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President Obama, for reasons that are not clear, delayed signing an International treaty banning land mines. This shocked many people -- including me. Here is what YOU can do:

As mentioned above, the U.S. already adheres to most of the accord. So can we expect Obama to sign on in the near future? All hope is not lost, but his signing the treaty won't be immediate, no. I predict a holding pattern on all sides until the health care reform bill is passed. As Don Kraus, CEO of Citizens for Global Solutions noted, when it comes to these kinds of decisive issues:

"It's more a question of timing than commitment. There's limited bandwidth in terms of what the administration and the Senate can do at any one time."

That doesn't mean we have to wait, however. While Obama collects his Nobel Peace Prize next week, we can gently remind him of the commitments he made to human rights that won him that prestigious honor.


Take Action:

• Sign this Care2 Petition to ask the Senate to pass a bill banning landmine use.

• Sign this Care2 petition now and let Obama know that you support the U.S. signing the Mine Ban Treaty.

The above was posted by Steve W.; and the full text can be found under "Causes".

Obama Admin Slip-Up Puts Weight on Landmine Issue

posted by: Steve W.

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......!

[I had trouble trying to sign their Petition On-line, and couldn't do it; there is some technical glitch, apparently. They have only 42 signatures; that's probably why, some technicality in signing! They rejected my e-mail address. I hope they get it all straightened out!]

Apparently, the demo is ONGOING, and not just until July 7th, as inferred above! They ask if you will use some of your vacation time to join in front of the White House..... [Warning: Washington D.C. is known to get fearsomely hot in the summer.... I have heard that staff from foreign countries got or used to get, "tropical pay"!]