Last year, the Republican Congress, with the help of many Democrats, passed a law called the Military Commissions Act. The Military Commissions Act revoked habeas corpus, ended enforcement of the Geneva Conventions, established outrageous kangaroo courts that mock true justice, and give legal amesty to George W. Bush and other top officials for war crimes.
This obscene law is still on the books and in effect. Some Democrats in Congress are trying to take action, but others need encouragement.
Please join the Care2 group dedicated to repealing the Military Commissions Act. Stand against this dangerous law. Don't be one of the Americans who sat down when freedom was under seige.
http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/militarycommissionsact
This weekend, the Care2 daily action relates directly to the 2008 presidential election, to progressive politics, and the quest for peace. The daily action is to go and visit the Barack Obama for President web site and watch Barack Obama's formal announcement speech, given yesterday.
The action doesn't require you to commit to the Obama for President 2008 campaign. Just listen to what Obama has to say. Don't just take what the news pundits have to say about Barack Obama. Have a look for yourself, and then, if you want to get involved, check out Obama's web site, join the Care2 Obama 2008 group, and grab a Barack Obama bumper sticker for your car.
There is a fantastic opportunity for supporters of Barack Obama to begin a real online grassroots organizing effort. As you may have heard, Meetup is now charging fees for activists to set up local groups that support political candidates. There is, however, a new web service called Zanby that does the same thing Meetup used to do, and has the capacity to do it better.
Bill Richardson supporters have local Richardson for President groups at Zanby in 30 states. Barack Obama supporters have only created Zanby groups at 3 states: New York, Missouri, and North Carolina.
Here at Care2, the Obama 2008 discussion group has members from 23 states and from Washington D.C. If these members will go over to Zanby, set up FREE accounts, and start state-level pro-Obama groups there, we alone can have half of the USA covered, creating opportunities for others to plug into the growing grassroots community of Obama for President supporters.
It won't take more than 15 minutes to do it. Will you try?
These 10 reasons to support Barack Obama come from the web site for New Yorkers for Obama. If you're looking for more New York State Obama for President resources, here you go, but the field is a bit impoverished at this early stage.
Personally, I find this top 10 list a bit on the crass side, but I'd like to see a lot more people expressing themselves frankly about the political candidates they support.
1. He is actually interesting to listen to.
2. Unlike many politicians, Obama has done stuff that's truly hard -- like trying to organize in South side Chicago.
3. Obama is half-black, and half-white, and from everywhere. He may be the only politician who gets all sides of race in America.
4. He connects with people like Bill Clinton did. People who disagree with him support him.
5. He is honest. If he disagrees with you, he says so.
6. He is decent.
7. He writes well.
8. He's a pragmatist, who pursues what works.
9. He makes you believe in a better future.
10. He makes you want to set up stupid web sites like this one.
A few months ago, the writers of the political web site Irregular Times accepted a challenge: Could they write a list of 2,008 reasons to elect a progressive candidate for President in the 2008 election? The writers accepted the challenge, and made this pledge: If they are unable to assemble the list by the end of the year 2007, they will make a donation of $2008.00 to every Republican presidential candidates. These are progressive writers, so that's the last thing they want to do. Thus, they have a great motivation to succeed.
As of today, the list of 2,008 reasons to elect a progressive President in 2008 has passed the 100 mark. There are 102 reasons that they have written so far. That's a lot of good reasons to vote progressive in 2008, but in the big scheme of things, the group still has a long way to go. They're only at 5 percent of their goal.
Can you help out? Can you suggest a good reason for Americans to vote for a progressive presidential candidate in 2008? I'm creating this blog share here at Care2 in the hopes that this can become a point around which Care2 activists can engage in a fruitful discussion about what it is we're really working toward. A presidential candidate is a representation of collective values, after all.
Also, pay attention to the nature of this list - it's a list of reasons to elect a progressive President. A progressive politician is not necessarily a Democrat, and a Democrat is not necessarily a progressive politician either.
Any ideas?
A list of ten reasons to support Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for President in 2008, and to vote for Obama for President in the general election.
1. Barack Obama opposed the Iraq war before it began.
2. Barack Obama has experience in state as well as national government.
3. Barack Obama has proved his intelligence as editor of the Harvard Law Review.
4. Barack Obama is an excellent public speaker.
5. Barack Obama would help the Democrats carry the Midwestern states.
6. Barack Obama is dedicated to resolving conflict among Americans while respecting the rights of all.
7. Barack Obama has proven charisma that can motivate citizens into action.
8. Barack Obama has extensive grassroots support.
9. Barack Obama voted against a constitutional amendment to deny equal marriage rights.
10. Barack Obama stands for the future, not the past.
For a few months now, Irregular Times has been running a shop in which you can buy bumper stickers, buttons and magnets that support various Democratic running mate combinations for the presidential race in 2008. Obama-Clinton 2008? Sure. Gore-Feingold 2008? You betcha. Bayh-Biden 2008? Well, hmm, I don't understand it, but fine, we've got that too. In fact, our goal is to offer just about every possible combination of presidential and vice presidential candidate from among the apparent contenders.
In the past month, we've sold over 200 of these items, and I'd like to share with you the results. As with our simpler president-only goods, Barack Obama takes the presidential position in most of the running-mate items. But Obama is not only dominant: he is also central. To show you what I mean, take a look at this graph of sales results, as of yesterday afternoon:
You'll notice that each contender is represented by a ball (or node), and that one-sided and two-sided arrows connect some of them. A one-sided arrow coming from Contender A and pointing to Contender B indicates that we sold some bumper stickers, buttons or shirts supporting Contender A for President and Contender B for Vice President. A two-sided arrow connecting Contender A and Contender B indicates that we sold items supporting an A-B ticket and items supporting a B-A ticket. If there isn't an arrow connecting two contenders, then NO items bringing the two together into a presidential ticket were sold. The percentages next to each arrow are the percent of all running-mate sales accounted for by sales of that particular combination.
