• LOVE can’t be deniedNew York Times — 6 May 2008 — by Douglas Martin — “When any society says that I cannot marry a certain person, that society has cut off a segment of my freedom,” Martin Luther King Jr. said in 1958. — MILDRED LOVING, THE BLACK WOMAN WHOSE ANGER OVER BEING BANISHED FROM VIRGINIA FOR MARRYING A WHITE MAN LED TO A LANDMARK SUPREME COURT RULING OVERTURNING state “miscegenation” laws, died of pneumonia on May 2nd at her home in Central Point, Va. She was 68.

The Supreme Court ruling, in 1967, struck down the last group of segregation laws to remain on the books — those requiring separation of the races in marriage. The ruling was unanimous, its opinion written by Chief Justice Earl Warren, who in 1954 wrote the court’s opinion in Brown v. Board of Education, declaring segregated public schools unconstitutional.

In Loving v. Virginia, Warren wrote that miscegenation laws violated the Constitution’s equal protection clause. “We have consistently denied the constitutionality of measures which restrict the rights of citizens on account of race,” he said.

By their own widely reported accounts, Mrs. Loving and her husband, Richard, were in bed in their modest house in Central Point in the early morning of July 11, 1958, five weeks after their wedding, when the county sheriff and two deputies, acting on an anonymous tip, burst into their bedroom and shined flashlights in their eyes. A threatening voice demanded, “Who is this woman you’re sleeping with?”

Mrs. Loving answered, “I’m his wife.”

Mr. Loving pointed to the couple’s marriage certificate hung on the bedroom wall. The sheriff responded, “That’s no good here.” — Click Mildred and Richard Loving to read the rest! —

•STOP the •thieves of •democracy •IMPEACH!Reclaim Democracy NOW •IMPEACH!======
UPDATE
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7 May 2008 — AS BEV HARRIS OF BLACK BOX VOTING PROPERLY PREDICTED, THE KEY TO THE QUESTIONS surrounding the Indiana primary is to be found in Lake County, the northwesternmost county, right up there in the top left corner of the state next to Illinois and big old Chicago. For those of us who are distrustful of the corporate media, when we go to the web site for the State of Indiana elections page, and you see the hyperlink for the 2008 Primary Elections Results, all you get is an invalid url. Tsk tsk, Indiana, why it makes me mad enough to complain to Indiana Sec. of State Todd Rokita!

It’s not possible today to calculate precisely how many voters in Lake County were not able to vote in the primary Tuesday. Here’s what we do know: As of 11 this morning New Jersey time, with 99% of the vote “counted,” the results show Clinton with 51% statewide, or 641,734 votes — and Obama with 49% or 623,294 votes, a difference of just 18,440 votes out of 1,265,028 counted ballots.

Here’s where it gets diabolical: In Lake County Obama won with 56% of the vote and a margin of victory of 16,923 votes over Clinton, who got 44% of the counted ballots. Meanwhile, as detailed below, more than 137,000 voters were “purged” or “cancelled” from the voter registration rolls in Lake County. Add to that 43,000 voters who could be disenfranchised by their new Photo ID/voter suppression law. See also Brad Friedman's Report. Excellent stuff.

Given the demographics of the county, and the totals of votes counted last night, it’s absolutely reasonable to propose that Obama should have won the county by a large enough vote, say upwards of 65% to 70% of the vote total, that he would then have received a total vote count in Indiana that would have given him a victory in Indiana.

The thing is, we don’t know for sure, and we can’t know for sure. Why? Because in Indiana, voting is done employing electronic voting machines produced by Voting Technologies International — VTI — a bankrupt company, by Microvote — presently embroiled in lawsuits, by the infamous ES&S — the “highly insecure” machinery of the notorious 18,000 votes “lost” in Sarasota, Florida fame, which gave an election to a republican — of course, and by the equally infamous Diebold — which was documented in the great HBO documentary Hacking Democracy to be “easily hackable.” For more on this see Indiana Voting Systems.

