Refusing to be Enemies
Israel has always indicated that there is no partner for peace in its relationships with the Palestinian people. Refusing to be Enemies refutes that idea solidly through its investigation into the non-violent resistance movement taking place in Palestine and in Israel. It also clarifies the nature of the Palestinian resistance and the nature of what non-violence truly stands for. As cited from Mohammed Khatib, "what the state of Israel fears most of all is the hope that people can live together based on justice and equality for all."
Center for Hand-Counted Paper Ballots sends letter to all recall candidates regarding election protection
August 7, 2011
Dear [Candidate]:
My name is Dr. Sheila Parks, and I am the founder of the national organization, Center for Hand-Counted Paper Ballots,. We work closely with the recently formed grassroots group called Wisconsin Citizens for Election Protection (WCEP).This group of Wisconsin citizens is concerned with protecting the integrity of Wisconsin elections.
Many of them observed the Supreme Court recount and were appalled at what they saw. Although the limited media coverage highlighted the human errors in Waukesha County, there was an overwhelming number of problems in municipalities across the State of Wisconsin.
WCEP organized volunteers to observe poll closing procedures as a way to try to improve the integrity and security of Wisconsin's elections. They placed WI citizen volunteers in each of the nine senate districts for the July 2011 elections. The citizens of Wisconsin are especially concerned with integrity in the election process for the recalls because they all have the potential for being close races.
Dear [Candidate]:
My name is Dr. Sheila Parks, and I am the founder of the national organization, Center for Hand-Counted Paper Ballots,. We work closely with the recently formed grassroots group called Wisconsin Citizens for Election Protection (WCEP).This group of Wisconsin citizens is concerned with protecting the integrity of Wisconsin elections.
Many of them observed the Supreme Court recount and were appalled at what they saw. Although the limited media coverage highlighted the human errors in Waukesha County, there was an overwhelming number of problems in municipalities across the State of Wisconsin.
WCEP organized volunteers to observe poll closing procedures as a way to try to improve the integrity and security of Wisconsin's elections. They placed WI citizen volunteers in each of the nine senate districts for the July 2011 elections. The citizens of Wisconsin are especially concerned with integrity in the election process for the recalls because they all have the potential for being close races.
Equal and opposite lunacy
As crashing economies and austerity measures slap ever more ferociously at the lives of the vulnerable and disenfranchised, the Western world, with all its hidden poverty and institutional racism, may continue to convulse.
The riots that broke out in London over the weekend and spread throughout Great Britain, triggered by the controversial police killing of a 29-year-old man, have sent shockwaves in all directions. Who knew things were so unstable, that Britain’s struggling neighborhoods were just one incident away from such destructive lunacy?
“On Twitter late last night, following the main bulk of the riots, I was astonished at the incomprehension generally expressed as to why they had occurred. There seemed to be an extraordinary lack of awareness that working class youth in Britain are being punished for the financial excesses of the banking collapse,” freelance British journalist Pennie Quinton wrote on Al-Jazeera.
“The public spending cuts this year meant many of the youth summer schemes in London did not run. These riots suggest boredom — and inarticulate rage. The youth are smashing and grabbing the things society tells them to want.”
The riots that broke out in London over the weekend and spread throughout Great Britain, triggered by the controversial police killing of a 29-year-old man, have sent shockwaves in all directions. Who knew things were so unstable, that Britain’s struggling neighborhoods were just one incident away from such destructive lunacy?
“On Twitter late last night, following the main bulk of the riots, I was astonished at the incomprehension generally expressed as to why they had occurred. There seemed to be an extraordinary lack of awareness that working class youth in Britain are being punished for the financial excesses of the banking collapse,” freelance British journalist Pennie Quinton wrote on Al-Jazeera.
“The public spending cuts this year meant many of the youth summer schemes in London did not run. These riots suggest boredom — and inarticulate rage. The youth are smashing and grabbing the things society tells them to want.”
The 'green' thing....
In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.
The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day." The clerk responded, " That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."
He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.
Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.
But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.
But she was right; we didn't have the green thing in our day.
The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day." The clerk responded, " That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."
He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.
Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.
But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.
But she was right; we didn't have the green thing in our day.
Radio Interview with Dr. Sheila Parks
The reality of election fraud is discussed on Sara Schulz radio show We The People (Wisconsin) with Doctor Sheila Parks, Ed.D, who makes the case for secure hand-counted paper ballots elections.
Obama on the Backs of the Poor
What are we to make of the Obama-brokered deal on debt and spending? It was certainly what the Germans call eine schwere Geburt (a difficult birth); it was one of the few times I would have favored abortion.
