Thursday, October 30, 2008

Statement in Response to Anti-Whitburn Mailer

When Progressive San Diego’s board of directors considers whether to endorse a candidate, the candidate’s ability to wage a clean campaign and spread a positive message while civilly debating his or her opponent is the subject of much discussion. Because PSD believes that candidates must have a positive agenda and be willing to stand up for progressive principles rather than simply opposing an opponent’s nonprogressive positions, we also believe that campaign strategies must focus on spreading that positive message and be limited to responding to attacks on a candidate’s character and integrity. Attack ads, no matter how effective they may be, have absolutely no place–none whatsoever–in a progressive candidate’s campaign. There is nothing progressive about cutting down one candidate so that another will stand out. Progressives have a strong message to spread, but personal attacks and other mud-slinging seriously undermine that message and fuel speculation about the credibility of those who benefit from such tactics.

In the strongest possible terms, Progressive San Diego condemns the recent “hit piece” against City Council District 3 candidate Stephen Whitburn. We do so not because Stephen, along with Todd Gloria, has earned our endorsement. Our condemnation stems from our deep commitment to promoting clean, honest, positive debate among all candidates for public office and keeping gutter politics out of elections. People certainly have the right to express their views about political candidates. But PSD also has the right to call out anyone who tries to stain the respectable campaigns that its endorsees try to run.

This morning PSD spoke to both candidates about the attack on Stephen. Todd unequivocally denied having anything to do with the attack, and PSD takes him at his word. Both candidates rejected attack ads as illegitimate campaign tactics.

What makes the attack especially disturbing is the false light that it casts upon Stephen’s campaign contributors. While PSD is not familiar with every contributor listed in the ad, the overwhelming majority of them are people with impeccable progressive credentials, people who have dedicated themselves to putting public interest over self-interest and are anything but back-room dealers. For the attack’s sponsor to suggest otherwise not only tempts candidates to respond by stepping out onto the slippery slope of gutter politics, but it leaves an unfair and unacceptable trail of collateral damage. It should be obvious to every good progressive candidate that allowing committed members of the progressive community to be sacrificed for political gain is intolerable.

For these reasons, PSD calls on Todd to immediately and publicly denounce the recent attack ad against Stephen and other members of the progressive community; and further calls upon both Stephen and Todd, along with their surrogates and supporters, to refrain from similar attacks. In the final days of this election, each campaign should focus on affirmatively demonstrating that its candidate is the best man to represent the residents of District 3.

Approved by the Board of Directors, October 30, 2008

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

[SDCPJ] Solidarity with June Reyno!

Please help us spread the word, come to the press conference tomorrow, and stand in solidarity with June Reyno.

We Stand with the Reynos!

San Diego Ad Hoc Campaign against Foreclosures and Evictions

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ATTN.: News Editors Contact: Kathy Hughart

Wednesday, October 29, 2008 (619) 922-7535

June Reyno

(858) 361-2399

PRESS CONFERENCE: Community and organizational support is growing quickly for June Reyno, Filipino American homeowner, in her effort to maintain possession of her home of 19 years. San Diego and Los Angeles political, community and labor leaders will speak out on her behalf.

WHO: Rosie Martinez, executive board member of SEIU Local 721; John Parker, West Coast coordinator of the International Action Center; Paul Valen, Anakbayan San Diego; Gloria Saucedo, director of Hermandad Mexicana Nacional; Kathy Hughart, Crown Point Shores Condominium Assoc.; Martha Rojas, co-coordinator of Labor-Community Coalition to Stop Foreclosures and Evictions; and a representative from BAYAN-USA.

WHERE: 10169 Presley Street, in the Mira Mesa area of San Diego

WHEN: Thursday, October 30, 2008, at 12 noon.

Homeowner chained to her home demands justice!

"People are becoming homeless by the minute in our own communities and across the nation," writes June Reyno in her previous statement to the press.

"Banks made risky investments in mortgage-backed securities, putting the hard-earned money of their depositors on the line. Americans, under the $700 billion bailout … received a billing statement from the banks to pay the debt of unscrupulous lending institutions. …

"This fleecing and deception of Americans by our governmental system must stop today."

Reyno goes on to point out that the continuing mortgage-based manipulations of the major financial institutions are hidden from the public. She has evidence that in her own case, her right to repurchase her home is being denied because the corporate title holder intends to make a bigger profit from a different buyer.

Her courageous stand against an unjust eviction and for a national moratorium on foreclosures and evictions has prompted statements of support from San Diegans and others across the nation. Spokespeople from a variety of backgrounds will speak on her behalf at this press conference.