Bottom line: YOU ARE RIGHT to doubt the integrity of our voting process.
When you have a president and a government administration that deliberately and consciously lies us to war, engages in torture and illegal surveillance, dumps habeas corpus and our constitution, everything is thrown into question. Bush and his gang played us all for chumps on Iraq and so many other things. With respect to democracy, we’re being played for chumps right now. This is why we must have Voters’ Bill of Rights. And it’s why Bush-Cheney must be impeached. Any administration that permits systematic vote rigging and election theft must be removed from office, prosecuted and put where they can do no more harm to our country and our world. Voters’ rights and impeachment go hand-in-hand.

Black Box Voting — 4 May 2008 — by Bev Harris — 1.1-million voters purged from Indiana voter rolls, with more than 250,000 voter registrations cancelled in just two northern counties. — IN APRIL 2008 WHEN INDIANA SECRETARY OF STATE TODD ROKITA ANNOUNCED THE RELEASE OF “RECORD HIGH” VOTER REGISTRATION ROLLS, WITH 4.3 MILLION VOTERS SET TO VOTE IN THE TUESDAY PRIMARY MAY 6th, HE DIDN'T MENTION THAT A WHOPPING 1,134,427 VOTERS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED!

Now, the voter rolls are supposed to be tidied up prior to each election. Indiana’s last general election was in Nov. 2006, and they have had a slew of special and general elections since then. So how have 1.1 million voters -- 26 percent of the current statewide list -- escaped the regularly scheduled voter registration cleanup squads? Who are these million voters and where do they come from?

[Click the Indiana voting district map above.] One quarter-million of them come from just two northwestern Indiana counties: Lake and Porter. Lake County reports purging 137,164 voters and neighboring Porter County cancelled out 124,958 voters. — Click the pic to read the rest! —

• RIGHT NOW Republicans for Impeachment — 6 May 2008 — by Susan Paine Serpa — WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS — We will lead a delegation of Republicans for Impeachment to Washington to deliver our Petition for impeachment to the Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee. — THE TIME HAS COME TO RESCUE THE PARTY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, TEDDY ROOSEVELT AND DWIGHT DAVID EISENHOWER FROM THE EXTREMISTS WHO CALL THEMSELVES REPUBLICANS BY NAME ONLY, WHEN IN FACT they have only been using and abusing the Party for their own nefarious ends. Many traditional Republicans are feeling betrayed and now realize that Bush & company do not stand for traditional Republican values such as fiscal responsibility, small government, national security, family values, rugged individualism, and non-intervention in international affairs. It has become abundantly clear that Bush and Cheney have not only failed to achieve any of these goals but have in fact worked against those ends to achieve the exact opposite.

If you are a Republican or a former Republican who would like to come back, or you know a Republican who sees how this Administration is ruining this country, our Constitution, the environment and our standing in the international community, go to RepublicansForImpeachment.com and sign the guest book.

We will lead a delegation of Republicans for Impeachment to Washington to deliver our Petition for impeachment to the Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee.

Remember: Impeachment will happen when (1) the people want it; and (2) it is non-partisan. The Republicans supporting impeachment is the key to restoring our nation. It is quite clear now that no other party can rescue the Constitution. — Click the real Republican, Abraham Lincoln —

Prevent a war Impeach NOW Press TV — 1 May 2008 — by PTV — Ray McGovern, a prominent former CIA analyst, says US President George W. Bush is planning to wage a military attack on Iran this year. — McGOVERN, WHO HAS BEEN A CIA OFFICER UNDER SEVEN PRESIDENTS — PRESENTING THE MORNING INTELLIGENCE BRIEFINGS AT THE WHITE HOUSE FOR MANY OF THEM — BELIEVES BUSH AND HIS ADMINISTRATION HAVE NO INTENTION OF LEAVING IRAQ AND ARE PREPARING TO ATTACK IRAN IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.

“I believe George Bush and Dick Cheney plan to take care of Iran before they leave office,” the former CIA official said in an interview with Charleston Gazette, which was published Wednesday.

McGovern also pointed to the US-led war in Iraq and said that the war had several motives, including giving a “rebuke” to Saddam Hussein, supporting Israel, controlling oil reserves and expanding permanent US military bases in the Middle East.

He also praised Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, the former commander of the US Central Command. Fallon was forced out shortly after Esquire magazine published a profile of his career that highlighted his strong opposition to any war with Iran and his desire to reduce troop levels in Iraq.

