Fellow President Obama Supporters and Former Ones"
AS the founder of the Obama Group named YESWECANSOLVEIT...
I have taken the liberty of forming still another group called
AmericaNOchange. I doubt this one gets approved.
Thought I'd better hurry and write this and send it to all groups that
I am still a member of before I am banned here forever. Why would
that happen? you ask. Because I just formed a new group with a little
kid yelling "Hey You" while flipping off the viewer. Hope the president
and his staff gets the message.
The esculation of the war in Aftganistan is the last straw. Three strikes
your out!
First, he keeps the same people on the payroll that got us into this
financial disaster. He let's Bush and Cheney walk scot-free. He continues
to bail out the banks, "all too big to fail" why they screw us in every way.
And tonight on national tv he will try to convience us all that the way to
end the war in Aftganistan is to exculate it. This did not work in Vietnam,
I know, because I volunteered to go there, and it will not work in Aftganistan.
To add insult to injury. The powers that be, the ones backing McCain in
my city in Northern California, are all meeting to determine what the same
good ole boys get to do with local stimulus funds...So my question is?
WHAT THE HELL HAS CHANGED IN AMERICAN PRESIDENT OBAMA?
I am so damned mad right now, I swear, if I could afford it, I'd trade in
my next presidential ballot for a passport.
Al Boek, Ex-Supporter of a One-Term President
earlallenboek@yahoo.com
530-549-4315
Redding, California
UPDATE: JUST NOTIFIED MY GROUP AmericaNOchange has been approved. Please
join up as soon as possible Line provided below.
By David Alexander and Madeline Chambers
DRESDEN, Germany (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama expressed hope on Friday of making serious progress in Middle East peacemaking this year and said Israelis and Palestinians had to "get serious" and make tough compromises.
On a visit to Germany, Obama repeated his call for Israel to halt settlement expansion in the West Bank, but he also pushed the Palestinians to improve security and pressed Arab states to match any Israeli peace steps with confidence-building gestures.
"The Palestinians have to get serious about creating the security environment that is required for Israel to feel confident. Israelis are going to have to take some difficult steps," he said.
Obama, who sees Israeli-Palestinian progress as crucial to repairing the U.S. image in the Muslim world, was speaking a day after delivering a speech in Cairo in which he offered Muslims a "new beginning" with the United States.
Germany is the third stop on a trip which started in Saudi Arabia. On Saturday, he will attend commemorations in France marking the 65th anniversary of the World War Two D-Day landings in France.
"I am confident that if we stick with it ... we can make some serious progress this year," Obama said of the peace process at a news conference in Dresden with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"The moment is now for us to act on what we all know to be the truth, which is that each side is going to have to make some difficult compromises."
After Dresden, Obama toured the site of the Buchenwald concentration camp, paying homage to the victims of the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews died.
The visit will send a signal to Jerusalem that while he did not visit Israel on his maiden trip to the Middle East, its security is still central to U.S. foreign policy.
"To this day we know there are those who insist the Holocaust never happened, a denial of a fact or truth that is baseless, ignorant and hateful. This place is the ultimate rebuke to such thoughts," Obama said, with Merkel and camp survivors Elie Wiesel and Bertrand Herz standing behind him.
UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY
Obama has made finding a solution to the protracted Israeli-Palestinian conflict a top foreign policy priority and has plunged into Middle East politics, often a quagmire for his predecessors, early in his presidency.
Former President George W. Bush was seen as taking a hands-off approach to Middle East peacemaking until late in his administration. Muslims saw Bush as biased toward Israel.
"I believe with the new U.S. administration, with President Obama, there is a unique opportunity to see to it that the negotiation process is revived," Merkel said.
Obama said he was concerned his recent comments on the need for Israel to accept a Palestinian state were getting a disproportionate amount of attention. Palestinians needed to take steps, too, he said.
"We have still not seen a firm commitment from the Palestinian Authority that they can control some of the border areas that Israel is going to be concerned about if there was going to be a two-state solution," he said.
