mousemusings...multimedia, music, progressive politics, video, web design and general rants
Human beings will be happier - not when they cure cancer or get to Mars or eliminate racial prejudice or flush Lake Erie but when they find ways to inhabit primitive communities again. That's my utopia.
~Kurt Vonnegut
Wednesday, July 30, 2003

Misplaced Priorities

Through dazereader I learn that things aren't always as they seem. Warren Buffet who clearly enjoys amassing wealth, could teach the Bush Administration a few lessons in using the wealth wisely, for the betterment of the people, instead of for the purpose of gaining more power. Two clear examples of Buffet's actions are his position on the tax cuts, and his promotion toward reproductive rights.

"Putting $1,000 in the pockets of 310,000 families with urgent needs is going to provide far more stimulus to the economy than putting the same $310 million in my pockets," Buffett added.

"The world would be better off, Buffett told the crowd, "if you could make every child born in this country and this world a wanted child."

"Until women have that right to determine their reproductive destiny," he said, "we're in an unequal society."

Meanwhile..

We see more of the same, the vivid squandering of tax money in one of America's favorite passtimes, WAR, this time, the WAR on DRUGS, the current national debt, and the cost of lives incarcerated for non-violent drug crimes. Tony, at abuddhas memes has provided some hard numbers, in the form of clear charts, for us to swallow. Add these incarcerated to the national unemployment rate and we have some ugly realities.

"In 2000, 46.5 percent of the 1,579,566 total arrests for drug law violations were for cannabis -- a total of 734,497. Of those, 646,042 people were arrested for possession alone."

For some more perspective see Some Advice for Democrats
At a press conference to announce the arrests, Ashcroft declared, "The illegal drug paraphernalia industry has invaded the homes of families across the country without their knowledge."

That's an odd use of the verb "invade." Apparently the Attorney General believes that sending federal troops into California homes to handcuff residents who are growing plants to alleviate their pain is not an invasion, but when a resident returns from the store with a bong in a shopping bag, that is.


I'd say we have some serious thinking to do.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Tuesday, July 29, 2003

Pentagon Prepares a Futures Market on Terror Attacks

Senators Ron Wyden, right, and Byron L. Dorgan discussed a Pentagon plan for an online market that would allow anonymous speculators to bet on forecasting terrorist attacks, assassinations and coups


It just keeps getting sicker.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


The CakeGate Scam and The Neo-Cons

as illustrated and compiled by Benedict@Large

For quick reference, the timeline, a work in progress, (last updated July 28) is invaluable. Links and footnotes enhance the timeline. Great research going on here in a highly accessible format.

The graphic diagram gives a great overview of the players in this timeline of deceit.

Bookmark it and pass it around! Read his page often for other news and insight. I'm stuck, but Benedict isn't.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Monday, July 28, 2003

Reaching for dreams

by Dennis J. Kucinich
People ask me why I think I have any chance at all to be elected the next President of the United States. I can well understand the skepticism and even cynicism which locks some people into a type of thinking which rules out new possibilities simply because it's outside their experience.

...Just about every day of my life, I've met people who, because of fear and doubt, cut themselves off from the incredibly expressive power of the human heart. [read it all]
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Sunday, July 27, 2003

The Agenda of Dennis Kucinich from Slate

What he'd do as president
Profile: Dennis Kucinich
The Buzzwords of Dennis Kucinich
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Ancient Code of Insult and Revenge

 
If you are looking for some fun, and have a research grant to spend, try this. Visit an American university, bump into random students in the corridor and loudly call each one ‘asshole’. Then measure their reactions. This is what a team of psychologists did in a controlled experiment at the University of Michigan.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Welcome to the Big Darkness

By Hunter S. Thompson
... But wow! This goofy child president we have on our hands now. He is demonstrably a fool and a failure, and this is only the summer of '03. By the summer of 2004, he might not even be living in the White House. Gone, gone, like the snows of yesteryear.

