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Nov 21, 2009
Focus: Women
Action Request: Think About
Location: United States
U.S.: Army Sends Infant to Protective Services, Mom to Afghanistan



US Politics & Gov't  (tags: )

AniTa 
- ipsnews.net

U.S. Army Specialist Alexis Hutchinson, a single mother, is being threatened with a military court-martial if she does not agree to deploy to Afghanistan, despite having been told she would be granted extra time to find someone to care for her 11-month-old





 U.S.: Army Sends Infant to Protective Services, Mom to Afghanistan

U.S. Army Specialist Alexis Hutchinson, a single mother, is being threatened with a military court-martial if she does not agree to deploy to Afghanistan, despite having been told she would be granted extra time to find someone to care for her 11-month-old

Eleven-month-old!!!

According to the family care plan of the U.S. Army, Hutchinson was allowed to fly to California and leave her son with her mother, Angelique Hughes of Oakland.

However, after a week of caring for the child, Hughes realised she was unable to care for Kamani along with her other duties of caring for a daughter with special needs, her ailing mother, and an ailing sister.

In late October, Angelique Hughes told Hutchinson and her commander that she would be unable to care for Kamani after all. The Army then gave Hutchinson an extension of time to allow her to find someone else to care for Kamani. Meanwhile, Hughes brought Kamani back to Georgia to be with his mother.

However, only a few days before Hutchinson's original deployment date, she was told by the Army she would not get the time extension after all, and would have to deploy, despite not having found anyone to care for her child.

Faced with this choice, Hutchinson chose not to show up for her plane to Afghanistan. The military arrested her and placed her child in the county foster care system.

Currently, Hutchinson is scheduled to fly to Afghanistan on Sunday for a special court martial, where she then faces up to one year in jail.

Hutchinson's civilian lawyer, Rai Sue Sussman, told IPS, "The core issue is that they are asking her to make an inhumane choice. She did not have a complete family care plan, meaning she did not find someone to provide long-term care for her child. She's required to have a complete family care plan, and was told she'd have an extension, but then they changed it on her."

Asked why she believes the military revoked Hutchinson's extension, Sussman responded, "I think they didn't believe her that she was unable to find someone to care for her infant. They think she's just trying to get out of her deployment. But she's just trying to find someone she can trust to take care of her baby."


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Posted: Nov 21, 2009 3:00am
Nov 13, 2009
New Petition to Legalize [typo] in Florida! Please sign in spite of typo! 


legalize mariguana now legalize mariguana now
how can the laws prohibiting the use of marijuana be allowed??? they go against the
  
 
My comment: [and please sign in spite of typo!] 

'The whole anti-marijuana hysteria is TOTALLY WRONG; it was fueled by RACISM in the first place, because "minorities" in this country used it {such as Black jazz musicians, who were "corrupting our youth with the Devil's Music"}. Everybody now KNOWS that this hysteria is falsely-based. Judges, lawyers, doctors, prosecuting attorneys, and almost all candidates for public office {!} and members of their staffs and their families, either have used it at one time, or are STILL using it. [Verifiable: a HUGE percentage of Americans have used marijuana at some time or other!] BUT, THEY don't have to worry about being caught and put in jail! WHAT TOTAL HYPOCRISY!!! Let EVERYONE out of jail NOW, who was busted on non-violent Marijuana charges! The ONLY right thing to do!!!'

 
And while you're at it, if you haven't yet signed this letter to the FEDS..... 

Remove Federal Penalties for Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults

Support HR 2943, the Act to Remove Federal Penalties for Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults

 http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/alert/?alertid=13568661

The measure, HR 2943, an "Act to Remove Federal Penalties for Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults", would eliminate federal penalties for the personal possession of up to 100 grams (three and one-half ounces) of cannabis and for the not-for-profit transfer of up to one ounce of pot - making the prosecutions of these offenses strictly a state matter.

 
Please Note this: it DID make the Front Page!!! 

MAINE PRO-MEDICAL CANNABIS VOTE CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION!

Maine Voters First to Licence Medical Marijuana
Maine Voters First to Licence Medical Marijuana
/>

Health & Wellness  (tags: medicalmarijuana, cannabis, marijuana, medicalcannabis, maine, elections, voters, patientsrights, drugs, medicine )

BMutiny
- huffingtonpost.com
Maine voters overwhelmingly approve licencing Medical Marijuana; other States poised to vote on similar measures. Landslide victory for Cannabis advocates! Federal Law will no longer interfere in States' Medical Cannabis regulation.
 