I am reminded of a sermon that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave during the turbulent 1950s, in which he peered into the future and issued a prescient warning:
“A nation or a civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on an installment plan.”
In promoting and then signing the so-called “deficit reduction” legislation, President Barack Obama has definitively confirmed that he stands in the ranks of those spiritual-death-dealing, “soft-minded” men about whom Dr. King warned so ominously.
In my view, even dyed-in-the-wool Obama supporters will now have to let the scales fall from their eyes. The new one-sided “compromise” so clearly promotes the interests of the wealthy over those of the poor that, in Biblical terms, it can readily be seen as a Goddamned deal.
I am reminded of a sermon that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave during the turbulent 1950s, in which he peered into the future and issued a prescient warning:
“A nation or a civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on an installment plan.”
In promoting and then signing the so-called “deficit reduction” legislation, President Barack Obama has definitively confirmed that he stands in the ranks of those spiritual-death-dealing, “soft-minded” men about whom Dr. King warned so ominously.
In my view, even dyed-in-the-wool Obama supporters will now have to let the scales fall from their eyes. The new one-sided “compromise” so clearly promotes the interests of the wealthy over those of the poor that, in Biblical terms, it can readily be seen as a Goddamned deal.
Green music again confronts atomic power
Amidst a life-and-death struggle to finally shut the nuclear energy industry, the power of green music flows again this Sunday.
It's also pouring over the Internet, as the historic all-day MUSE2 gathering is staged at the Shoreline Amphitheatre south of San Francisco, re-uniting Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Crosby-Stills-Nash, the Doobie Brothers, John Hall, Sweet Honey in the Rock and many more who'll sing to benefit victims of the Fukushima disaster and promote a green-powered Earth.
The concert runs from 3pm through the evening Pacific Time and comes as the nuclear power industry desperately seeks federal funding to build new reactors while fighting a tsunami of citizen opposition demanding the shut-down of aging radioactive power stations.
Music has been a unifying, empowering force for social movements for decades. The labor union movement used it during strikes and solidarity marches. It was at the heart of the most powerful campaigns for civil rights. A whole generation's demand for peace in Vietnam got electrified with rock and roll.
It's also pouring over the Internet, as the historic all-day MUSE2 gathering is staged at the Shoreline Amphitheatre south of San Francisco, re-uniting Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Crosby-Stills-Nash, the Doobie Brothers, John Hall, Sweet Honey in the Rock and many more who'll sing to benefit victims of the Fukushima disaster and promote a green-powered Earth.
The concert runs from 3pm through the evening Pacific Time and comes as the nuclear power industry desperately seeks federal funding to build new reactors while fighting a tsunami of citizen opposition demanding the shut-down of aging radioactive power stations.
Music has been a unifying, empowering force for social movements for decades. The labor union movement used it during strikes and solidarity marches. It was at the heart of the most powerful campaigns for civil rights. A whole generation's demand for peace in Vietnam got electrified with rock and roll.
Budget deal Is a “Huge Mistake”
This is a very bad deal and a huge mistake. Instead of capitulating to Republican ideologues in Congress, we should stand our ground on behalf of seniors, children and other vulnerable Americans. All the rhetoric about “shared sacrifice” rings hollow when the vast majority of us are being sacrificed to the benefit of big banks and Wall Street.
There are plenty of sensible and effective ways to reduce the deficit -- including a transaction tax on Wall Street, an end to the Bush tax cuts for the very wealthy and a major reduction in military spending. But the bipartisan dealmakers in Washington are ripping up the social compact and slashing the safety net that’s essential for vast numbers of Americans.
One of the most dangerous aspects of this deal is that it explicitly sets the stage for future actions to undermine Medicare. This scenario is a betrayal that strikes at the heart of precious values, and it’s among many of the current threats to vital social programs. I am committed to defending Social Security and Medicare on the campaign trail and as a member of Congress.
There are plenty of sensible and effective ways to reduce the deficit -- including a transaction tax on Wall Street, an end to the Bush tax cuts for the very wealthy and a major reduction in military spending. But the bipartisan dealmakers in Washington are ripping up the social compact and slashing the safety net that’s essential for vast numbers of Americans.
One of the most dangerous aspects of this deal is that it explicitly sets the stage for future actions to undermine Medicare. This scenario is a betrayal that strikes at the heart of precious values, and it’s among many of the current threats to vital social programs. I am committed to defending Social Security and Medicare on the campaign trail and as a member of Congress.