“Fallon was our last hope,” McGovern said. — Click the pics! — Copyright © 1 May 2008 Press TV

Zogby International Polling — 5 May 2008 — UTICA, NEW YORK — Undecideds in both states remain high, as likely voters wait for last minute to commit to Clinton or Obama. — The Democratic Party presidential contests in Indiana and North Carolina remained remarkably stable on Sunday, with Illinois’ Barack Obama holding an 8-point lead in North Carolina and a statistically insignificant two-point lead in Indiana, the latest Zogby daily tracking telephone poll shows.

The survey of likely Democratic Party primary voters shows that in North Carolina, Obama leads with 48% support, compared to 40% for Clinton and 13% either undecided or preferring someone else. In Indiana, Obama is nursing a tiny lead of two points, winning 44% support, compared to 42% for Clinton and 15% unsure or wanting someone else.

Both candidates stumped for votes in Indiana Sunday, as the state’s voters prepare to cast ballots in Tuesday’s elections. Actually, early voting has been underway in both states for awhile (longer in North Carolina than in Indiana), and this latest Zogby polling shows one-quarter of North Carolina voters—26%—have already voted, and 13% in Indiana have already cast ballots.

While Obama holds a small edge in Indiana, Clinton appears to hold at least a small advantage among those who are yet undecided. Among those undecided Indiana voters who said they were leaning toward one candidate or the other, Clinton held an edge. It also remains unclear what impact, if any, the new Indiana requirement that voters show identification before casting ballots will have on the contest.

More evidence of turmoil in Indiana: among those Hoosier voters who said they have changed their support in the last two weeks, one-third of them—33% - said the recent statements of Barack Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, made them less likely to support him.

In North Carolina, Obama enjoys solid leads in the cities of Greensboro, Charlotte, and the “research triangle” area of Raleigh-Durham, which contain large numbers of younger voters. He has done well across the country among voters in urban settings, while Clinton has done well among older and rural Democratic voters. Obama leads among the key demographic of voters age 35-54 by a 58% to 31% margin – which is dramatically different than how that age of voter acted in Pennsylvania two weeks ago. There, Clinton won among those voters. It is also important to note that Obama has made real inroads among voters age 55-69, where Clinton wins 44% and Obama wins 43% - a statistical tie. — Click the pic to read the rest! —

Bush Lies, Thousands Die: On March 19th, 2003, BUSH INVADED IRAQ. As of 6 May 2008, according to the reliable Iraq Coalition Casualties web site: 4,072 U.S. military people DEAD, includes 22 from New Hampshire and 70 from New Jersey with 443 casualties — We mourn the death of Private RONALD HARRISON, 25, of Morris Plains, killed 22 April 2008 near Baghdad “of a non-combat related injury. The incident is under investigation.” He will be buried May 1st. — See Highest troop levels EVER. And let's face it. With 160,000 U.S. military troops plus an additional 180,000 private troops in Iraq from Blackwater and other corporations, the real death toll of Americans is many more than reported. Private corporations don't have to report the deaths of their employees.

*132,199 WOUNDED and medical evacuated as of March 1st, 2008. Includes 145 who died from self-inflicted wounds as of March 1st. Check for yourself at Iraq War U.S. Death/Wounded Count. Now we confirm more tragic news: 18 Vets kill themselves every day. There are now over one million Iraqis dead due to our war. As of now, the U.S. War On Iraq Costs over $517,350,000,000, give or take a billion. OUR WAR COST IS OVER ONE-HALF TRILLION DOLLARS, on the way to a total cost of OVER THREE TRILLION DOLLARS! See also National Priorities.