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Posted: Nov 13, 2009 11:49am
Nov 9, 2009
From Reuters Alertnet 16 Oct 2009
Written by: Kathleen Mogelgaard
Much of the focus leading up to the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December is on reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change: who should have to cut, by how much, and in what time frame.
We hear a lot about cap and trade, clean energy, promoting energy efficiency, and other technological solutions. For years, reducing emissions has been the focus of efforts to address climate change.

But we know now that reducing emissions is not enough. Millions of lives are being upended by the effects of changes in climate - food scarcity, water scarcity, vulnerability to natural disasters and infectious diseases, and population displacement. Women and children are the most vulnerable groups to climate change.

So how does reproductive health fit into this picture? A new study by the UK-based Optimum Population Trust and the London School of Economics shows the connection between contraceptives and climate change.

The study concludes that universal access to reproductive health could be one of the most cost effective ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

A Population Action International report from May detailed how population dynamics, not just overall growth, contribute to climate change.

This helps to broaden our thinking around the diversity of strategies that will be needed for meaningful and lasting solutions to climate change as world leaders try to hammer out a new global climate treaty.

Investing in contraceptives and reproductive health is about more than reducing emissions. It is also a critical piece of reducing vulnerability and building resilience to the impacts of climate change.

This is true from a demographic perspective, as well as at the individual and household level.

VULNERABILITY HIGH WITH RAPID GROWTH

Rapid population growth can exacerbate existing vulnerability to the impacts of climate change.

Population growth rates in highly vulnerable low-elevation coastal zones in Bangladesh and China are nearly twice as high as national averages.

In Ethiopia, the combination of rapid population growth and climate-induced declines in agricultural production will heighten food insecurity.

At the household level, a woman with access to reproductive health services is healthier and has healthier children. She has greater opportunities to diversify income sources. And she is more likely to be able safeguard herself and her family in the event of disaster.

 

All of these things contribute to resilience in the face of the impacts of climate change.

 

Slowly but surely, the larger reproductive health and rights community is paying attention to these important linkages in the lead up to Copenhagen.

 

Last month, Population Action International's Karen Hardee participated in an event hosted by U.N. Population Fund to highlight this critical but often overlooked aspect of climate change.

 

Karen spoke of the link between meeting needs for reproductive health and fostering resilience in countries hard hit by the effects of climate change. She highlighted a recent working paper that examines national climate change adaptation plans for 41 least developed countries.

 

Not surprisingly, the vast majority of these plans identify rapid population growth as a factor that exacerbates vulnerability in their countries. Unfortunately, only two propose adaptation projects that include aspects of reproductive health.

 

In a world where 200 million women have an "unmet need" for family planning, increasing access to contraceptive services can and should be one of the tools for addressing the impacts of climate change.

 

As heads of state gather in Copenhagen, they should broaden their view beyond the technological fixes that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and remember the human face of climate change - a face that is frequently female, and in need of fundamental support that will enable her to take care of herself, her family, and our world.
Nov 2, 2009
Focus: Human Rights
Action Request: Various
Location: United States
A Local, State, National, and International Issue
What is Human Trafficking?
Human trafficking is a crime under US law.

According to the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, "severe forms of trafficking in persons" is defined as:

1] Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, coercion or in which the person induced to perform such an act is under 18.

2] The recruitment, transportation, harboring, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud or coercion, for the purpose of subjecting that person to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery.

Victims of trafficking have rights.

No one can legally force a person to work against his or her will. Victims of trafficking in the US are entitled to protection and assistance, including:

  • Access to translation/interpretation
  • Information about their rights
  • Free or low-cost legal services
  • Federal and state benefits

 

Washington Anti-Trafficking Response Network {WARN} is a coalition of Washington State organizations that provide assistance to pre-certified victims of trafficking with:

  • Immediate access to food and stable housing
  • Physical and mental health treatment
  • Immigration advocacy and legal assistance
  • Interpretation services
  • Education and job readiness training

SMUGGLING of migrants: VS TRAFFICKING of victims

Smuggling is the movement of consenting people across an international border for a fee. The migrant's relationship with the smuggler ends upon arrival at the migrant's destination.