The Rumsfield-Cheney axis has self-destructed right in front of our eyes, along with the once-proud Perle-Wolfowitz bund that is turning to wax. They somehow managed to blow it all, like a gang of kids on a looting spree, between January and July, or even less. It is genuinely incredible. The U.S. Treasury is empty, we are losing that stupid, fraudulent chickencrap War in Iraq, and every country in the world except a handful of Corrupt Brits despises us. We are losers, and that is the one unforgiveable sin in America.

Beyond that, we have lost the respect of the world and lost two disastrous wars in three years. Afghanistan is lost, Iraq is a permanent war Zone, our national Economy is crashing all around us, the Pentagon's "war strategy" has failed miserably, nobody has any money to spend, and our once-mighty U.S. America is paralyzed by Mutinies in Iraq and even Fort Bragg. [more]
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Wednesday, July 23, 2003




Sooner or later a person begins to notice....
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Tuesday, July 22, 2003

New Rubber Soul Newsletter 7/22/03

 
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Important Kucinich Reminder!

If you haven't put this wonderful weblog in your permanent links, do so now. Al-Muhajabah is tireless and finds some of THE best Dennis Kucinich information available, in addition to having had the opportunity to recently see Dennis Kucinich speak in Seattle. I've gotta say, she inspires me to get back to it. Hopefully I'll be there soon.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Monday, July 21, 2003

The abandoned playground

 
I've lost touch with the immediate this past week. I see that time is beginning to reveal and expose what we hoped would be revealed. At the moment I'm content to sit amidst the petrified, listen and watch.


Time passes and you remain buried with the rotting logs of the forest. The ground is now saturated with water containing dissolved silicon and oxygen, or silica, from the overlying ash. This silica is present in molecular form, as any submicroscopic particles which are carried down by water through the ash toward the buried forest. One by ones the molecules of silica replace the molecules of the wood, turning wood to solid silica, solid quartz, solid stone.

Maybe you'd rather sit at the Peace table. Bob, of Bob's Links and Rants has pictures posted of Alan Haber's beautiful handcrafted Peace Table which was on display at the Ann Arbor Art Fair this past week. The Kucinich booth was right beside the table. (scroll down on July 20 entries)
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Friday, July 18, 2003



Both naturally and supernaturally, space is female and time is male. It is indeed the intercourse of a multidimensional space with the always singular dimension of time that brings about the conception of the lower (more outward) orders of existence.
Allegories are things that relate to Moral Virtues. Moral Virtues do not exist; they are allegories & dissimulations. But Time and Space are Real Beings, a Male and a Female. Time is man, Space is a woman, and her masculine Portion is Death.
William Blake
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Tuesday, July 15, 2003



I'm sorry. The insanity of my personal life makes it impossible for me to look at this weblog or to read and respond to email for the time being.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Monday, July 14, 2003

A Month on Altered States of Consciousness

Science and Consciousness Review

The psychedelic experience thus represents a unique intersection between mind, matter, science and mysticism that still defies explanation.

The neurochemistry of psychedelic experiences

Science and the Ayahuasca

Beyond ordinary consciousness

Speaking with the Dead
Philip K. Dick Interview
Do not believe -- and I am dead serious when I say this -- do not assume that order and stability are always good, in a society or in a universe. Before the new things can be born the old must perish. And that hurts. But that is part of the script of life. Unless we can psychologically accomodate change, we ourselves will begin to die, inwardly.


Intimacy [Into me you see]
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Pentagon Sponsered Voting??

 
Americans Abroad To Vote Online in a program run by the Pentagon.

That sounds a little freaky don't ya think? This is what Dennis Kucinich has to say about it:
The Pentagon should stay out of the election (newly posted by him in his weblog)
According to this Associated Press story on CBSNews, the Pentagon is seeking a major role in managing the votes of millions of Americans. This should send a chill across the United States. In a democratic society, it's not appropriate for the military to manage an election. We must not permit this dangerous incursion into the election system itself. Can we trust an administration which stole a presidential election, has attacked the bill of rights, and which deliberately misrepresented intelligence to lead this nation into an unjust war to faithfully protect the security of the 2004 election? I repeat my call on all Americans to join in a mighty protest so that we may protect the 2004 election from the kind of theft which deprived the American people of an honest election in the year 2000.