Read 126 War Vets Commit Suicide Every Week. Read Suicide rate among soldiers in '06 was a record — Baltimore Sun — Now the latest tragic truth begins to come out: Veterans for Common Sense — CBS News — 13 November 2007 — by Laura Strickler, Sarah Fitzpatrick, Armen Keteyian and Katie Couric — Between 1995 and 2007, there were almost 2,200 suicides. That’s 188 last year alone. But these numbers included only “active duty” soldiers. One age group stood out. Veterans aged 20 through 24, those who have served during the war on terror. They had the highest suicide rate among all veterans, estimated between two and four times higher than civilians the same age. The suicide rate for non-veterans is 8.3 per 100,000, while the rate for veterans was found to be between 22.9 and 31.9 per 100,000. — Veterans for Common Sense was featured on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. On November 13, Armen Keteyian, the top CBS investigative reporter, reveals an enormous epidemic of suicides among our returning Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. CBS News has three excellent videos: The CBS Evening News Broadcast, An Interview with Common Sense Vet Paul Sullivan, and Interviews with Veterans' Families. The Veteran Suicide Epidemic NEW YORK — CBS News — THEY ARE THE CASUALTIES OF WAR YOU DON'T OFTEN HEAR ABOUT — SOLDIERS WHO DIE OF SELF-INFLICTED WOUNDS. Little is known about the true scope of suicides among those who have served in the military. A five-month CBS News investigation discovered data that shows a startling rate of suicide, what some call a hidden epidemic, Chief Investigative Reporter Armen Keteyian reports exclusively. “I just felt like this silent scream inside of me,” said Jessica Harrell, the sister of a soldier who took his own life. — Click the beach to see the people and read the rest!

• ALL OF ‘EM!•BUSTED•Washington Post — 2 May 2008 — by Dan Froomkin — We know that in January 2005, Rove stopped by the White House counsel’s office to float the idea of firing all 93 U.S. attorneys. — FORMER WHITE HOUSE POLITICAL GURU KARL ROVE MAY BE THE REIGNING CHAMPION WHEN IT COMES TO THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION’S PRACTICE OF GIVING THE SUPERFICIAL IMPRESSION OF ANSWERING A QUESTION, WHEN IN FACT DODGING, WEAVING AND SPINNING TO THE POINT OF MISDIRECTION.

When he’s in situations where he knows his statements won't be challenged — lectures, op-eds, appearances on Fox News — the alleged master of political dirty tricks is happy to deny various accusations that have been made against him. On the subject of the possibly politically-motivated prosecution of a former Democratic official, for instance, he’s been all over the media, vaguely denying involvement.

There is, however, one thing that Rove avoids at all cost: being forced to answer a direct question — especially under oath. So it’s not surprising that he refuses to do so before the Congressional committee investigating what actually happened to that Democratic official.

But things could be coming to a head.

Ben Evans writes for the Associated Press: “The House Judiciary Committee threatened Thursday to subpoena former White House adviser Karl Rove if he does not agree by May 12 to testify about former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman’s corruption case.

“In a letter to Rove’s attorney, committee Democrats called it ‘completely unacceptable’ that the Republican political strategist has rejected the panel’s request for sworn testimony even as he discusses the matter publicly through the media.

“‘We can see no justification for his refusal to speak on the record to the committee,’ the letter states. ‘We urge you and your client to reconsider . . . or we will have no choice but to consider the use of compulsory process.’

“Committee Democrats are investigating whether Rove and Republican appointees at the Justice Department influenced Siegelman’s prosecution to kill his chances for re-election. It is part of a broader inquiry into whether U.S. attorneys were fired for not aggressively pursuing cases against Democrats.”

This, of course, is only the latest development in a long standoff between Bush and Congress over testimony from current and former White House staffers. See my Mar. 11th column, Playing Constitutional Chicken, and Tuesday’s column, Cheney’s Total Impunity.

Here’s the announcement May 1st from House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers. — Click the criminal to read the rest! —

I’m so MAD New York Times — 4 May 2008 — by Frank Rich — McCain told George Stephanopoulos two Sundays ago that while he condemns any “anti-anything” remarks by Mr. Hagee, he is still “glad to have his endorsement.” A sonorous white preacher spouting venom just doesn’t have the telegenic zing of a theatrical black man. — BORED BY THOSE ENDLESS REPLAYS SOF THE REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT? IF SO, GO DIRECTLY TO YOUTUBE, SEARCH FOR “JOHN HAGEE ROMAN CHURCH HITLER,” and be recharged by a fresh jolt of clerical jive.