Trafficking is ongoing exploitation. Travel is not always involved. In general, victims have either never consented to their conditions, or their initial consent is rendered meaningless by the victim's age or by coercive, deceptive or abusive actions on the part of the traffickers.

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS to ask if you suspect that a person is a victim of trafficking:

  • How did the person migrate?
  • How did the person find out about the job?
  • What happened when they arrived in the destination country?
  • What was it like when they started to work?
  • Was the person paid? How much? How often?
  • Did the person try to leave the job? What happened?
  • Is the person afraid of his or her employer? Why?

IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS:

To report a human trafficking situation to federal law enforcement, or to obtain information about services for trafficked persons, call one of these numbers:

The Trafficking in Persons and Worker Exploitation Task Force: 1-888-428-7581

Trafficking Information and Referral Hotline: 1-888-373-7888

[Washington Anti-Trafficking Response Network: 206-245-0782]

LEARN MORE

Department of Justice: http://www.usdoj.gov/trafficking.htm

Department of Health and Human Services: Rescue and Restore Campaign: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/

Office of Refugee Resettlement: http://www2acf.hhs.gov/programs/orr/programs/astvict.htm

United States Department of State: Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons: www.state.gov/g/tip

Washington State Task Force Against Trafficking of Persons: Resources: http://cted.wa.gov/portal/alias_cted/lang_en/tablD_251/DesktopDefault.aspx

Report: http://cted.wa.gov/_cted/documents/ID_29_Publications.pdf

International Rescue Committee: http://www.theIRC.org/trafficking/

HUMAN TRAFFICKING: STOP THE DEMAND   

National Hotline: 1-800-3737-888

In Seattle: Monthly Vigils to Raise Awareness and Pray for an End to Human Trafficking.  1st Sunday of each month: 1:30 to 2:00 PM {note: 1/2 hour only}. Westlake Park, Seattle, 4th & Pine. All are welcome to join us!     Organized by: Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center; Adrian Dominican Sisters; Sisters of the Holy Names; Sisters of Providence; Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet; Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace

To Learn More: www.stopthedemand.org

[I promised the nuns I would post their flyers on the Internet!]

=============================

Children whose lives are stolen: How you can help

The following leaflet was handed out at the Monthly Vigil in Seattle, WA, held the First Sunday of each month, at Westlake Park, from 1:30 to 2 PM; it is intended mainly for those whose work brings them in contact with children; but it is useful for us all to be aware of what is going on around us.

LOOK BENEATH THE SURFACE. Can you recognize child victims of human trafficking among the people you help everyday? As a law enforcement officer, a health care professional or a social service provider, you can help rescue and restore the future for victims of human trafficking.

Human Trafficking is Modern-Day Slavery

Human trafficking is a modern-day form of slavery. Victims of human trafficking are subjected to force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labor. Victims are young children, teenagers, men and women.

Approximately 600,000 to 800,000 victims annually are trafficked across international borders worldwide according to U.S. government estimates. More than half of these victims worldwide are children, according to the U.S. Department of State.

Child victims of trafficking are often exploited for sexual purposes, including prostitution, pornography and sex tourism. They are also exploited for forced labor, including domestic servitude, sweatshop factory work and migrant farming.

Child victims of trafficking can be found in:

  • Commercial sex
  • Domestic servitude {servants}
  • Sweatshop factories
  • Construction
  • Farming or landscaping
  • Fisheries
  • Hotel or tourist industries
  • Panhandling
  • Janitorial services
  • Restaurant services

Identifying Child Victims of Human Trafficking

Children who are victims of human trafficking may be mistaken for prostitutes, runaway youth, migrant farm workers or domestic servants. By looking beneath the surface, picking up on the right clues and asking the right questions, you may uncover children who are being exploited.

  • Children exploited for labor are often hungry or malnourished to the extent they may never reach their full height or they may have poorly formed or rotting teeth.
  • Children exploited for sexual purposes may show evidence of untreated sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, urinary tract infections, and kidney problems.
  • Children who are victims of trafficking can also be identified by environmental factors, including whether the child is living at the workplace or with an employer, living with multiple people in a cramped space, or not in school, attends school sporadically or has a signficant gap of schooling in the U.S.
  • Forced labor may expose children to physical abuse or leave signs such as scars, headaches, hearing loss, cardiovascular/respiratory problems and limb amputation. They may also develop chronic back, visual and respiratory problems from working in agriculture, construction or manufacturing.
  • The psychological effects of exploitation include helplessness, shame and humiliation, shock, denial and disbelief, disorientation and confusion, and anxiety disorders including post traumatic stress disorder, phobias, panic attacks and depression.