-30-

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Not So Strange Bedfellows: Blackwater and Yes on 8

Lucas O'Conner blogs at Calitics. Very sharp kid. Here's where your tax dollars go -- to the Gov't, then to inflated Blackwater contracts, then to the Prince family,

from there to all sorts of causes.

http://calitics.com/userDiary.do;jsessionid=2E6DFFB0C976C9B9BBAE0B8A6C861B17?personId=456

Not So Strange Bedfellows: Blackwater and Yes on 8

by: Lucas O'Connor

Tue Oct 28, 2008 at 11:10:54 AM PDT

Andrew Sullivan notes today that one of the biggest financial supporters of the Yes on 8 campaign is Elsa Prince Broekhuizen, who has pumped $450,000 into the campaign. Broekhuizen is the mother of Blackwater founder and owner Erik Prince and Bush Pioneer Betsy DeVos. She's also quite the patron of the religious right.

At first blush, the two groups don't have a whole lot in common besides neighboring real estate in the political spectrum. But as Blackwater continues its unwanted presence in San Diego (spawning aspirants to the throne in Hemet), Michigan resident Broekhuizen is just a big fish in the flood of out-of-state money trying to buy their way into a change to California's constitution.

This particularly hits San Diego as the repeated recipient of unwanted outside attention. San Diego was targeted by the national GOP as a test case for turning urban areas Republican which led to the destruction of an entire progressive generation in San Diego. We've been battling against Blackwater's presence and a disinterested city government for two years. And in concert with the, erm, disconcerting video on the right, The Call will be welcoming to to 100,000 peopleto Qualcomm Stadium on Saturday for "[c]orporate prayer and fasting for the protection of traditional marriage and the soul of our nation." I'll be there so you don't have to be.

Look, Dave is right: This is about harming same-sex couples. But the other long-term implications are starting to show themselves. The Republican Party musters its national resources to turn San Diego red and succeeds for a full generation.

Blackwater decides to take your tax dollars- laundered through the Bush Administration, the Iraq War and the privatization of the military- and force its way into California while expanding and diversifying its portfolio to include a private navy and security contracts for Latin American governments.

And now the same national big money forces of the religious right- whether it's the Mormon Church or Erik Prince's mother, this has the potential to turn into a disturbing trend. That the extreme right wing of this country can nationalize an issue and force its will on California. If this keeps working, I don't want to contemplate what'll come next.

There's one week to go. You can contribute to the No on 8 campaign through Equality For All at the Calitics ActBlue page and help push Equality For All past $1 million raised on ActBlue. And you can get involved through the No on Prop 8 website. For example, I know during Saturday's "The Call" event, there are plans for doing real calling in San Diego and throughout the state.

full disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign

--
Mike Copass
Progressive Democrats of America -- Metro San Diego Chapter
http://www.pda-metro-sandiego.org

http://www.nomorestolenelections.org/urgentaction/video_the_vote

[SDCPJ] PLEASE FORWARD: Confused by Prop. 7? Debate TUES, OCT 28 7 PM - Who do progressive environmentalists believe?

Confused by Prop. 7? Who do progressive environmentalists believe?

A CRITICAL DIALOGUE on the SOLAR AND CLEAN ENERGY ACT, PROPOSITION 7

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, at 7:00 PM.

YES ON 7 -- S. DAVID FREEMAN - RENEWABLE ENERGY EXPERT

vs.

NO ON 7 -- KIRK UHLER, SPOKESPERSON FOR NO ON 7

See more details below flier or go to http://www.activistsandiego.org/wwwboard/viewtopic.php?t=18561

A Debate/Discussion at UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO.

Sponsored by:

THE ASSOCIATED STUDENTS OF UCSD and

ONE EARTH ONE JUSTICE – UCSD campus environmental org.

Join us for this important forum on California’s role in combating global warming and gaining energy independence.

PRICE CENTER EAST, 4th FLOOR FORUM

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, at 7:00 PM.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Benefits of Yoga

Watch video on benefits of yoga

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ31q0SN8tc

Hate in America: Is There Something Wrong With Being Muslim In America

The "Obsession" film:

Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in America?

Said Colin Powell in a recent major interview, "The correct answer is, he [Obama] is not a Muslim. He's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is: 'What if he is?' Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no. That's not America."

Of course Colin Powell is only partly right. Fear and even hatred of Islam is a part of the actual America at this moment of our history. It is also true that in part of America there is a real effort of Muslims, Jews, and Christians to learn from each other, make peace with each other -- and beyond each other, make peace between humankind and the rest of the web of life upon our planet.

In the warp and woof of all our communities, whether defined, by "religion" or by "nation," there are some streaks of blood woven in the fabric. And -- there are some streaks of respect and compassion and celebration of the One Who encompasses all "others." Indeed, celebration of the One Whose infinitude can be reflected only through the diversity of our unique traditions. Whose Infinity can be honored only by honoring our differences.