What you’ll find is a white televangelist, the Rev. John Hagee, lecturing in front of an enormous diorama. Wielding a pointer, he pokes at the image of a woman with Pamela Anderson-sized breasts, her hand raising a golden chalice. The woman is “the Great Whore,” Mr. Hagee explains, and she is drinking “the blood of the Jewish people.” That’s because the Great Whore represents “the Roman Church,” which, in his view, has thirsted for Jewish blood throughout history, from the Crusades to the Holocaust.

Mr. Hagee is not a fringe kook but the pastor of a Texas megachurch. On Feb. 27, he stood with John McCain and endorsed him over the religious conservatives’ favorite, Mike Huckabee, who was then still in the race.

Are we really to believe that neither Mr. McCain nor his camp knew anything then about Mr. Hagee’s views? This particular YouTube video — far from the only one — was posted on Jan. 1, nearly two months before the Hagee-McCain press conference. Mr. Hagee appears on multiple religious networks, including twice daily on the largest, Trinity Broadcasting, which reaches 75 million homes. Any 12-year-old with a laptop could have vetted this preacher in 30 seconds, tops.

Since then, Mr. McCain has been shocked to learn that his clerical ally has made many other outrageous statements. Mr. Hagee, it’s true, did not blame the American government for concocting AIDS. But he did say that God created Hurricane Katrina to punish New Orleans for its sins, particularly a scheduled “homosexual parade there on the Monday that Katrina came.”

Mr. Hagee didn’t make that claim in obscure circumstances, either. He broadcast it on one of America’s most widely heard radio programs, “Fresh Air” on NPR, back in September 2006. He reaffirmed it in a radio interview less than two weeks ago. Only after a reporter asked Mr. McCain about this Katrina homily on April 24 did the candidate brand it as “nonsense” and the preacher retract it. — Click the preacher and the prez to read the rest! —

Message from Rep. Betty Hall:

Tabling in NH does NOT kill a bill. The bill can be revived in this session.
I believe if an actual vote on the bill had been held, we would have had many more votes. But we got something VERY valuable: a roll call of 95 legislators who had the power of conviction to vote for the petition in spite of the leadership.
We will go forward. I have asked for a ruling on the Baldasaro amendment — if that doesn't dispose of it, there are other ways to remove it or neutralize it.

We had a wonderful rally. I have over 3000 e-mails of support. We have a roll call of brave legislators. And an army of volunteers and organizations gave my petition wonderful work and support.

I want to thank all of you and tell you to have courage. This fight is not over!

Concord Monitor — 17 April 2008 — by Lauren Dorgan — Barbara Hilton says she plans to go to Portsmouth City Hall this week and change her registration from Democrat to independent. “I'm very upset that it was tabled and that the person who spoke for it being tabled was the Democratic majority leader here. We have worked for a year for this.” — NEW HAMPSHIRE LEGISLATORS YESTERDAY DEBATED WHETHER THEY SHOULD PETITION CONGRESS TO IMPEACH PRESIDENT BUSH AND VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY before sidelining the bill at the request of leaders of both parties.

The 227-95 vote to table the measure essentially kills it; resurrecting debate would take a two-thirds majority vote.

[Editor’s note: 29 April 2008 — Betty Hall reports this information is wrong, and that only a simple majority of 202 votes is necessary for the 400 member body of representatives to resurrect the debate.]

The petition’s sponsor, Rep. Betty Hall, said she’s always found impeachment “a scary idea.” Back in 1973, Hall said, when the House debated calling for President Richard Nixon to resign and Republicans pushed for a “standing vote” on the matter, “only 22 stood up. I was not one of them. I have regretted that lack of courage ever since.” Although only nine months remain in Bush’s term, Hall argued that impeachment proceedings are needed to lay plain the state of the government before a new president takes over. She said misrepresentations made before the Iraq war and the domestic warrantless wiretapping program are cause for impeachment.

“We are at this point because we have seen a constant string of lies and misrepresentation from our government. These lies have fooled our candidates, fooled our congressional leaders and fooled us. The results have been disastrous,” said Hall, an 87-year-old Brookline Democrat. “And it’s become clear that Congress . . . is not going to get the truth we so desperately need. The truth about the war. The truth about domestic surveillance. The truth about torture.”