Communicating with Child Victims of Human Trafficking

When communicating with childrenwho have been exploited, it is important to remember child victims have special needs and may assume what has happened to them is thier own fault. Often, child victims of trafficking may not establish trust easily due to their experiences. They may have been coached to answer your questions in a certain way. With the guidance and involvement of a child welfare expert, asking some of the following questions may help you determine if you are dealing with child victims of trafficking:

  • Why did you come to the U.S.? What did you expect when you came? Were you scared?
  • Do you have any papers? Who has them?
  • Are you in school? Are you working? Can you leave if you want?
  • Where do you live? Who else lives there? Are you scared to leave?
  • has anybody ever threatened you to keep you from running away?
  • Did anyone ever touch you or hurt you?

While these questions provide a beginning to a challenging dialogue, it is vital to remember that the child should be approached in a manner that reflects his or her age, development, culture, language and what is known about the nature of his or her experience.

================================

End Human Trafficking in the U.S. - The Petition Site11700+ petition signatures: Pledge to help end human trafficking in the US by learning to identify victims and report incidents.

If you want to do more......

If you go to the "Browse Petitions" site, as I did, and you type in "Human Trafficking" in the space given, there will be other Petitions to sign, as well as Discussions, Groups, Shares, Photos, Causes, and other things on the subject, posted by Care2 members.

Also keep your eyes and mind open, you may not be aware until you open your eyes, that this is going on all around us every day! Modern-day SLAVERY is a DIRECT CONSEQUENCE of GLOBALIZATION. And of Failed Economies worldwide.

A Domestic Servant of some middle-class neighbors, who seems never to leave the house and grounds and to have no social contacts at all; an entire family of farm laborers who live in abominable conditions; a child excessively thin, timid and unkempt, not in school; they may be people from a third-world country who are not living as they live, voluntarily. Often, it is sad to say, {tho not always}, it is their "employers" or "owners" rather, who are themselves from third-world countries {speaking the same language as their laborers, but keeping THEM from knowing any English}. Such a situation with a family of "enslaved" farm laborers, from India I believe, happened close to our "progressive, cool" City of Seattle just a few years ago. Similar outrages are reported from time-to-time in other parts of the U.S. No telling how many REMAIN UN-REPORTED TILL NOW.

Often, as in the above instance of the enslaved laborers from India, it will be ALERT NEIGHBORS who spot "something funny going on; something not right" about a situation they observed.

End Human Trafficking in the U.S. - The Petition Site

11700+ petition signatures: Pledge to help end human trafficking in the US by learning to identify victims and report incidents.
Oct 31, 2009
Focus: Health
Action Request: Celebration
Location: United States

From the "Alternative Newspaper" The Stranger, October 29, 2009.

Monday, October 19.

......The U.S. Justice Department released an impressive new policy memo discouraging federal prosecution of pot smokers in those states that have legalized medical marijuana. Details come from the Associated Press, which reports that today's three-page memo instructs federal prosecutors that they "should not focus federal resources... on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana." However, as Attorney General Eric Holder said, "we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal," with the memo encouraging full prosecution of pot transactions involving violence, illegal firearms, sale to minors, and/or money laundering.

Thanks to the Obama administration for this lovely bit of common-sense law enforcement, and congratulations to medical marijuana users in Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, who can now take their state-sanctioned medicine with diminished risk of federal prosecution.

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Posted: Oct 31, 2009 9:45pm
Oct 24, 2009
Focus: Human Rights
Action Request: Other
Location: United States

From an ad placed in the Seattle, WA "alternative" newspaper, "The Weekly", October 21 - 27, 2009.]

JESUIT SEXUAL ABUSE OF NATIVE AMERICAN CHILDREN ON RESERVATIONS IN WA, ID, MT, OR & AK

[red and caps in the original announcement]

[That is in Washington State, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Alaska.]

Did you attend Jesuit Mission or other boarding schools where children were raped, molested and beaten?

You are not alone. It was not your fault.

Some Jesuits were good to Native children but unfortunately, too many were not. The Jesuits dumped their worst child molesters on the Reservations where Jesuit Officials allowed these men to molest and brutalize native children many of whom had been taken away from their parents and placed in Jesuit missions and boarding schools.