If this was not solved, the Israelis would have "trouble moving forward," Obama said.
He called on Arab states to "make some hard choices" by opening up trade and offering diplomatic exchanges with Israel if it made "tough commitments." Until now, Arab states have said Israel must fulfill its obligations under the 2003 "road map" peace plan before they will reciprocate.
Along with the Middle East crisis, Obama and Merkel also discussed the nuclear stand-off with Iran, the global financial crisis, climate change and the fate of prisoners at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.
Obama is hugely popular in Germany, but relations between Washington and Berlin have been less than smooth since Obama took office in January. Facing an election in September, Merkel has resisted U.S. pressure to take inmates from Guantanamo and send more troops to Afghanistan.
The brevity of Obama's stay in Germany and his decision not to go to Berlin led to German media speculation of a rift, but the president dismissed this as "wild speculation."
(Additional reporting by Kerstin Gehmlich and Noah Barkin)
(Writing by Ross Colvin and Madeline Chambers; editing by Jon Hemming)
This Memorial Day please keep the family of Bobby Enloe in your thoughts & prayers. This family has been searching for answers about their loved one for too many years.
“Bobby's family is searching for information to put things to rest. In 1951 A plane went down off the coast of Alaska, in a chain of Islands. My brother was supose to be on that plane. It took almost two weeks to find the plane and it's passengers. At that time the Navy personel informed us that my brother was the Radio Man on that plane. That they had all deceased. At the same time the Alaskan Times News Paper Published a report that Two flares were seen, on two different occations, From that crash sight. Proving somebody was alive. The Navy denied that this was true. They sent the sealed casket with an honor guard, Inssisting that his body was in there. My father managed to pull strings to open this casket. Finding only a uniform layed out, and his cap: Absolutly no physical body to be seen. This has left us wondering if he had been the one too had sent the flares up, at the sight of the crash. Three months before this all had happened. He had been on leave. Visiting with the family. My father was in question of what was going on, due to his behavior. The morning he left, to return to duty. He told my mother he would not be back. Raising more concern about what was going on. At that time my father asked him about UFO'S , and what he knew. His responce was; I can't tell you, But if I could. It would curl your hair! If anyone has any information on these events or can lead me to the truth. It would change a great deal for my family. I have filed a Freedom of Information Act. And Was led to a dead end. His files no longer existed. As if he never were to exist.”
http://www.myspace.com/472680008
I am the wife of a Veteran who watched as her husband loose his VA Disability Pension & was forced to repay six months of benefits. I wrote too many unanswered letters to authorities. I found the story above heart wrenching and I have taken up their cause. They can be contacted through the website mentioned.
Thank You & God Bless You All For Fighting For Our Freedom!
What is the cost of doing nothing ?
An American economy crippled by the spiraling costs of healthcare, American businesses or individuals who are unable to compete globally because our competitors have minimized their Health Care cost or in some cases offer none.
Health Care and Health Care Insurance are not the same thing .... some Health Care Insurance policies aren't worth the paper their printed because they cover very little. We cannot rely on Health Care Insurance policies if their are no standards on what minimums they have to cover. Preventative care should be covered for all so that expensive surgeries and procedures due to neglect are minimized.
Having a public HealthCare option makes good economic sense in the long run. We need to work towards phasing in a Single Payer system because the numerous for profit Health Care systems are not cost effective in the numbers they serve. A good first start would be establishing a centralized modern Information System network which could share Health Care information with every Major Health Care facility on an as needed basis. The ultimate goal would be that a U.S. Citizen enters any Hospital or treatment facility with his Social Security or Insurance plan number and a record of important healthcare information about the patient is made available so that nurses and doctors can have some basic information to better care for the patient. Example: A patient has a known allergy to various medications. This information alone could save many American Lives, prevent malpractice lawsuits and eliminate the costly and endless reiteration of basic patient information. Safe Guarding and verification of this centralized Information would have to be a number one priority of a National Health Care Organization; new Quantum Encryption technology could be used to safeguard the security of this data.