Dozens of people, many wearing pro-impeachment orange, filled the House gallery and noisily applauded for the impeachment speakers. Many of them attended a rally keynoted by DANIEL ELLSBERG, an icon of Nixon impeachment proceedings, Monday night in Concord. The usual press gallery was joined by cameras from two community access stations. — Click the pic to read the rest! —

People’s Weekly World — 2 May 2008 — by Dan Margolis — “In fact, the New York City Police Department routinely treats Black lives as dispensable regardless of who is wearing the uniform.” — NEW YORK — “WHAT THEY’RE SAYING IS THAT IT’S OK FOR THE POLICE TO KILL SEAN,” said Nicole Paultre Bell, fiancée of Sean Bell, the innocent man slain when police officers shot 50 bullets at him and his friends. She was interviewed on a TV news channel here, April 28.

“He can say that, but I can’t go home and tell my daughters it’s OK their daddy’s dead because the cops did it.”

Tens of thousands of people here and beyond reacted with outrage after Judge Arthur Cooperman cleared three police officers of all charges on April 25. They were on trial for the November 25, 2006, killing of Bell. Civil rights leaders, activists and elected officials have vowed to take the fight for justice to other fronts. They are demanding a federal investigation and vowing civil trials.

“We do not accept that this is the end of this case,” reads a joint statement by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and several other members of congress, white and African American. “We have joined with the families and their attorneys in filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice requesting an investigation of violations of the civil rights” of the victims.

The day of the ruling, immigrant rights, community and activist groups rallied outside the Queens, N.Y., courthouse. The next day, hundreds of people packed the office of the National Action Network and then marched through the streets of Harlem. The day after that, another march of hundreds more was also held in Harlem.

Many have committed to join the Rev. Al Sharpton in civil disobedience if community demands are not met.

100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, an organization of Black police officers, has called for a statewide special investigator to look into the hundreds of cases of police brutality that have been recorded over the years. — Click NICOLE BELL to read the rest! —

Or to go to the video click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VRRtTA41hg
As of May 5th over 234,901 more signed to push impeachment! Also see Get Congress to Sign Wexler’s Letter!
To learn more and get involved see http://wexlerwantshearings.com/
See the MSNBC Impeach Poll. See also http://www.Hall4Impeachment.com

Impeach for Peace — 25 February 2008 — by Mikael Rudolph— UPDATE! Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) is 5th House Judiciary Committee member to sign Wexler’s letter calling to impeach Cheney! — A spokesperson in Minnesota Representative and House Judiciary Committee member Keith Ellison’s office confirmed today that friday Representative Ellison added his name to Florida Representative Robert Wexler’s letter calling for the HJC to immediately commence impeachment hearings investigating Vice President Richard B. Cheney for possible impeachable offenses.

Ellison spearheaded an effort to initiate impeachment proceedings while he was a state legislator in Minnesota and was an early cosigner onto H. Res. 333 — now 799 authored by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and has continued to consistently support efforts to impeach the Vice President and President George W. Bush.

A list on Wexler’s campaign website: just added Ellison’s name and lists three other members of the HJC as signatories, Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) along with Rep. Wexler. Ellison’s signing means that 5 of the 22 Democrats on the committee have cosigned Wexler’s letter. — CLICK READ MORE to read the rest! —

• Do it NOW!
The Rally Against the Iraq War was rerun on C-SPAN2 this morning. On sept 15th there were about 500,000 votes to impeach Bush at impeachbush.org. Ralph Nadar asked people in the audience to put that over the 1,000,000 mark. Today the vote is at 1,003,596. Let's make it 2-million people! Put the impeachbush.org petition over the ONE MILLION PEOPLE mark! Vote! Click Vote to Impeach Bush Here. Also see the MSNBC IMPEACH POLL. More trees. Less Bush. I WILL NOT BE SILENCED. IMPEACH! IMPEACH! IMPEACH! See also http://www.Hall4Impeachment.com

To see the video at YouTube CLICK http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEuNIUb3Ges
Now there’s a woman of character and principle. NOT.