Dennis J. Kucinich
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Sunday, July 13, 2003

Thoughts on Medical Marijuana

After reading the newest assault on cancer patients: White House Targets Doctors Who Recommend Medical Marjuana my friend Craig, who has extensive experience with chemo, was quite upset. Usually not a person to voice outrage, he was compelled to write this article: On The Medical Use of Marijuana. Most of us know someone who is affected by cancer. We should all be outraged that a simple natural herb is deemed to be so threatening to our current administration that patient/doctor relationships are in jeopardy.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


New U.S. action against medical pot

The Bush administration wants the Supreme Court's permission to strip prescription licenses from doctors who recommend marijuana to sick patients.

...The new case focuses on physicians and what they tell their patients about pot use within the confines of the doctor-patient relationship. In a brief filed this week with the high court, Solicitor General Theodore Olson said the 9th Circuit's decision in October protects doctors who urge patients to use illegal drugs.

..."An integral component of the practice of medicine is the communication between a doctor and a patient," the 9th Circuit said. "Physicians must be able to speak frankly and openly to patients. ... Being a member of a regulated profession does not, as the government suggests, result in a surrender of First Amendment rights."

The Science of Medical Marijuana
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Credibility Lost

"Trust is something that is difficult to regain." I learned that from my parents. I think it may have been one of the most important things I ever learned. Simple honesty.

Why does 9/11 inquiry scare Bush? What has Mr. Bush got to hide?
The Internet is full of wild theories -- that Mr. Bush knew in advance of 9/11 and allowed it to happen so he could exploit it to get his way in domestic and international politics is the most notable -- and while cyberspace is the natural home of the improbable and the far-fetched, the administration's stonewalling only lends credence to those who believe a cover-up of something is going on.


A Question Of Trust
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Saturday, July 12, 2003

Issue Closed...NOT!

I just caught this headline: Bush Considers Iraq Uranium Issue Closed (Chicago Trib registration req'd)
Bush considers the matter closed, said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. "The president has moved on," he said.

In a carefully scripted mea culpa, the White House on Friday blamed the CIA for its January misstep, with Bush saying the CIA had reviewed his address and did not raise any alarms. Tenet finished the job hours later with a dramatic statement accepting responsibility.

Because Bush has moved on, makes it so?? Because Bush won't discuss his cocaine use, or his (lack of) military service makes it so?? Sorry...I don't think his little authoritarian ash will get away with this one. He is ultimately responsible for fact checking what he is sworn under oath to provide to the world. He lied, he knew it, people died, and this time he's not going to shrug it away with a refusal to talk about it! This lie will not be subject to simple authoritarian evasion.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Blogroll This Now!

Al-Muhajabah has a blog devoted entirely to news about Dennis Kucinich. Awesome! Muslims for Kucinich.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Kucinich gathers eclectic collection of political endorsements

While many of his presidential rivals are pursuing endorsements from mainstream groups such as labor unions, Democrat Dennis Kucinich has cornered the market on eclectic endorsements.

The latest come from Doris "Granny D" Haddock, a 93-year-old New Hampshire woman who walked coast-to-coast two years ago to support a rewrite of campaign finance laws, and Arun Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and leader of the M.K. Gandhi Institute of Nonviolence.

Other endorsements for Kucinich's White House bid: actor Ed Asner, country music singer Willie Nelson, lifestyle guru Marianne Williamson and author Studs Terkel.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Read His Lips

Amidst Rising Doubts, virtually no credibility, and rising casualties, 'tis time to demand a full, independent, bipartisan investigation. Sign the DNC petition. Hold Bush and his administration accountable for all fabrications. Sign the Kucinich petition, demand the resignation of those who engaged in this deception. Sign the Dean petition.

posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Friday, July 11, 2003

Zogby Poll June 24-July 1, 2003

posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Paying the Price

Bush never second-guesses himself, a trait that permeates his administration and contains the seeds of his undoing.
...The moment Bush landed on the USS Lincoln, he was caught in his own net of hubris. The juvenile taunt—”Bring ‘em on”—diminishes the seriousness of sending men and women into an urban guerilla battle that nobody prepared them for. American soldiers in Iraq are going on the record with reporters to say how unhappy they are, and how vulnerable they feel. You don’t do that in the military unless the conditions are dire.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


From the Take Back America Conference

Video and transcripts of selected speeches, including Dennis Kucinich's speech that grabbed everyone's attention.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Don't Confirm the Raids!