Maybe the answer is a Quasi Public Agency (Not unlike the U.S. Postal Service) single payer organization staffed with formerly practicing medical professionals with the goal of maximizing benefits at the lowest reasonable cost ?
We cannot rely on the private sector which is motivated by profit to serve the best interest of the American people. An efficient public or Quasi-Public Agency is needed to institute real change with the ultimate goal of a Single payer system. I urge you to consider these ideas so that we can move forward in providing healthcare for every American citizen in this country.
Please post your opinions on HealthCare here:
http://pol.moveon.org/public_option/?rc=homepage
Sincerely,
Vince Cipriano
United We Can !
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/vince
"This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless
we make it a good place for all of us to live in." -Theodore Roosevelt
Fred Thompson: Obama Loosed 'Dogs of War' on CIA
He also warns that Obama and the Democrats are making America look like a "banana republic."
Sunday, April 26, 2009 4:45 PM
By: Jim Meyers
Article Font Size
Former Senator, TV star and presidential candidate Fred Thompson tells Newsmax that President Barack Obama is revealing his “naivete, ineptitude and arrogance” as he deals with matters of national security.
The Tennessee Republican, who now hosts a radio show on Westwood One along with his wife Jeri, also said the “dogs of war have been loosed” over left-wing attempts to single out Bush-era officials for prosecution relating to the treatment of detainees.
Newsmax.TV’s Ashley Martella cited the announcement that the Defense Department is going to release many pictures showing alleged abuse by U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and asked Thompson what purpose that might serve.
“None, other than to serve as propaganda tools for our worst enemies,” Thompson said.
See Video: Fred Thompson Slams Obama's National Security Debacle - Click Here Now
“This was set in motion when the president first decided to release” CIA memos on interrogation techniques used on terrorist suspects, Thompson told Newsmax.
“There was no purpose in doing that except to make him look good internationally and to the left wing here at home,” he said. “It did a lot of damage.
“In one stroke of a pen he declassified top-secret documents that people would otherwise go to jail for releasing. It gave al-Qaida and the Taliban a blueprint as to the outer limits of our interrogation techniques.
“We have to remember that [the techniques were used] in the aftermath of 9/11. Congress was briefed on these techniques. Some of them asked if they were really going far enough to get what they needed to get, and it was approved at high levels in the administration.
“They carefully crafted them as best they could to not go too far, and to provide safeguards when they were carrying out these admittedly rough techniques on these people who had this vital information.
“So now we’re really talking about a war crimes tribunal, which this country has never done. We’ve never brought to criminal court prior administrations in this country.
“Harry Truman could have been accused of war crimes, I suppose, for dropping the bombs. President Obama authorized the killing of those three [pirates] in the Indian Ocean not too long ago. Prosecuting these people under these circumstances is something you hear about in banana republics and third-world countries, not the United States of America.
“The president’s opened up a terrible Pandora’s Box and there’s going to be a price to pay before this thing is ended.”
Martella asked if the Obama administration was acquiescing to its far-left base when it released the CIA memos on interrogation techniques.
“I think in this case, in all probability, they thought that they could cater to their left wing, appease their demands, by releasing these memos and then it might not go any further,” Thompson said.
“Because surely they were able to see that this was bad for them the way it’s going to be bad for the country.
“This is going to have ramifications that are far-reaching. They thought they could put the genie back in the bottle after they opened it, and of course appeasement never works that way.
“There was a firestorm. The attorney general’s received 250 names in a petition to urge the appointment of a special prosecutor for this. The left-wing blogs went nuts. They started running television ads and so forth.
“And then after promising that there would be no prosecutions, [Obama] acquiesced and now opened the door for that. So I think it’s a case of naivete, ineptitude and unbelievable arrogance and lack of experience.