Or see it at YouTube, CLICK http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8lvc-azCXY
THEN CLICK CYNTHIA McKINNEY for PRESIDENT

New York Times — 2 May 2008 — by William Yardley — “They told me it was a picket but if I wanted to go in I could. But I’m supporting them and to end the war.” — SEATTLE — WEST COAST PORTS WERE SHUT DOWN THURSDAY AS THOUSANDS OF LONGSHOREMEN DID NOT REPORT FOR WORK, part of what their union leaders said was a one-day, one-shift protest against the war in Iraq.

Cranes and forklifts stood still from Seattle to San Diego, and ships were stalled at sea as workers held rallies up and down the coast to blame the war for distracting public attention and money from domestic needs like health care and education.

“We’re loyal to America, and we won’t stand by while our country, our troops and our economy are being destroyed by a war that’s bankrupting us to the tune of $3 trillion,” the president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Bob McEllrath, said in a written statement. “It’s time to stand up, and we’re doing our part today.”

About 25,000 union members are employed at 29 West Coast ports, but the protest took place only during the day shift. A spokesman for the main West Coast employers’ group, the Pacific Maritime Association, said it appeared that about 6,000 workers did not show up for work, which meant that about 10,000 containers would not be loaded or unloaded from about 30 cargo ships.

The spokesman, Steve Getzug, cast the action as a strike and therefore a violation of the union’s labor contract, which is up for renewal this summer.

“What the union says and what the union does are two different things,” Mr. Getzug said. “This is genuine defiance.” — Click the Union Label to read the rest! —

••• NOW •••The enemy is GREEDCenter for Research on Globilization-Canada — 26 April 2008 — by Chalmers Johnson — It was believed that the U.S. could afford both a massive military establishment and a high standard of living, and that it needed both to maintain full employment. But it did not work out that way. We have a chance of squeaking by. If we don’t correct the damage, we face probable national insolvency and a long depression. — THE MILITARY ADVENTURERS IN THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION HAVE MUCH IN COMMON WITH THE CORPORATE LEADERS OF THE DEFUNCT ENERGY COMPANY ENRON. Both groups thought that they were the “smartest guys in the room” — the title of Alex Gibney’s prize-winning film on what went wrong at Enron. The neoconservatives in the White House and the Pentagon outsmarted themselves. They failed even to address the problem of how to finance their schemes of imperialist wars and global domination.

As a result, going into 2008, the United States finds itself in the anomalous position of being unable to pay for its own elevated living standards or its wasteful, overly large military establishment. Its government no longer even attempts to reduce the ruinous expenses of maintaining huge standing armies, replacing the equipment that seven years of wars have destroyed or worn out, or preparing for a war in outer space against unknown adversaries. Instead, the Bush administration puts off these costs for future generations to pay or repudiate. This fiscal irresponsibility has been disguised through many manipulative financial schemes (causing poorer countries to lend us unprecedented sums of money), but the time of reckoning is fast approaching.

There are three broad aspects to the U.S. debt crisis. First, in the current fiscal year — 2008 — we are spending insane amounts of money on “defense” projects that bear no relation to the national security of the U.S. We are also keeping the income tax burdens on the richest segment of the population at strikingly low levels.

Second, we continue to believe that we can compensate for the accelerating erosion of our base and our loss of jobs to foreign countries through massive military expenditures — “military Keynesianism” (which I discuss in detail in my book Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic). By that, I mean the mistaken belief that public policies focused on frequent wars, huge expenditures on weapons and munitions, and large standing armies can indefinitely sustain a wealthy capitalist economy. The opposite is actually true.

Third, in our devotion to militarism (despite our limited resources), we are failing to invest in our social infrastructure and other requirements for the long-term health of the U.S. These are what economists call opportunity costs, things not done because we spent our money on something else. Our public education system has deteriorated alarmingly. We have failed to provide health care to all our citizens and neglected our responsibilities as the world's number one polluter. Most important, we have lost our competitiveness as a manufacturer for civilian needs, an infinitely more efficient use of scarce resources than arms manufacturing. — Click the pics to read the rest! —

Bring them down in a national strike!