To flesh this out, let's look at Al Gore and Barack Obama. There's a one-sided arrow connecting Gore to Obama, indicating that we sold Gore-Obama items, but no Obama-Gore items. Gore-Obama bumper stickers, buttons and shirts account for 35.2% of all the running-mates items we sold. That's the highest percentage in the whole graph, and it is an impressive share, considering that there are 156 possible combinations among the 13 contenders we've identified. Just 1 of those 156 possible combinations garnered more than a third of all sales! People's preferences are not random. It is striking, considering the dominance of Gore-Obama items, that not a single Obama-Gore bumper sticker, or shirt, or button has been sold. Is it hard to think a previous presidential nominee as a vice presidential candidate?
Looking at this network of combinations of presidential and vice presidential preferences, there are two aspects of the structure that stand out like Donald Trump dressed in a thong on Broadway just before Christmas (keep that image in your mind). First, only 11 out of the possible 156 combinations of presidential candidate and vice presidential candidate have been selected by buyers. Already, people are settling on just a few possibilities, over and over again. Second -- and this is the biggie -- every single item sold includes Barack Obama as president or as vice president. Every single one. Right now, at least, Barack Obama is the center of the Democratic universe.
We're just at the start of selling these items, so as time passes we'll get larger numbers and more details. I'll check back in a month or so with an update.
Of all the Democratic candidates for President in 2008, which one has the most credibility as a supporter of peace? Choose your top two picks for peace in this semi-runoff format.
Witness Against Torture is coordinating nationwide protests against the prison at Guantanamo Bay for January 11, 2007. January 11 is the 5th anniversary of the creation of the Guantanamo Bay gulag.
Don't let this day pass unnoticed. As we learn about more torture at Guantanamo Bay, it is up to us to do something about it. We need not be complicit in these war crimes committed in our name.
Ten things you can do to promote the cause of peace
1. Vote Peace, not political party
2. Divest from companies that profit from war
3. Send a letter to your congressional representative and senators declaring your opposition to war
4. Write a letter to the editor declaring your opposition to war
5. Attend an anti-war protest
6. Talk to a pro-war friend and tell them nicely that you disagree with their opinion
7. Buy a book from an anti-war author
8. Join or help form an anti-war organization
9. Create a pro-peace web site
10. Go to YouTube and give a positive rating to pro-peace videos
Absurd: Joe "You Lie!"
Wilson Claims Obama is
"Solely Responsible" For
Swine Flu
Posted by Steve Benen,
Washington Monthly at
1:41 PM on November 3,
2009.
This is despite Wilson's
voting down of an
appropriations bill that
contained special ...
One says he's positive
there are other innocent
men still behind bars.By
Rob Hoy Wednesday,
October 14, 2009About 50
Oklahoma City University
Law students heard from
three men who were
wrongfully convicted of
crimes.Dennis Fritz was
one of the speake...
In 1982, 21-year-old
Debra Sue Carter was
brutally murdered in the
small town of Ada,
Okla.In 1988, former
Leeâs
Summit resident Dennis
Fritz and his
acquaintance Ron
Williamson were charged
and convicted of the
murder. Fritz was se...
Over 300 Supporters
Attend MAIP 2nd Annual
Awards LuncheonSeven
exonerees of wrongful
convictions and a
best-selling legal writer
were among the speakers
July 15 at the
Mid-Atlantic Innocence
Projectâ
;s Second Annual Awards
Luncheon....
TO ADD TO THE SUSPENSE OF
MY LAST SHARE WITH YOU
ABOUT A LAWSUIT FILED BY
A HELPLESS VICTIM ON
BEHALF OF HER AND HER
CHILD IS CHILLING.
WITHIN THIS PDF DOCUMENT
YOU WILL FIND EVERYTHING
LAID OUT ON THE
NEGLIGENCE OF DICK CHENEY
AND RUMSFELD, AN...
SOME PEOPLE HARMED BY
9/11 BELIEVE THAT IT
COULD HAVE BEEN
PREVENTED, AND PILOTS FOR
9/11 TRUTH AND 9/11
JUSTICE ARE STILL
CURRENTLY ENDORSING A
RE-OPENING OF THE
INVESTIGATION. THE
9/11 COMMISSION'S VERSION
STILL DOESN'T FLY WITH
VICTIMS AND PR...
FRIENDS, SOMEONE BROUGHT
THIS TO MY ATTENTION, AND
I WAS NEVER AWARE OF IT
BEFORE. A FRIEND
ASKED ME FOR A FAVOR BY
GETTING THE WORD OUT TO
SIGN A PETITION THAT CAN
HELP THE ENVIRONMENT
THROUGH THE PROCESS OF
CONTROLLING THE KILLING
OF ANIMALS ...
(CBS) Scientists in
Israel have successfully
fabricated blood and
saliva samples containing
DNA, potentially
undercutting what has
been considered key
evidence in the
conviction or exoneration
in crime cases, the New
York Times
reported.According to ...
In 1982, microscopic hair
analysis of strands found
on the body of a victim
was used and Dennis Fritz
and Ron Williamson were
framed for the murder.
Seventeen years later,
DNA analysis of the same
hair fragments was used
to prove that these men
were ...