Help stop the senseless attack on medical marijuana patients.
U.S. Senators Speak Out Against DEA Raids
Please Take Action Now
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Will Nader Run? It Depends in Part, He Says, on 2 Others

"Mr. Nader said any growth in support for Mr. Kucinich, among the most liberal members of Congress, would give him "less reason to go into the election -- not no, just less."
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Interdependence, Interdependence Days and Declarations of Interdependence

...As we mature, life encourages us to bring the healthy individuality (which we developed through our independence) into relationships and networks which involve a lot of healthy interdependence. People use words like mutuality, community and synergy to describe this good kind of interdependence.

Nature is a great model of interdependence. Today you, like me, are breathing hundreds of gallons of invisible oxygen, a gift from our plant kin, to whom we return hundreds of gallons of that stuffy carbon dioxide that they love so much (thank heavens for diversity!). Meanwhile the flowers are gifting nectar to the bees, who return the favor by pollinating the flowers.

...But interdependence is social, as well. As technology, cheap oil, and population growth bring us all to each other's doorsteps, and as the globalization of economic, political and ecological factors (and occasional disasters) have woven our destinies ever-more-tightly together, more people are waking up to the fact that we are interdependent whether we like it or not..

When Chernobyl melted down on April 16, 1986, and New York's Twin Towers crashed a thunderous hole in our security on September 11, 2001, we got glimpses of the dark side of our interdependence. And every day, from our front-row mass media seats, we watch global warming, terrorism, SARS, and the deaths of oceans and war-torn children unfold.

It seems that the world is trying to tell us something. Perhaps it hopes that demonstrating our INTRINSIC interdependence will stimulate us to CONSCIOUSLY CO-CREATE POSITIVE FORMS OF INTERDEPENDENCE -- mutuality, community, synergy and co-intelligence. declarations of interdependence Thanks John
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Bush Takes 'War on Terror' Message to East Africa

Aren't we getting a little burned out with the al Qaeda links being drawn to everything Bush touches by now? There is no credibility left, just another attempt to exploit fear. Why does he even bother to bring it up?
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Thursday, July 10, 2003

Ants at Play

embedded in the floor
ants wrestle socially
smothering behind bars
of synthetic thread counts
and enforced competition

strutting above
in false confidence
the sly appendage of power
mighty and uncaring
robed in ignorance and greed
constructs wealth with
heavy bricks of debt

the foundation
creaks and rumbles
scurries for attention
and finally crumbles
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Rubber Soul Newsletter 7/10/03

 
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Bush Seeks Big Changes in Head Start,

"But we can have children assessed by asking simple questions," Mr. Bush said. "You know, words go left to right. Are you able to identify certain sounds?"

Left behind
Bush has proposed virtually destroying Head Start by turning what may be the most successful of all federal programs over to cash-strapped states, where it is likely to either wither away or be turned into another test-happy regime that views young people as robots who can leave all their physical, nutritional and emotional problems behind if they just get their daily drills in phonics.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Feminists For Kucinich

We are feminists who consider the Bush administration a danger to our country and the world, and see a regime change in 2004 as the highest political priority. Rather than waiting to hear what all the Democratic candidates have to say, then jumping on the bandwagon of the least offensive, we decided to make our own list of priorities and see who agrees with us. Here's our list: ....
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Candidate Kucinich Comes to Santa Fe

"It's up to us to give new meaning to the flag," he told the crowd of hundreds outside the state Capitol. "It's up to us to restore the nation's purpose, to move away from domination and conquest.