If you or someone you know suffered abuse by a priest or other religious, you have important information that will help protect today's children. Speak confidentially to attorneys seeking information about priests and religious serving at missions, schools and parishes in the Northwest since the 1930's. {Partial list below.}

Now the Jesuits are seeking to permanently cut off abuse victims' rights to justice, healing and compensation. The court deadline is fast approaching.

Toll Free 1-888-667-0683

[A partial listing of 8 NAMED priest offenders follows; I will give here only the names of the reservations on which the abuse took place:]

Omak, WA

Yakima, WA

Inchellium, WA

Desmet & Lapwai, ID

St. Ignatius, MT

Rocky Boy, MT

Ft. Belknap, MT

Missoula, MT

[then there follow small photographs of some of these priests]

[I am SO GLAD they are getting "outed"!]

Northwest Attorneys for Justice www.jesuitabuse.com

[I'm not giving here all the addresses: but the Law Firms include: Pfau, Cochran, Vertetis & Kosnoff, PLLC, in Seattle, WA; Eymann, Allison, Hunter & Jones, P.S., in Spokane, WA; James, Vernon & Weeks, P.A., in Coeur d'Alene, ID; and Chasan & Walton, LLC, in Boise, ID. The website will of course have more info.]

[PLEASE, PLEASE RE-POST THIS IN ALL NATIVE AMERICAN WEBSITES YOU KNOW; and on Facebook, etc. etc. etc. NOTE THAT THERE IS A TIME LIMIT! Some form of Justice, Healing and Compensation is LONG OVERDUE for these victims and survivors of abuse.]

Oct 12, 2009
Focus: GLBT
Action Request: Petition
Location: United States
Since April, we've experienced several tragic suicides of middle-school aged children -- each provoked by anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) bullying and harassment.

These heartbreaking student suicides are a chilling reminder to all of us that we need to stand up and take action to prevent the perpetuation of soul crushing anti-LGBT behavior that is claiming young lives.

Passing the Safe Schools Improvement Act (H.R. 2262) would mark a pivotal turning point in the crucial fight for safer schools. It would establish -- for the first time in our nation's history -- a federal mandate for schools to adopt anti-bullying policies that include the categories of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression. This act would ensure that schools no longer get a "pass" when they turn a blind eye to anti-LGBT behavior, and it would require them to address all forms of bullying.

Take a stand today. Urge your representative to support the Safe Schools Improvement Act today

 ....What the Safe Schools Improvement Act aims to do is compel schools to act on homophobia in the classroom and to draw up policies to deal with anti-gay bullying and the issues faced by LGBT students, rather than just ignoring them. Currently, schools lack a federally approved framework to do so.

If you would like to learn more about the Safe Schools Improvement Act, click here.

If you would like to support the Safe Schools Improvement Act, please sign this Care2 petition.

Take Action Now:

Click here to urge your senators to take action on ENDA today.

Click here to show your support for a DADT repeal.

Click here to sign Care2's Defense of Marriage Act repeal petition.


Read more: gay, lesbian, lgbt, transgendered, gay marriage, HRC, gay rights, doma, dont ask dont tell, president obama, gay adoption, defense of marriage act, obama speech, human rightsdadt, gay speech, human rights campaign

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Posted: Oct 12, 2009 2:58am
Oct 10, 2009

In an ideal, perfect world {where's that?}, the Nobel Committee would be nothing but a bunch of starry-eyed idealists, awarding the prize to other starry-eyed idealists. ALWAYS. Well, SOMETIMES it works that way. {I could list a few of these "deserving" recipients if I had the time.}

At other times, the Nobel Prize Committee, just like everyone else on the Planet it seems, is Playing Politics -- and it has been so from the very beginning. Look at the HISTORY of the Nobel Peace Prize! It was awarded to such "warriors" as: Teddy Roosevelt! {Spanish-American War}; Woodrow Wilson! {took the US into WWI}; Yasser Arafat! {sortof a "terrorist", wouldn't you say?}; and - even! HENRY KISSINGER! {one of the WORST of the warmongers.....!}. Yes, it was a matter of "encouraging" certain people and actions by these people and "trends". Not awarded necessarily because these people were "saints and angels". It could even be called, "interfering in the affairs of another country"; and that's NOT NECESSARILY a Bad Thing, when that country has power on a WORLD stage like the US does!