Two parts of America. And, as usual, a third and larger part -- uncertain, silent, more willing to honor sameness than difference, yet open to seeing "sameness" in Muslims and Jews and Christians and Buddhists.

Powell was appealing within and beyond the actual America to that patriotic vision of America that sings, "O beautiful for patriots' dream that sees beyond the years/ Thine alabaster cities gleam --- undimmed by human tears." Now why did it take Colin Powell to say this? Why were not a slew of Senators, Presidential candidates, university presidents, heads of churches and synagogues, saying it?

Both a sweet and a sour way of answering that question occur to me.

Sour: Was it because he's a retired general who actually led a war against a Muslim nation, and a former Secretary of State who justified a war against a Muslim nation? -- so nobody could accuse him of being a "raghead-lover"? Because he's not running for elected office in a country where many voters think Muslims are traitors?

Sweet: Is he actually in the process of doing tshuvah   ("turning," repentance)? Has he come to the conclusion that his complicity in the second of those wars was a profound ethical as well as practical mistake, and is he doing at least some repair of the bloodshed that flowed from that mistake -- some effort to prevent the blood that could yet flow from more fear and hatred of Islam?

There are related "Why's" we need to ask. Why didn't either Senator McCain or Senator Obama carry their campaigns into a mosque, after speaking at many synagogues and churches?

Why did Obama's campaign feel they needed to apologize for sending a speaker to a meeting where one of the sponsors was CAIR -- the Council on American-Islamic Relations? Evidently because CAIR is listed by the Ashford-Gonzales-Mukasy Department of Justice as an "unindicted co-conspirator" in a case where a Muslim charity is accused of channeling money to an organization which is accused of assisting some terrorists.

Let us examine this "unindicted co-conspirator" business. The most clever -- and most disgusting -- thing about the label is that the Department of Justice can affix the label totally on its own. By definition, they have not even presented evidence to a grand jury that would justify indicting the organization on "probable cause," let alone taking the case to a jury that could convict or acquit. Indeed, since CAIR is not a defendant, it cannot even be acquitted --- although that did in fact happen to most of the people and groups whose actual indictment they got hooked onto. In that case, the government had years to amass the evidence they claimed showed support for terrorism. But a jury in Texas --- hardly a hotbed of pro-Muslim sentiment -- acquitted the defendants on almost all the charges, and was divided on a small number of them.

Indeed, an examination of CAIR'S website and a review of speakers at its national and local functions show that it condemns terrorism and participates with vigor in the normal processes of American democracy.

But the partially hung jury gave the government the opening to bring the case for retrial, and to keep alive the unsubstantiated smear against CAIR.

This is "Middle East McCarthyism." A candidate as brave and as principled as Colin Powell is evidently trying to be, in his present reincarnation, would have denounced it. But a candidate who is himself thought by 13% of Americans to be a secret Muslim, and therefore to be a traitor, evidently felt he could not be that brave and principled.

The atmosphere of fear and hatred toward Islam has actually increased in the US during the last few years. Why? Partly because it has been deliberately stimulated. But partly because of what psychologists call "cognitive dissonance." Most people who do something that runs against ordinary rules of decent behavior want to believe there is some extremely important reason to do it.   So if you spend almost a trillion dollars and send thousands of Americans to their deaths and thousands more to lose their legs, arms, eyes, genitals, minds, and souls -- all in order to kill Muslims who are not terrorists, do not have weapons of mass destruction, and are citizens of a weak and defenseless nation -- it becomes imperative to see Muslims and Islam - without distinctions -- as extremely dangerous. Not quite human. Not real Americans. Not one more thread in the lovely multi-colored fabric of American democracy.

And of course the fear and rage had a root in the actions of a small number of terrorists who did claim Islam as their justification, even though the mainstream organizations and leaders of Islam and the vast majority of Muslims in the world condemned the terrorist attack.

But this disorganized fear and rage would have remained disorganized, inchoate, ineffective, if some organizations had not whipped it up.

Enter a DVD called "Obsession," which a month ago was mailed as a free embedded ad to the readers of more than a dozen major newspapers. At the time I briefly remarked upon its distortions and promised you a more through assessment. Then big chunks of the American and world economy fell apart, and my attention turned to what our ancient traditions teach about a flourishing abundance --- and its choke-off.

Yet these two phenomena are not totally disconnected. Organized hatred of Islam might have even worse results if we were to fall further into economic crisis. During the Great Depression, clever organizers tried to turn fear and anger away from the "malefactors of great wealth" and "economic royalists" (as Franklin Roosevelt called them) to focus instead on Jewish targets. That effort mushroomed in America. In Germany, it took over.