"break the spell of fear this administration has put over this nation. You can't be a democracy if people live on their knees."

Kucinich, a congressman from Ohio, said the Bush administration has exploited fear since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"It's not part of the American character to be fearful," he said.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Operation Oblivious Texan

America has built no nuclear weapons since 1990, while deactivating many. Nuclear testing stopped roughly a decade ago, as did development of tactical nukes. The tax money just appropriated for tactical nuclear weapons research is quite small in proportion to military spending. But the president's policies are a distinct reversal of prior administrations' slow, steady retreat from the nuclear brink. Bush has made clear his willingness to use nuclear weapons, even in so-called pre-emptive strikes against non-nuclear countries.

Fundamentalism and dumbing-down in the West are signs of self-indulgence and a lack of hard choices.

Greg Palast Weblog

The Dossiers | Ashcroft Emma's ongoing project.

History has clearly shown that the ultimate weapon of mass destruction for any society is ignorance.

The war on the web (about the 404 error page)

They Impeach Murderers, Don't They? Ted Rall

How to Rig an Election in the United States C.D. Sludge
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Among Democrats, The Energy Seems To Be on the Left

Democrats do not need to silence the left to win; they need to energize it.
And the progressives themselves certainly do not feel as though they are weighing in from the margin. "We are the base"

Ten years after Bill Clinton proclaimed a centrist "New Democrat" revolution, the left is once again a driving force in the party.

They do not call themselves "liberals" anymore; the preferred term today is "progressives." But in other ways, they are much the same slice of the electorate that dominated the Democratic Party from 1972 to the late 1980s: antiwar, pro-environment, suspicious of corporations and supportive of federal social services.

..."There is a coming together of forces to try to resurrect the Democratic Party in the progressive realm," said political strategist Eric Hauser, who helped to organize the recent Take Back America conference of left-leaning activists. "What the Democratic Party stands for hasn't really been looked at for a while. The issues that people care about seem pretty clearly to be solid progressive issues."
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Wednesday, July 09, 2003

Bullying: Bush legacy

The free rein to bully, cause suffering, and hit people when they're down is one hell of a legacy for a compassionate conservative administration that campaigned on the promise of states rights when it suited their purposes. Now the Feds are further squandering tax dollars to appeal a case that was wrongfully prosecuted to begin with. Feds target Rosenthal
"The U.S. Attorney got its marching orders from Washington, as a matter of course," he said. "(Attorney General John) Ashcroft is very idealistic on the subject of marijuana and medical marijuana and wants the U.S. Attorney to emphasize the fact that they don't like it."

80% of Americans agree with having marijuana available. Who do the Feds think they're representing? Frankly, I'm sick of Ashcroft's ideals and bullying! I'm sick of watching tax money squandered because Ashcroft feels like a big man when he causes suffering, and I'm sick of marching orders in general.
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Tuesday, July 08, 2003



note to self: Must Read Beyond Bush Part I
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


CYA? I don't see how

White House is acknowledging that President Bush was incorrect

Bush, Aides' Claims about Iraq Uranium Were Wrong

Forged documents made pre-war assertion 'not accurate'

"Knowing all that we knew then know now, the reference to Iraq's attempt to acquire uranium from Africa should not have been included in the State of the Union speech,
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Ruminate This

I'm slacking today, but Lisa isn't. Go welcome her back to the land of the keyboard while I visit the land of chores. She's been busy finding goodies the past two days.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Judge seeks help from pot advocates

Hunting for a legal 'hook' for injunction

"Fogel said he was moved by accounts of how 15 patients had swiftly and painfully died since the raid deprived them of their pain-relieving pot, but he warned that federal law and court precedents don't allow exceptions for marijuana use even for medical necessity."

"There's no question that those deaths were more agonizing, they were more painful than they needed to be because of an inability of WAMM to respond fully to the patients needs for medical marijuana," he said.

