentially devastating method of rigging MAIL IN VOTES, AUDITS and RECOUNTS. Black Box Voting is currently doing proof of concept testing on our "Theory of a crime" and will release details next week on how it's done, so that preventive measures can be put in before November. We'll see how the ballots and the special "optical scan marking pens" being sold by vendors actually perform in our tests. Any information you can provide on the specific paper stock and especially, the paper coatings used by ballot printers will be much appreciated right now.
>
> Information leading up to this discovery came from a frame-by-frame analysis of video, including these:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txoLlfrBENk (pay close attention to the last segment)
> and
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOESAfrPSKI
>
> We believe it is possible to undetectably alter thousands -- possibly tens of thousands -- of paper ballots, using a technique known as "check washing." This would require applicator bottles (for ballot alteration in a vehicle during transport), paper towels, and in central ballot storage locations, for large quantities, cans of odorless paint thinner, denatured alcohol, or acetone. Our upcoming tests will show if our theory is correct, whether it can be done in a van, how many ballots can be done per hour, whether the special "AccuVote marking pens" sold by LHS Associates and Diebold (Premier) are easier to "wash" for remarking.
>
> These two "ELECTION REALITY TV" videos above are prequels; video of our demo will be released next week. Maybe our theory of a crime won't work. We'll see.
>
> The new video, linked above, shows top-level New Hampshire state officials lying about chain of custody matters. In one particularly bizarre incident, they attempt to hide the fact that ballots are sitting right there in an area of the warehouse (at 5:20 pm) that they have emphasized is "closed" at 4:30 pm. When a citizen catches them on video in the "closed" area, they simply deny that the ballot boxes are ballot boxes!
>
> Earlier, they had staged a bit of public theatre in which they made it a point that "Hoppy" of the Butch and Hoppy ballot transport team, will have trouble going back to get his bag because the area is "closed" at 4:30. But after dark at 5:20, a Connecticut citizen named Walter Reddy caught top state officials and Hoppy on film in the very area that was supposed to be "closed", and the next night at 6:54 pm, a Florida citizen named Jeannie Dean caught them again.
>
> Apparently the state officials did not realize the ballot boxes (empty and otherwise) had been caught on video, and after saying "those are not ballots" they hurriedly turned out the lights! Imagining state-level public officials standing there in the dark would be comical if it didn't represent the rape of our democratic republic.
>
> The same boxes identified as "NOT ballots" are later identified, on camera, as Rockingham County ballot boxes, by the same state official who claimed they weren't ballots the night before. Of course, we knew they were ballot boxes, because we followed the ballot pickup van during Rockingham County pickups!
>
> So what did they do? Open it up and deal with ballot intake and chain of custody in a properly public and transparent fashion?
>
> Nope. The next night, New Hampshire state officials engaged the services of a police dog to obstruct citizens from looking in the window -- aROOH-ROOH-ROOH! (Nice doggy.)
>
> Sarasota citizen Jeannie Dean, teeth chattering in the frigid New Hampshire night, zoomed in with a camera and boosted the sound on her video and once again, caught 'em in the act of secretive ballot delivery in the dark, wandering around in areas already proclaimed "closed after 4:30 pm."
>
> "They" included New Hampshire Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlan, New Hampshire Archives Director Frank Mevers, Archives Records Manager Brian Burford, and of course, "Butch and Hoppy" -- Armand "Butch" Dubois and Peter "Hoppy" Falzone.
>
> A public records request by Black Box Voting for documents pertaining to the assignment of the K-9 unit has elicited "There are no records." We asked for phone bills, New Hampshire officials have said it will take 90 days to find them. We have asked for checks, credit card receipts, etc. for cleaning supplies, paint thinner, smocks, latex gloves, etc. They say it will take 90 days to find them. (Or find which ones to purge? Guys: We have your stuff on video.)
>
> Much of what I've just told you relates to next week's proof of concept testing. What you will see in THESE videos is the backstory that helped us figure out the mechanics of how a massive ballot-tampering operation could be accomplished with just a few key people.
>
> This project, funded and produced by BLACK BOX VOTING, used the concept of a rolling calvary of experienced citizen voting rights leaders. We collaborated on video targets and shared our videotape. Using combined evidence captured by several different citizens were we able to piece together how the New Hampshire primary could have been stolen.
>
> CHAIN OF CUSTODY AND VOTE SUBSTITUTION: Along with voter eligibility fraud tactics and computer tampering, these will be "all the marbles" this November for mail-in votes (Oregon, Washington: nearly 100 percent; California, Arizona: approx 50 percent; Ohio, New Mexico, approx 30 percent.) Chain of custody and vote substitution can defeat any manual spot-check and, as we saw in New Hampshire, can nuke the validity of any recount.
>
> IS THERE ANY WAY TO SECURE ELECTIONS?
>
> YES. Citizen controls! "Get it right on Election Night." This is not about "bipartisan" observers who are political party operatives and hacks. This is about CITIZEN CONTROLS. Because the instruments of government that we have created, and our votes -- our method of exercising control over the government that we have created -- belong to US, not "them" -- not the government, not political parties. US. U.S. We the People.
>
> AND NOW, ABOUT THOSE COMPUTERS...
>
> Following another investigation, requiring months of diligence and plenty of computer and public records experience, JIM MARCH, JOHN BRAKEY, MICHAEL SHELBY: Maricopa County Arizona have produced an in-depth citizen evaluation: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/73271.html
>
> The article above provides the overview for a number of issues discovered in the largest location in Arizona, the most systemic -- national in scope -- being their discovery of an illicit component in the Sequoia voting system. Pay special attention to Appendix A in the full report: http://www.bbvdocs.org/sequoia/Maricopa-County-Elections-Report.pdf
>
> * * * * *
>
> And as for the many locations that still use paperless DREs or fail to audit chain of custody and procedural safeguards, as they say in New York, "fahgeddaboudit." There is no reason whatsoever to trust those elections.
>
> YOUR DONATIONS ARE NEEDED NOW MORE THAN EVER, TO WATCHDOG 2008:
>
> http://www.blackboxvoting.org/donate.html or mail to:
> Black Box Voting
> 330 SW 43rd St Suite K
> PMB 547
> Renton WA 98057
>
> Black Box Voting is supported entirely by individual citizen donations.
>
> * * * * *
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How To Save Homeowners And Banks From The Mortgage Mess On The Cheap