Today, in Europe and America it is much less likely that Jews would be the targets of a populace frightened and enraged by economic disaster, or the targets of organizations hoping to deflect anger from the hyper-wealthy.

Muslims might become the target of opportunity.

And just as anti-Jewish rage in the 1930s was a danger not only to Jews but also to all who affirmed a free democracy and sought to reempower the poor and the middle class, so widespread rage against Muslims today would be a danger not only to Muslims.

"Obsession" is an attempt to make not a band of terrorists but all Islam the enemy. Bad enough in itself; even worse that it was deliberately sent to millions of homes through newspapers in the major "swing states" of presidential politics. It was an attempt to transform religious fear and ignorance into religious hatred, and hatred into an election tool.

I suppose the people who did this hoped that if they could change some votes in those key states they could save America and the world from leaders who were thoughtlessly "soft on terrorism" or "blind to the threat of Islam." They may even have thought not that their ends justified their means but that their ends and means were in ethical coherence. But those who stirred racial hatred in the 19650s and '60s thought they were saving America from the disaster of cultural "mongrelization" in a soup of racial inferiority. And the McCarthyists of the 1950s thought their stirring fear and hatred of "subversives" was saving America from the disaster of Communist espionage and take-over. And those who imprisoned Japanese-Americans in the 1940s thought they were saving America from the disaster of widespread sabotage. (All of these folks probably hoped to increase their own power as byproduct; but who doesn't?)

Indeed, their means and their ends did cohere. Repression born of fear will breed more repression born of hatred. There are two grounds to challenge their practices: the ground of caring for truth, and the ground of caring for love.

Truth first:

"Obsession" begins with images of buildings, cars, and American flags burning, bombs exploding. Over them run words that say the film is not about Islam as a whole but about some violent "radical" branches of Islam. The words are visible; but no voice says them. They are hard to absorb while the eye is following fire and maimed bodies. In my experience as a watcher, the words serve not as an authentic framing for what happens in the film, but as an excuse for what in fact becomes an attack on Islam as a whole. (About halfway through the film, the commentators stop referring to "radical Islam" and start referring simply to "Islam.")

The film never shows the millions of Muslims, leaders and grass-roots, who spoke their grief and horror at the World Trade Center murders. It does not show the meetings of Muslim scholars and teachers who issued fatwas (decrees) against killing civilians, or the work of Muslim organizations that not only called for dialogue but took part in it and patiently sent teachers to explain Islam to Jews and Christians. It does not show the work of Muslim charities trying to meet the needs of desperately poor families, of sick children, in countries as far-flung as Pakistan and Palestine.

When the film does show Muslims at prayer, it delivers the message that Muslims who become murderers are the same as those who pray -- rather than counterposing the hundreds of millions who pray with the hundreds who kill.

On the other side of the same coin, the film ignores violence perpetrated in the names of religious and nationalist ideals when they are committed by Jews, Christians, Hindus, Communists, patriotic Americans. I do not mean only such acts as blowing up the Federal building in Oklahoma City or killing 29 Muslims prostrate in prayer in the Tomb of Abraham or murdering hundreds of Irish folk because they espouse one wrong flavor or another of Christianity.

I mean also this: Killing thousands of civilians is mass murder whether it is done by turning a truck or a plane with no national flag upon it into a bomb ("terrorism"), or dropping bombs from airplanes with a national flag proudly painted on them ("war"). For an American president who proclaims himself a born-again Christian and depends on the political heft of millions of born-again Christians to kill at least 300,000 Iraqis smells to me as much of religious terrorism as does the murder of 3,000 people in the World Trade Center by a band that proclaimed itself devout Muslims.

"Obsession" does not address this tug toward violence as it infects all our communities. It pretends that only Islam is infected, and all Islam at that.

And by doing this, it distracts us from addressing the real changes we need to make to wash away the bloody streaks in each and all of our traditions.

It also distracts us from addressing the real local needs and frustrations and oppressions that actually provide the heat that boils over into violence. It treats varied movements and disorganized upsurges that use violence as if they were all part of the same "international Muslim conspiracy" (I am deliberately echoing a slogan from the 19th and 20th centuries directed against Jews) -- even when some of the attackers are Christians or secularists, even when most of the attacks are rooted in nationalism rather than Islam, even when some of the attacks are against foreign occupation troops rather than civilians, even when angry bands of unemployed, disaffected and uprooted young men who happen to come from Muslim families but have little interest in Islam smash and burn local stores as have their non-Muslim peers.