For anyone who is skeptical about the benefits, ask Craig. This is near and dear to me, especially as he faces a few more rounds of chemo. Help. Be creative!
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Sunday, July 06, 2003

Desert Oasis

 
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


George Bush's Little Big Horn

"Why was Bill Clinton impeached for making love, while George Bush goes unpunished for making a war over fake weapons?"

Bush pushes for next generation of nukes

Small amount of pot in home OK
"A Superior Court judge dismissed a man's marijuana conviction, ruling that the Alaska Constitution guarantees the right to possess marijuana for personal use in the home."
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Philosophy Radio

posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Shameful Speech

I'm just happy I didn't listen to it. Emma of Notes on the Atrocities, has written an analysis of it pointing out Bush's language of dominance and intimidation. Reading the words she highlighted from his speech sickened me. Understanding his ways of bullying is important. Read it in the July 4 entry. Then try to eat something.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Take this Poll

I was thinking about how to devise a poll like this just today! I kept thinking that if people had a simple way to gauge where each candidate stood according to their own views it would be helpful. I keep wondering if people really understand Dean's positions, and where Kucinich would stand if media bias were out of the picture.

Chris at All too Human found just the poll I was thinking about!

Match your political views with the candidates political views. The candidates' positions have been determined first by the candidate's actions, then their public votes, followed by their public statements, and whenever possible, special interest group rankings of the candidate have been factored in.

My results are below:
1. Kucinich, Cong. Dennis, OH - Democrat (94%)
2. Kerry, Senator John, MA - Democrat (82%)
3. Sharpton, Reverend Al - Democrat (80%)
4. Gephardt, Cong. Dick, MO - Democrat (78%)
5. Dean, Gov. Howard, VT - Democrat (77%)
6. Edwards, Senator John, NC - Democrat (73%)
7. Lieberman Senator Joe CT - Democrat (72%)
8. Moseley-Braun,FormerSenatorCarol IL - Democrat (64%)
9. Graham, Senator Bob, FL - Democrat (63%)
10. Bush, George W. - US President (14%)

Take the poll yourself and let me know your results!
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Saturday, July 05, 2003

Declaration of Energy Independence

At a time when environmental issues are barely registering as a tremor on the Richter scale of public concerns -- compared, say, to the seismic quakes of war, recession, and the general Mad Cowboy Disease reverberating throughout America's domestic and foreign policy -- green crusaders are faced with the challenge of how to make environmental concerns matter to both voters and candidates in the 2004 election.
Energy Future Coalition
Apollo Alliance
Wrap an environmental agenda in the mantle of today's more emotionally immediate issues of national security and new jobs
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Government Information Awareness

Watch the watchers. The site is a bit slow right now, but it promises a wealth of information, basing itself on TIA, but gathering information on the government, GIA.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Friday, July 04, 2003

A Buzzflash Declaration of Independence for 2003

 
An Independence Day Declaration
Of the People of
The United States of America


Sign it
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Independence Day

Perhaps it's again time for secession from our contemporary King George, citing reason as was written in the original Declaration of Independence:

"He has called together leglislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose fatiguing them into complaince with his measures."

posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


The Epistemological Basis of Anarchism

An Open Letter to Objectivists and Libertarians
by Roy A Childs Jr. November 30, 1969
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Thursday, July 03, 2003

Does Anything Matter?

Benedictine Sister of Erie, Sister Joan Chittister

... If Bill Clinton's definition of "is" matters, surely this matters. If a president's sex life matters, surely a president's use of global force against some of the weakest people in the world matters. If a president's word in a court of law about a private indiscretion matters, surely a president's word to the community of nations and the security of millions of people matters.

And if not, why not? If not, surely there is something as wrong with us as citizens, as thinkers, as there must be with some facet of the government. If wars that the public says are wrong yesterday -- as a majority of U.S. citizens did of a unilateral attack on Iraq -- suddenly become "right" the minute the first bombs drop, what kind of national morality is that? [more]

It just somehow fit with this poem I wrote the other day...

thundering waves of fire
drenching the cinnamon breeze
the tunnel of safety
shattered
raw diamonds and rose petals
scattered
one careful voice shouting
it mattered
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Headstart on Discrimination

Last week, the House Education and the Workforce Committee passed "The School Readiness Act of 2003," H.R. 2210.