“We elected someone who didn’t have two minutes’ worth of experience with regard to matters concerning national security. Now he’s cast in this position and he’s making decisions that are going to have far-reaching ramifications not only abroad, and not only with our enemies, but in dividing our country even further here at home in ways I don’t think we’ve ever been divided before.
“We’re going to have members of Congress testifying against each other if they go down this road.”
Martella noted that Rep. Peter King of New York has said that if Democrats do go ahead and attempt to prosecute Bush administration CIA interrogation lawyers, the Republicans should “go to war” with them.
“That just gives you an example of the atmosphere on Capitol Hill today,” Thompson observed.
“People are angry. People are upset. You’ve got people on the left, you’ve got the Democrats talking about truth commissions, talking about investigations and Congressional hearings and urging prosecution. They’re fighting among each other on the Democratic side as to just how they should go and how far they should go.”
Some of these Democrats are “the same people who were briefed on these techniques back in 2002,” Thompson said, “including Nancy Pelosi, who’s not telling the truth now, who’s trying to parse words and trying to get around the fact that she knew what was going on, as others did back when this happened.
“That creates a new level of animosity like I’ve never seen before, and I served in the Senate for eight years. The dogs of war have been loosed in this country and I don’t know what is going to happen before we see the end of it. But none of it’s going to be good.”
Thompson’s radio show is heard on weekdays from noon to 2 p.m.
Nato foils Somali pirates' attack
Pirates have intensified attacks on shipping in recent weeks
An attempted attack by Somali pirates on a Norwegian tanker was foiled by Nato warships and helicopters after an overnight pursuit in the Gulf of Aden.
Nato said a Canadian warship caught the pirates before releasing them after the gang attacked the MV Front Ardenne.
The alliance said the pirates had been released because they could not be prosecuted under Canadian law.
On Saturday, Dutch commandos serving with the Nato anti-piracy operation freed 20 pirate captives from Yemen.
In that incident, too, the raiders were released.
We were faster and surprisingly more manoeuvrable than the pirate skiff Michael McWhinnie, Canadian warship spokesmanSomali piracy: Global overview
American forces joined in Sunday's pursuit of pirates who used rocket-propelled grenades in an attack on the 80,000-tonne MV Front Ardenne.
Portuguese Lt Cdr Alexandre Santos Fernandes told AP news agency the raiders only stopped after repeated warning shots were fired.
He said the gang was interrogated and disarmed before being released.
A spokesman aboard the Canadian warship, the Winnipeg, Michael McWhinnie, said they had switched off all lights to hunt the fleeing pirates through the night.
"We blocked their path. We were faster and surprisingly more manoeuvrable than the pirate skiff," Mr McWhinnie told Reuters news agency.
Pirates have intensified attacks on shipping in recent weeks in one of the world's busiest sea lanes, despite patrols by the foreign navies.
In another incident on Saturday, Somali pirates seized a Belgian ship and its 10 crew, including seven Europeans.
Nato's success this weekend is the latest in a string of recent Western military operations against the pirates.
French and US troops have both taken action against pirates in recent days.
The French rescued three people from a captured yacht in an assault which saw one man killed.
Last week US troops killed three pirates and captured another as they rescued the American captain of a tanker from captivity.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently unveiled a plan to tackle piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean off Somalia.
Henry M
This story is taken from Sacbee / Latest News / E-mail Alerts -- Breaking News
Bryan Edward Hall of Elk Grove, a U.S. Army staff sergeant, was among five American soldiers killed Friday in Iraq when a suicide bomber in a dump truck attacked a Mosul police station, military officials disclosed Sunday.
Hall, 32, had served in the military for 14 years and had been deployed in Iraq since September.
Hall and four other soldiers from Fort Carson in Colorado were in their military vehicle when the blast occurred, Army officials said.
The other soldiers were Staff Sgt. Gary L. Woods Jr., 24, of Kentucky, Sgt. Edward W. Forrest Jr., 25, of Missouri; Cpl. Jason G. Pautsch, 20, of Iowa and Pvt. Bryce E. Gautier, 22, of Cypress, California.