Just as Cold War ideology on both sides "justified" blood baths in Ukraine, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia as necessary to defeat the "capitalist conspiracy" without regard to the local needs and issues of the real live people, and "justified" blood baths in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Chile, Vietnam, and Cambodia as necessary to defeat the "communist conspiracy" without regard to the local needs and issues of the real live people, so "Obsession"'s ideology will make it impossible to address real needs, and beckons us all toward new bloodbaths in the place of necessary change.

Is there any truth at all in "Obsession"? Yes. We do need to be concerned about terrorism from any source, and even more so when it comes garbed in God. But there is too much falsity surrounding that spark of truth for us to trust "Obsession" as a teaching.

What to do?

Speak out against the obsessive fear of Islam. Speak out to highlight the most important line in Colin Powell's interview. Speak out to political candidates, urging them to speak in all sorts of houses of worship if they speak in any. Speak out to the publishers of the newspapers that carried "Obsession" as an ad, asking them whether a DVD about the "International Jewish Conspiracy" would have found so quick acceptance, no matter how much the money offered their shrinking bank accounts. Speak out to their editors and columnists as well, asking them to critically analyze the film.   Since the producers of "Obsession" have announced a follow-up film called "Relentless," be proactive in addressing the future as well as the past.

Above all, do not leave the defense of Islam's dignity and honor to Muslims alone. Christians and Jews must make clear that their own celebration of the One affirms the diversity that alone can express the Infinite.

Ideally, speak out both in our different voices separately and in our different voices as a chorus: through interfaith committees where the medium becomes the message -- where calls for honoring all our traditions in the public sphere are modeled by honoring each other's wisdoms in our direct contact with each other. (For a multireligious effort to address "Obsession" see the work of Hate Hurts America at www.obsessionwithhate.com )

And listen -- to the real sorrows and angers of different communities in the world, Arab and Muslim and Hispanic and African and Mountain White in the American West and Appalachia. Listen with the ears of our hearts before responding, and then respond. Through action.

The speaking out and the listening, even beyond our concern with truth, must flow from our concern for love. For the love that all our traditions teach: love your neighbor as yourself. For the deep and loving understanding that the Quran teaches: God brought into the world different cultures and communities not for us to hate and despise each other but to lovingly know and deeply experience each other in our diversity.

With blessings of shalom, salaam, peace ---
Arthur

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Thursday, October 23, 2008

[SDCPJ] LAST REMINDER: Exceptional labor activist to speak on FRI, Oct. 24 12:30 & 7pm: Discussing his new book 'SOLIDARITY DIVIDED'

Hope to see you there!

_______________________________________________________________

Join Bill Fletcher to discuss his new book

SOLIDARITY DIVIDED

The crisis in organized labor and a new path toward social justice

University of San Diego
Friday, Oct. 24^th, 12:30 - 2 PM, UC Forum A
or

Joyce Beers Center (in Uptown Shopping Center Hillcrest)
Friday, Oct. 24^th, 7 PM

"A landmark in all debates about 'what next' for
labor.”Mike Davis, author of Prisoners of the
American Dream

"Both in its sweeping analysis and priceless
reportage, Solidarity Divided is a deeply illuminating
book and a solid argument for why our unions
need to reclaim their historic heritage as a militant,
grassroots movement."

”Barbara Ehrenreich,
author of Nickel and Dimed

Bill Fletcher, Jr. is Director of Field
Services and Education for the American
Federation of Government Employees,
Executive Editor of BlackCommentator.com,
and Co-Founder of the Center for Labor
Renewal. He was formerly the Education
Director and later Assistant to the President
of the AFL-CIO.

Fernando Gapasin, nephew of the legendary

Filipino labor organizer, Philip Vera Cruz, former Vice President

of the United Farm Workers, is President of the Central Oregon Labor Council and General.
He currently teaches at the University of Oregon. He was the principal researcher of the AFL-CIOs Union Cities program and former faculty at the National Labor College (Labor Studies), Penn State (Industrial Relations), and UCLA (Chicana/o Studies).

Fliers

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

[SDCPJ] outreach to students next week

Check out the latest student action at the school board last week!

http://www.projectyano.org/educationnotarms/Oct142008.html

Let's help build this movement & Pass out flyers to area youth next week

We will pass out flyers at a minimum of 2 schools.

1) Can you leaflet in East county? Possibly Helix high or Grossmont high?

2) Can you leaflet at either Morse high or Crawford high? Both of these schools are located in the South East area of San Diego.

Let me know if you are available next week. Which days and at which schools.

If you have another school you want to do let me know and we'll see if we can get a team together.

If you haven't already contacted me with your availability please reply to this e-mail as soon as possible.

And thanks for the ultimate peace work - keeping young people from going off to do the business of war.