I think this action by the Nobel Peace Prize Committe was a stroke of GENIUS. It seems to me, irrelevant whether the prize was "deserved" in a strict sense, or not! {President Obama was very gracious about saying he felt he "didn't deserve it". Now, he has EVEN MORE TO LIVE UP TO! That's a GOOD thing!!!}

This prize award has CHANGED THE COMPLEXION OF POLITICS IN THE USA. For one thing, THE REPUBLICANS AND THE FAR-RIGHT ARE MAKING TOTAL PUBLIC IRREDEEMABLE FOOLS OF THEMSELVES! That ALONE is worth it! You see, the Repukelicans and the Far Right NEVER DID ACTUALLY HAVE THE PUBLIC SUPPORT THAT THEY CLAIM TO HAVE. The only way they can APPEAR to have any support, is because THE MEDIA GIVES THEM ALL THAT PUBLICITY. While these clowns PRETEND to be leading a "grassroots movement", teabaggers, anti-health-care dupes, etc.; the movement is in actuality, nothing but {I LOVE that phrase!}, an "ASTROTURF" movement!!! {For those to whom English is a second language, "Astroturf" is a kind of ARTIFICIAL grass, used in sports stadiums, etc.}
This is PROVED by the fact that POLLS SHOW that all the efforts of the Right-wingers HAVE NOT CHANGED PUBLIC OPINION {on Health Care, for example}, by any significant number of percentage points!!!!!
However, the Media by giving undue PUBLICITY to the ranting bigots, and virtually NONE to even huge protests by OUR side; give a completely DISTORTED view.

Well, there is such a thing, apparently hard-wired into most human beings, such a thing as PATRIOTISM. Even birds and animals, LOVE and defend their "home base", their territory, their Homeland! The Repukes have PUT THEMSELVES ON THE WRONG SIDE; by being snide about their favorite hate-object, Obama, getting the award!!! But, all the LATENT PATRIOTISM of MOST folks, as well as the CONTINUING SUPPORT FOR OBAMA that in some instances has been INTIMIDATED and muted into silence, has NOW come to the fore!!!!!

Whether on purpose or not {and I think these Norwegian guys are quite a savvy bunch!}, this comes at a time when the SEEMING power and influence of the Far Right APPEARED to be out-of-control. This giving of the award sure CUTS THEM DOWN TO SIZE!!! Not only do WE, up-to-now ignored by the Media, WE get our VOICES back; but I feel, with all the irresponsible Right-wing rant encouraging actual VIOLENCE, I feel that GIVING THIS AWARD AT THIS TIME MAY HAVE EVEN SAVED OUR PRESIDENT FROM ASSASSINATION. Because THAT's where all this "talk" was headed, make no mistake!

Of course I am very pleased for President Obama, his supporters in the government, his family both in the US and in Kenya, our country and those who had the good sense to vote for Obama {without waiting for the "perfect person" to come along}. This award will INDEED "ENCOURAGE" certain types of good, peace-tending policies; which WAS the original intent of the founder of the Prize, Alfred Nobel. Its net result will ALSO be, perhaps even more importantly, to ENCOURAGE the supporters of President Obama, including even some of the previously dis-illusioned ones, to PUSH EVEN HARDER for the policies for Peace that WE want to see instituted: leaving Iraq and Afghanistan, no drone bombers, dis-mantle American bases, even MORE nuclear disarmament, etc. etc. etc. This has been SOOOOOOO good for our country; and for what we want!

And the Far Right, our deadly enemies, self-destruct EVEN FASTER...... leaving the path for Reform that much clearer.......

Si Se Puedes! Yes We Can! HOPE is back to the foreground......!

Oct 10, 2009
Focus: Media
Action Request: Various
Location: United States

NOTE, comment, and SIGN the Petition!!!

NOW there is a way FOR DECENCY TO MAKE ITSELF HEARD, AND TO WIN!!!

 

Organizing to Stop Far Right Violence
Organizing to Stop Far Right Violence

US Politics & Gov't  (tags: barack obama, frank schaeffer, republican party, Eric Holder, Attorney General, Far-Right Fundamentalism, Hate Crimes, Hate Speech, Thomas Friedman, Yitzhak Rabin, politics, glenn beck, rush limbaugh, fox news, birthers, death panels, tea party )

Marion 
- huffingtonpost.com
"As a former right wing leader, who many years ago came to my senses and began to try to undo the harm the movement of religious extremism I helped build has done, I've been telling the media that we're facing a dangerous time in our history." F. Schaeffer.
Sep 20, 2009

The following is the statement of Mutadhar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi who threw his shoes at George Bush gave this speech, on his recent release from prison.