The current bill, H.R. 2210, would "permit religious discrimination" in staffing of Head Start.

Although the Head Start program is not religious in nature, some faith-based organizations provide Head Start services at church-owned facilities.

Workers "could lose their jobs if they fail their employer's religious tests," says the American Civil Liberties Union. And parents, many of whom started as volunteers and became teachers, could "be blocked from climbing the ladder out of poverty."
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Bloggers in America are aiming to spark a political revolution that will be delivered by the web

America - and its media - is beginning to see how weblogs, and the ease with which they make it possible to reach an online audience, might change things.
... "You can start debate, and engage people you wouldn't normally have engaged," he says, "and that's what I'm beginning to find fascinating.


No debating this, but worth passing around: A running total of the amount of money spent by the US Government to finance the war in Iraq. Cost of War

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed."
President Dwight D. Eisenhower
April 16, 1953
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


I did not know this...

"It is a known fact that Wolfowitz, Fleischer, Perle, Lantos and some others have dual citizenships between Israel and America."
UPDATE I want to reiterate, I did not know this, I still do not know this. If anyone can verify, I would appreciate knowing.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Wednesday, July 02, 2003

New RubberSoul Newsletter

posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Character, Judgement and Unity

 
The Right Christians (not to be comfused with the Christians of the Right Wing) is an amazing wealth of information and well-thought dialogue, ranging from the George Lakoff book, mentioned below, to the Alabama tax structure, to insightful discussions of framing morality from a progressive viewpoint.

Norm at onegoodmove continues to discuss George Lakoff's book. Moral Politics How Liberals and Conservatives Think. He found this assessment of character from which I'll quote a snippet:

"Every argument turns into one of character. Bad public schools? Let people go to private school! If they can't afford to that's they're own fault, they're poor because they have bad character, those with bad character don't deserve a hand-out. Lower taxation of capital? Only someone with good character is able to build capital, they shouldn't be punished for having good character. Estate tax? Only someone with good character was able to build all that wealth, they shouldn't be punished.

The desire to dismantle social programs? Social programs only benefit those with poor character, why should people with good character pay to give hand-outs to those with bad character?"


The Right Christians discuss the absolute certainty of the Christian Right and the means of which they can completely deny they've been lied to by someone they deem to be 'of good character':

"For the Christian Right, the Bible is the one source of God's revelation to humanity. It is perfect as God is perfect and any conflicting truth claim must be false. No one is acceptable to God unless they accept this Bible and the Christ it reveals. No one who is unacceptable to God can be a source of wisdom or truth.

Such a worldview necessitates that the Christian Right enters into political discourse not to participate but to dictate. They can never admit that they are wrong. It would be blasphemy.
They cannot even take seriously arguments from those who do not accept their particular brand of Christianity. It would be syncretism. At best they can follow a two-track course: evangelize so that more accept their premises at the same time as they camouflage their case in shades of modernity to appear as good-faith participants in public debates. And that is precisely what they do as they refuse to get down with the rest of us and risk dearly-held assumptions and modify long-cherished principles. As self-anointed spokesmen for God, their goal is to dictate not participate. "

Values of compassion and fairness are pitted against values of self-reliance and self discipline. What happens when the rewards of self-discipline are gutted in favor of wealthy corporations? When power and greed by government becomes so mighty that rights and compassion for all people are forgotten? Do people unify for the better of the all, or further descend into a selfish abyss?

In yesterdays post at the RightChristians, Allen was discussing Truman. There are some parallels between Truman and Kucinich's vision that I outlined in the comments here.

I have to ask, whose responsibility is it to dictate and judge? Whose responsibility is it to demonstrate compassion? Are we united in the quest for power and empire or for the quest of well-being for all?
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Tuesday, July 01, 2003

Canada Day

Two words... wood s lot!
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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