Stephanie

Election Info and Videos

ROLLING STONE: It's Already Stolen

(We will fight back!!!) StealBackYourVote.org

http://www.gregpalast.com/rolling-stone-its-already-stolen/#more-2118

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

"Obama is educated and eloquent, sober and exciting, steady and mature. He represents the nation as it is, and as it aspires to be". Chicago Tribune
======================================

He found the Stiglitz inteview on Colbert Nation!

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/188445/october-14-2008/joseph-stiglitz

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

Much of the damage has already been done - but we will vote and fight back! We need to steal back our vote! StealBackYourVote.org

Election Protection http://www.866ourvote.org/ 1-866-OURVOTE

New York Times endorses Election Protection

http://www.866ourvote.org/newsroom/news?id=0005

To report irregularities Call the Election Protection Hotline:

1-866-OUR VOTE

www.866ourvote.org

also

www.NoMoreStolenElections.org

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

.ActivistSanDiego.org
Networking for Social Justice
-------------------------------------------------------------
Insanity is contageous, you get it by reading the newspapers.
Mark Twain
-------------------------------------------------------------

www.truthout.org

www.costofwar.com

Monday, October 20, 2008

Joseph Stiglitz Video

We just learned that Joseph Stiglitz video has been pulled

So much for free speech!!! Even a Nobel Laureate is muzzled!

link to his article http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/04/stiglitz200804

The Iraq War and the Crash, Joseph Stiglitz

Joseph Stiglitz won the Nobel Prize and was president of the World Bank.

Author of "The 3 Trillion $ War "
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/442.html (video)

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

The Latest Reuters News:

Study says most corporations pay no U.S. income taxes http://www.reuters.com/articlePrint?articleId=USN1249465620080812

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

Pacifica RADIO = Free Speech non commercial PROGRESSIVE radio now in San Diego !!!!!!

90.7 FM Democracy Now - one hour weekdays 6am repeats 9am -

with Amy Goodman - Most Outstanding US radio journalist

World Music 10am - noon - 6PM NEWS HOUR

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

www.ActivistSanDiego.org
Networking for Social Justice
---------------------------------------------
I never intend to adjust myself to the madness of militarism.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Zeitgeist II

http://break-the-chains.com/Zeitgeist_II_Addendum_10-04-08.mp4

Naomi Wolf

ARE YOU READY TO LIVE IN A CLOSED SOCIETY?

by John P. Falchi

___________________________________________

Dear Friends-

Most of us have been aware of the steady accretion of power to the President and the Executive Branch that has taken place throughout the Bush Administration, following the lead of Dick Cheney and the concept of "the unitary executive." The abuse of "signing statements" alone, which indicate which parts of laws passed by Congress that the executive branch would enforce, is a significant, and flagrant, abuse of power. The deceptive way in which we entered the War in Iraq was, certainly, another. The types of Internal/External Threats that the administration created and then hyped that preceded the Iraq War, the Passage of the Patriot Act, and the Passage of the $700 Billion Wall St. Bailout, are all examples of abuses of power by The Bush Administration. A long list of impeachable offenses was read into the Congressional Record, a few months ago by Rep. Dennis Kucinich D-OH)..

One of the best efforts at connecting the dots of the various steps that have been taken toward authoritarian control of all aspects of life in this country is done by Naomi Wolf, first in her book, The End of America :A Letter of Warning to A Young Patriot, indicating the direction in which our country was heading toward "A Closed, Fascist-like Society," andn nown in her new book, Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries, which indicates how far we have already gone in this direction, she gives us steps to take to rise up and put a stop to this..

Ms. Wolf's new video, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XgkeTanCGI>, turns up the volume in this "Call to Action" on the part of average Americans who are frightened by this turn of events and want to take steps to prevent us from becoming as full-fledged fascist state, where corporations and government combine to rule thecoulntry under a so-called benevolent dictator.

The possibility is certainly there that, like the two, previous Presidential elections, this, too, will be one that is stolen, where the person who the people, really, elect does not take office. As a last resort, of course, would be an actual "Coup d'etat" preventing Sen. Barack Obama from acceding to the office of President even if he wins handily, and the election results cannot be fixed Well, you say, this is America, land of the free and home of the brave, this could never happen here. Could it?