In the name of God, the most gracious and most merciful.

Here I am, free. But my country is still a prisoner of war.

Firstly, I give my thanks and my regards to everyone who stood beside me, whether inside my country, in the Islamic world, in the free world. There has been a lot of talk about the action and about the person who took it, and about the hero and the heroic act, and the symbol and the symbolic act.

But, simply, I answer: What compelled me to confront is the injustice that befell my people, and how the occupation wanted to humiliate my homeland by putting it under its boot.

And how it wanted to crush the skulls of (the homeland's) sons under its boots, whether sheikhs, women, children or men. And during the past few years, more than a million martyrs fell by the bullets of the occupation and the country is now filled with more than 5 million orphans, a million widows and hundreds of thousands of maimed. And many millions of homeless because of displacement inside and outside the country.

We used to be a nation in which the Arab would share with the Turkman and the Kurd and the Assyrian and the Sabean and the Yazid his daily bread. And the Shiite would pray with the Sunni in one line. And the Muslim would celebrate with the Christian the birthday of Christ, may peace be upon him. And despite the fact that we shared hunger under sanctions for more than 10 years, for more than a decade.

Our patience and our solidarity did not make us forget the oppression. Until we were invaded by the illusion of liberation that some had. (The occupation) divided one brother from another, one neighbor from another, and the son from his uncle. It turned our homes into never-ending funeral tents. And our graveyards spread into parks and roadsides. It is a plague. It is the occupation that is killing us, that is violating the houses of worship and the sanctity of our homes and that is throwing thousands daily into makeshift prisons.

I am not a hero, and I admit that. But I have a point of view and I have a stance. It humiliated me to see my country humiliated. And to see my Baghdad burned. And my people being killed. Thousands of tragic pictures remained in my head, and this weighs on me every day and pushes me toward the righteous path, the path of confrontation, the path of rejecting injustice, deceit and duplicity. It deprived me of a good night's sleep.

Dozens, no, hundreds, of images of massacres that would turn the hair of a newborn white used to bring tears to my eyes and wound me. The scandal of Abu Ghraib. The massacre of Fallujah, Najaf, Haditha, Sadr City, Basra, Diyala, Mosul, Tal Afar, and every inch of our wounded land. In the past years, I traveled through my burning land and saw with my own eyes the pain of the victims, and hear with my own ears the screams of the bereaved and the orphans. And a feeling of shame haunted me like an ugly name because I was powerless.

And as soon as I finished my professional duties in reporting the daily tragedies of the Iraqis, and while I washed away the remains of the debris of the ruined Iraqi houses, or the traces of the blood of victims that stained my clothes, I would clench my teeth and make a pledge to our victims, a pledge of vengeance.

The opportunity came, and I took it.

I took it out of loyalty to every drop of innocent blood that has been shed through the occupation or because of it, every scream of a bereaved mother, every moan of an orphan, the sorrow of a rape victim, the teardrop of an orphan.

I say to those who reproach me: Do you know how many broken homes that shoe that I threw had entered because of the occupation? How many times it had trodden over the blood of innocent victims? And how many times it had entered homes in which free Iraqi women and their sanctity had been violated? Maybe that shoe was the appropriate response when all values were violated.

When I threw the shoe in the face of the criminal, Bush, I wanted to express my rejection of his lies, his occupation of my country, my rejection of his killing my people. My rejection of his plundering the wealth of my country, and destroying its infrastructure. And casting out its sons into a diaspora.

After six years of humiliation, of indignity, of killing and violations of sanctity, and desecration of houses of worship, the killer comes, boasting, bragging about victory and democracy. He came to say goodbye to his victims and wanted flowers in response.

Put simply, that was my flower to the occupier, and to all who are in league with him, whether by spreading lies or taking action, before the occupation or after.

I wanted to defend the honor of my profession and suppressed patriotism on the day the country was violated and its high honor lost. Some say: Why didn't he ask Bush an embarrassing question at the press conference, to shame him? And now I will answer you, journalists. How can I ask Bush when we were ordered to ask no questions before the press conference began, but only to cover the event. It was prohibited for any person to question Bush.