How To Save Homeowners And Banks From The Mortgage Mess On The Cheap

By Daniel A. Stafford
03/19/2008

The simplest answer is to move stressed home owners "down market."

For example:

Joe Doe owns a $400k house. His payments are $2800.00 per month
including tax and insurance escrow, as he only has five percent equity
in the house. Joe Doe has an ARM that is going to start floating its
interest rate against a foreign exchange rate in six months. Joe's house
is now worth $375k due to the current market down turn.

To most people's way of thinking, Joe Doe is in deep hooey. The poor guy
is going to lose that house in seven or eight months after he can no
longer make the higher payments, refinance, or sell his house.
Additionally, Joe's bank is going to have to pay foreclosure proceeding
costs on the property, property taxes on it once it's vacant, and
maintenance service fees on the vacancy, and it will be reduced in value
if poor stressed out Joe loses it and takes a sledge hammer to various
interior features.

Joe's bank already owns a ton of foreclosed houses, there is a glut of
non-foreclosed houses on the market, and the bank can't sell the
damaged, possibly vandalized, older, dated house in the current
way-over-the-top buyer's market, to put it mildly. Additionally, Joe's
credit is now fried and it will be years before he can buy another home,
if ever.

If only Joe's payment had stayed lower where he could afford it, none of
this would have happened. No Joe move in the middle of the night, no
wrecked credit. The bank would still be getting its payments instead of
being pushed closer to insolvency. The neighborhood would have had one
less vacant house for crack-heads and "midnight recyclers" to play with.

One question: why didn't the bank move Joe into a foreclosed house of
comparable size that they already owned before all this happened? One
that Joe, who still has his job, can actually afford the payments on
with much less stress.

Think about it. Instead of paying out taxes and maintenance costs on TWO
foreclosed homes, they only have to pay out on ONE.

Additionally, the bank is in better financial condition as a result, and
more able to make loans on the houses that are vacated through this
process to get them off their "REO" (Real Estate Owned) ledger.
Additionally, Joe will be too busy moving into the house that is saving
his butt and budget to mess with any hammers.

Granted, this is no perfect solution, nor one that would help everyone.
Yet it sure would go a long, long way toward mitigating a big chunk of
this crisis. Joe could even earn a little equity in his new pad by
updating it a bit or doing necessary repairs.

There are an awful lot of Janes and Joes out there right now, and an
awful lot of shaky-quaky banks.

Hmmm.

Dan Stafford
Co-Chair, Progressive Democrats of Illinois
www.illinoisprogressives.org

More blog team members coming.

Quite a few Longhouse Coalition candidates should soon be joining our blog posting team here. More on this soon, but you'll see a LOT more LHC info and Op-Eds here soon.

Regards,

Dan