Let's look at this more closely. Noomi Wolf points out that the "Posse Comitatus Act http://www.dojgov.net/posse_comitatus_act.htmbeing , currently, has been bypassed and the President can now, legally, put American troops in the streets reporting only to him. This has, already, happened with the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Inf. Div, US Army, according to The Army Times., "Brigade Homeland Tour Starts, 10/01.08," http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_homeland_090708w/

The recent 700 Billion bailout of Wall Street puts tremendous fiscal powers in the hands of the Secretary of the Treasury and The President in the 500 page bill that was just passed.. The recent arrests of many, including journalists like Amy Goodman, at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, MN, is but a foretaste of what could happen on a larger scale, if activists, e.g., protest a stolen election. The threat of martial law and economic chaos was, already, used to pressure reluctant Congress Members to sign the recent Bailout package, according to Rep.Brad Sherman, Democrat from Sherman Oaks, CA., http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaG9d_4zij8

Without getting so upset that we become immobilized, we should take Naomi Wolf's warnings seriously enough to find out what we can do to make sure that this never fully takes place here. I believe we are up to it. What do you think?

Yours for a more positive future, John

____________________________

John P. Falchi

San Diego, CA 92107

619-222-6036

[SDCPJ] meeting Monday, Oct. 20, 7 p.m.

SDCPJ will have its next general meeting Monday, October 20, at 7 p.m.
at the First Church of the Brethren, 3850 Westgate Place, San Diego, CA
92105.

The agenda will include:

1. Evaluation of October 11 teach-in
2. Discuss major themes coming out of the teach-in as they impact our
future work
3. Anniversary of the war in March '09
4. Planning for post-election work

Thanks,

Carol

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Sdcpj mailing list
Sdcpj@lists.quantumimagery.com
http://lists.quantumimagery.com/listinfo.cgi/sdcpj-quantumimagery.com

[SDCPJ] FW: Global Marshall Plan

Dear Peace & Justice Friends,

The Church of the Brethren invites you to our Network of Spiritual Progressives presentation next Sunday, Oct. 26^th after their 10:15 a.m. service on a New Global Marshall Pan to bring peace to the world as well as eliminate domestic and global poverty, hunger, etc..

Cf. the attached flyer. Everyone is also invited for the 11:30 potluck. The presentation will begin at noon.

Peace,

Dan Meyer

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Disturbing: American Military Forces Are to Be Used Against.....US

In direct violation of the constitution, Military Forces are being deployed against the American People.

See articles below.

Walter

The 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent 35 of the last 60 months in Iraq patrolling in full battle rattle, helping restore essential services and escorting supply convoys.

Now they're training for the same mission — with a twist — at home.

Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks.

It is not the first time an active-duty unit has been tapped to help at home. In August 2005, for example, when Hurricane Katrina unleashed hell in Mississippi and Louisiana, several active-duty units were pulled from various posts and mobilized to those areas.

But this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities.

After 1st BCT finishes its dwell-time mission, expectations are that another, as yet unnamed, active-duty brigade will take over and that the mission will be a permanent one.

"Right now, the response force requirement will be an enduring mission. How the [Defense Department] chooses to source that and whether or not they continue to assign them to NorthCom, that could change in the future," said Army Col. Louis Vogler, chief of NorthCom future operations. "Now, the plan is to assign a force every year."

The command is at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo., but the soldiers with 1st BCT, who returned in April after 15 months in Iraq, will operate out of their home post at Fort Stewart, Ga., where they'll be able to go to school, spend time with their families and train for their new homeland mission as well as the counterinsurgency mission in the war zones.

Stop-loss will not be in effect, so soldiers will be able to leave the Army or move to new assignments during the mission, and the operational tempo will be variable.

Don't look for any extra time off, though. The at-home mission does not take the place of scheduled combat-zone deployments and will take place during the so-called dwell time a unit gets to reset and regenerate after a deployment.

The 1st of the 3rd is still scheduled to deploy to either Iraq or Afghanistan in early 2010, which means the soldiers will have been home a minimum of 20 months by the time they ship out.

In the meantime, they'll learn new skills, use some of the ones they acquired in the war zone and more than likely will not be shot at while doing any of it.

They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack.

Training for homeland scenarios has already begun at Fort Stewart and includes specialty tasks such as knowing how to use the "jaws of life" to extract a person from a mangled vehicle; extra medical training for a CBRNE incident; and working with U.S. Forestry Service experts on how to go in with chainsaws and cut and clear trees to clear a road or area.

The 1st BCT's soldiers also will learn how to use "the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded," 1st BCT commander Col. Roger Cloutier said, referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.

"It's a new modular package of nonlethal capabilities that they're fielding. They've been using pieces of it in Iraq, but this is the first time that these modules were consolidated and this package fielded, and because of this mission we're undertaking we were the first to get it."

The package includes equipment to stand up a hasty road block; spike strips for slowing, stopping or controlling traffic; shields and batons; and, beanbag bullets.

"I was the first guy in the brigade to get Tasered," said Cloutier, describing the experience as "your worst muscle cramp ever — times 10 throughout your whole body.

"I'm not a small guy, I weigh 230 pounds ... it put me on my knees in seconds."