Related links:
CLICK
http://pledgetoimpeach.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIj5dXtf0Fc
http://theimpeachmenthearingroom.blogspot.com/2008/04/impeach-bush-cheneybring-them-down-in.html

Impeach, Bush, Cheney | There Is Nothing As Powerful As An Idea Whose Time Has Come. | The Idea Stands Before Us And The Time Is Now!

Dear Pledges,

When you signed your pledge to participate in a strike to force Congress to impeach George Bush and Dick Cheney, we promised you that your pledge would only be called in if we knew we had enough people on board to effectively shut down the nation, leaving Congress no alternative but to impeach Bush/Cheney. Though we have made substantial progress toward that end, we have not yet gained that certainty. What we do have is a growing solidarity between PTI, other impeachment groups, and now several labor unions, all working to close down our nation’s largest sea ports on April 30 and May 1. (Los Angeles, Long Beach, Newark, and Houston).

Though this is not a calling if of your pledge to stay home from work and shopping, it is a request that you find every way to support this action.

Why? — Click the pic to read the rest! —

One of the best political ads ever produced!
To see the video play on YouTube CLICK http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXxXkpe5Paw

TO HELP SHIRLEY BEAT PELOSI CLICK Shirley08!

New York Times — 30 April 2008 — by Craig Smith — He succeeded in synthesizing the active compounds in the Psilocybe mexicana mushroom, which he named psilocybin and psilocin. “It shone with the most beautiful radiance, speaking to the heart, as though it wanted to encompass me in its majesty. I was filled with an indescribable sensation of joy, oneness and blissful security.” — PARIS — Albert Hofmann, the mystical Swiss chemist who gave the world LSD, the most powerful psychotropic substance known, died Tuesday at his hilltop home near Basel, Switzerland. He was 102. The cause was a heart attack, said Rick Doblin, founder and president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a California-based group that in 2005 republished Dr. Hofmann’s 1979 book “LSD: My Problem Child.”

Dr. Hofmann first synthesized the compound lysergic acid diethylamide in 1938 but did not discover its psychopharmacological effects until five years later, when he accidentally ingested the substance that became known to the 1960s counterculture as acid.

He then took LSD hundreds of times, but regarded it as a powerful and potentially dangerous psychotropic drug that demanded respect. More important to him than the pleasures of the psychedelic experience was the drug’s value as a revelatory aid for contemplating and understanding what he saw as humanity’s oneness with nature. That perception, of union, which came to Dr. Hofmann as almost a religious epiphany while still a child, directed much of his personal and professional life.

Dr. Hofmann was born in Baden, a spa town in northern Switzerland, on Jan. 11, 1906, the eldest of four children. His father, who had no higher education, was a toolmaker in a local factory, and the family lived in a rented apartment. But Dr. Hofmann spent much of his childhood outdoors.

He would wander the hills above the town and play around the ruins of a Hapsburg castle, the Stein. “It was a real paradise up there,” he said in an interview in 2006. “We had no money, but I had a wonderful childhood.” It was during one of his ambles that he had his epiphany. — Click the pics to read the rest!

Impeach NOWBergen Record — 30 April 2008 — by Margaret Wood — Bush has declared himself king, and we are all nothing but his subjects, to be manipulated, tortured and sent away to secret detention camps if we object. — THE MAGNA CARTA WAS CREATED IN 1215 IN ENGLAND. IT CREATED THE RULE OF LAW AND JUSTICE. It was the first time that a king had to obey laws. It established the rule that a king could not imprison a commoner without just cause, nor could a king hold a commoner without a fair trial.

This was the first step toward creating a government for the people. Without it, we regress back to the days before civilized governments. We regress back to the days when every person is a subject.

George Bush destroyed the law when his administration created the Military Commissions Act and the so-called “Patriot Act,” which is anything but patriotic. He anointed himself as having the right to hold people and torture them, without charges and without trials. In many cases, these are just innocent bystanders who happened to be in a neighborhood where there was some kind of trouble.

This has been going on at Abu Ghraib for four years now. It doesn’t stop there. The Homeland Security Act gives Bush the right to do the same thing to Americans in America. There are detention camps being built in America right now.

Bush has declared himself king, and we are all nothing but his subjects, to be manipulated, tortured and sent away to secret detention camps if we object. — Click the pics! —