And in regard to professionalism: The professionalism mourned by some under the auspices of the occupation should not have a voice louder than the voice of patriotism. And if patriotism were to speak out, then professionalism should be allied with it.

I take this opportunity: If I have wronged journalism without intention, because of the professional embarrassment I caused the establishment, I wish to apologize to you for any embarrassment I may have caused those establishments. All that I meant to do was express with a living conscience the feelings of a citizen who sees his homeland desecrated every day.

History mentions many stories where professionalism was also compromised at the hands of American policymakers, whether in the assassination attempt against Fidel Castro by booby-trapping a TV camera that CIA agents posing as journalists from Cuban TV were carrying, or what they did in the Iraqi war by deceiving the general public about what was happening. And there are many other examples that I won't get into here.

But what I would like to call your attention to is that these suspicious agencies -- the American intelligence and its other agencies and those that follow them -- will not spare any effort to track me down (because I am) a rebel opposed to their occupation. They will try to kill me or neutralize me, and I call the attention of those who are close to me to the traps that these agencies will set up to capture or kill me in various ways, physically, socially or professionally.

And at the time that the Iraqi prime minister came out on satellite channels to say that he didn't sleep until he had checked in on my safety, and that I had found a bed and a blanket, even as he spoke I was being tortured with the most horrific methods: electric shocks, getting hit with cables, getting hit with metal rods, and all this in the backyard of the place where the press conference was held. And the conference was still going on and I could hear the voices of the people in it. And maybe they, too, could hear my screams and moans.

In the morning, I was left in the cold of winter, tied up after they soaked me in water at dawn. And I apologize for Mr. Maliki for keeping the truth from the people. I will speak later, giving names of the people who were involved in torturing me, and some of them were high-ranking officials in the government and in the army.

I didn't do this so my name would enter history or for material gains. All I wanted was to defend my country, and that is a legitimate cause confirmed by international laws and divine rights. I wanted to defend a country, an ancient civilization that has been desecrated, and I am sure that history -- especially in America -- will state how the American occupation was able to subjugate Iraq and Iraqis, until its submission.

They will boast about the deceit and the means they used in order to gain their objective. It is not strange, not much different from what happened to the Native Americans at the hands of colonialists. Here I say to them (the occupiers) and to all who follow their steps, and all those who support them and spoke up for their cause: Never.

Because we are a people who would rather die than face humiliation.

And, lastly, I say that I am independent. I am not a member of any politicalparty, something that was said during torture -- one time that I'm far-right, another that I'm a leftist. I am independent of any political party, and my future efforts will be in civil service to my people and to any who need it, without waging any political wars, as some said that I would.
My efforts will be toward providing care for widows and orphans, and all those whose lives were damaged by the occupation. I pray for mercy upon the souls of the martyrs who fell in wounded Iraq, and for shame upon those who occupied Iraq and everyone who assisted them in their abominable acts. And I pray for peace upon those who are in their graves, and those who are oppressed with the chains of imprisonment. And peace be upon you who are patient and looking to God for release.

And to my beloved country I say: If the night of injustice is prolonged, it will not stop the rising of a sun and it will be the sun of freedom.

One last word. I say to the government: It is a trust that I carry from my fellow detainees. They said, 'Muntadhar, if you get out, tell of our plight to the omnipotent powers' -- I know that only God is omnipotent and I pray to Him -- 'remind them that there are dozens, hundreds, of victims rotting in prisons because of an informant's word.'

They have been there for years, they have not been charged or tried.

They've only been snatched up from the streets and put into these prisons. And now, in front of you, and in the presence of God, I hope they can hear me or see me. I have now made good on my promise of reminding the government and the officials and the politicians to look into what's happening inside the prisons. The injustice that's caused by the delay in the judicial system.

Thank you. And may God's peace be upon you.

The translation is by McClatchy’s special correspondent, Sahar Issa.

 
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Why I Threw My Shoes At Bush: Iraqi Journalist Released From Prison, Speaks
Why I Threw My Shoes At Bush: Iraqi Journalist Released From Prison, Speaks

US Politics & Gov't  (tags: bush, bushadministration, abuse, war, iraq )

BMutiny 
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"And to my beloved country I say: If the night of injustice is prolonged, it will not stop the rising of a sun and it will be the sun of freedom."
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Posted: Sep 20, 2009 9:50pm

 

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