The brigade will not change its name, but the force will be known for the next year as a CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force, or CCMRF (pronounced "sea-smurf").

"I can't think of a more noble mission than this," said Cloutier, who took command in July. "We've been all over the world during this time of conflict, but now our mission is to take care of citizens at home ... and depending on where an event occurred, you're going home to take care of your home town, your loved ones."

While soldiers' combat training is applicable, he said, some nuances don't apply.

"If we go in, we're going in to help American citizens on American soil, to save lives, provide critical life support, help clear debris, restore normalcy and support whatever local agencies need us to do, so it's kind of a different role," said Cloutier, who, as the division operations officer on the last rotation, learned of the homeland mission a few months ago while they were still in Iraq.

Some brigade elements will be on call around the clock, during which time they'll do their regular marksmanship, gunnery and other deployment training. That's because the unit will continue to train and reset for the next deployment, even as it serves in its CCMRF mission.

Should personnel be needed at an earthquake in California, for example, all or part of the brigade could be scrambled there, depending on the extent of the need and the specialties involved.

Other branches included
The active Army's new dwell-time mission is part of a NorthCom and DOD response package.

Active-duty soldiers will be part of a force that includes elements from other military branches and dedicated National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Support Teams.

A final mission rehearsal exercise is scheduled for mid-September at Fort Stewart and will be run by Joint Task Force Civil Support, a unit based out of Fort Monroe, Va., that will coordinate and evaluate the interservice event.

In addition to 1st BCT, other Army units will take part in the two-week training exercise, including elements of the 1st Medical Brigade out of Fort Hood, Texas, and the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade from Fort Bragg, N.C.

There also will be Air Force engineer and medical units, the Marine Corps Chemical, Biological Initial Reaction Force, a Navy weather team and members of the Defense Logistics Agency and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

One of the things Vogler said they'll be looking at is communications capabilities between the services.

"It is a concern, and we're trying to check that and one of the ways we do that is by having these sorts of exercises. Leading up to this, we are going to rehearse and set up some of the communications systems to make sure we have interoperability," he said.

"I don't know what America's overall plan is — I just know that 24 hours a day, seven days a week, there are soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines that are standing by to come and help if they're called," Cloutier said. "It makes me feel good as an American to know that my country has dedicated a force to come in and help the people at home."

Article: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/0...eland_090708w/

IMPORTANTWE FACE AN EMERGENCYTHERE MAY NOT BE AN ELECTION

We face a national emergency.

Time is running out for us to unite and resist tyranny.

We saw this illustrated in the movie "Washington You're Fired". Now, it is coming true where martial law may be declared to disrupt the elections.

"Terrorism" and the "Financial Crisis" may be the excuse to halt the elections.

Please distribute this important video widely and attend our summit on 19 October @ 6PM at Joyce Beers Community Center Hillcrest for community discussion.

Walter Davis

Naomi Wolf's Important Video on Martial Law

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XgkeTanCGI

Money As Debt Video

This is a very good video.

Walter

Money as debt

most of you may have already watched this film.

Watching it again tonight really reminded me of how criminal or money system is--no wonder we are in such deep pucky today. I feel like that frog in the hot water

please take the time to watch at least the last 15-20 minutes. I believe it has some good solutions to what we have been discussing----giving the power back to the government to create the money supply and getting rid of the private bankers who charge us interest on money they create out of thin air and take our tax dollars rather than using it for them common good.

We also watched a video of Michael Ruppert (www.copvcia.com) speaking at Portland University in Nov. 2001. "Truth and Lies of 9/11" If anyone wants a copy, just let me know.

It is over 2 hours in length, and filmed 7 years ago, but so full of good information that is relative today.

Ruppert is a former LA detective. His family were all in the CIA or government intelligence. He was recruited by the CIA, but soon discovered they were involved in the drugs being brought into LA in the 1980s. He became a whistle-blower and confronted CIA director Deutch on National TV.

He predicted seven years ago the collapse of Wall Street (most of the White House staffs have been previously with Wall St.all past presidents are CFR members) He is very knowledgeable with our recent history 9/11, Iran-Contra, and the CIA involvement in So. America----especially concerning the connection with Wall Street the CIA and Drug money being sent through the private banks--the connection with Bush, Brzezinski, the Trilateral Commission and the NWO----this guy is amazing, no wonder he had to leave the country.

Nelisse

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter"
Dr. Martin Luther King

Friday, October 17, 2008

[SDCPJ] Please FORWARD: Two labor activists to speak on FRIDAY, Oct. 24th, 7pm : with new book, SOLIDARITY DIVIDED

Join Bill Fletcher, Jr. & Fernando Gapasin to discuss their new book