All were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
Hall had received three Army Commendation Medals, according to military records, as well as several Army Achievement, Good Conduct, and War on Terrorism medals.
The Friday attack caused the most American military deaths in any single incident in more than a year, the Washington Post reported.
Hi everyone,
The standoff in the Indian Ocean continues for a second day - with armed Somali pirates holding the captain of an American cargo ship on a lifeboat. A U.S. Navy Destroyer is now keeping close watch, and the FBI is sending in a hostage negotiating team to win the captain's release. Meanwhile, the cargo ship is on the move, toward Kenya, to carry out its original mission to deliver relief supplies. David Martin will have the latest.
David will be back later in the broadcast with an in depth report about the shocking increase of suicide among U.S. troops. He has an exclusive interview with a top general who admits the military needs to do more to address this problem.
Barry Petersen reports from the world's number one car market - China. Sales are booming there, and you might be surprised to learn that Ford and GM are selling lots of cars there. In fact, the Chinese market is providing a much-needed boost to Detroit.
When most people hear about spring break, they think of sandy beaches and late-night parities. But Dean Reynolds has a story about students from Howard University taking a different type of spring break, in order to inspire high school students.
See you tonight!
Katie Couric
Afghanistan 'rape' law puts women's rights front and center
Obama called the law abhorrent. Would Bush have? Obama appears to be trying to change things in Afghanistan? Was Bush, really?
If you're a feminist, you can't sanction the cultural relativism that says that "it's part of their tradition, so who are we to say that it's wrong."
Misogyny was part of many societies’ history, including most religions and regions. Women only started to gain rights in the USA 100 years ago. Until then, and for many, even now, their disenfranchisement was traditional and believed to be dictated by their god. If that change was good, and helping women worldwide is required of a nation with the global power/influence of the USA, then the academic posturing of cultural relativism is deservedly dead.
STRASBOURG, France -- President Barack Obama won a pledge from NATO allies Saturday to send as many as 5,000 more troops to help in Afghanistan, calling it a "strong down payment" to securing coming national elections and the entire country.
"I am pleased that our NATO allies pledged their strong and unanimous support for our new strategy," Obama said as he wrapped up the two-day summit, his second international meeting of the week after an economic summit in London.
It was unclear, however, exactly how much Obama won at the gathering of the 28-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Some of the troops included in the announcement already had been committed heading into the summit. And Obama would not say how many of the new troops would be new forces or merely reinforcements.
White House aides said the deal includes a pledge of 3,000 troops to help safeguard Afghanistan's Aug. 20 national elections, including 900 from the United Kingdom, 600 from Germany and 600 from Spain.
The 3,000 additional international troops would join 17,000 new U.S. troops to meet commanders' request for 20,000 more troops to secure the elections, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said.
Other allies, inside and outside the NATO alliance, also pledged between 1,400 and 2,000 troops to train Afghan Army units and police, including 300 to 400 from France, 100 from Italy and the rest from nine other countries.
They will be dispatched in "operational mentoring liaison teams" of 20 to 40 trainers each to go into the field with Afghan units.
Allies also pledged $100 million for a trust fund to finance training, including $57 million from Germany, according to Gibbs.
As the allies met, thousands of protesters battled riot police and set a hotel and a border post on fire.
Obama particularly heralded the alliance's endorsement of his overall strategy for Afghanistan and its agreement that violence and instability there will harbor terrorism and pose a threat to Europe as well as the United States.
"For years, our efforts in Afghanistan have lacked the resources needed to achieve our goals," Obama said. "And that's why the United States has recommitted itself to a clear and focused goal - to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al-Qaida in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future."
"We will deploy the forces necessary to safeguard the national elections," added NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. "When it comes to Afghanistan, this summit and this alliance have delivered."
If there were objections to sending more troops, a key reason could have been a clash of values.
Scheffer said that Europeans blanched when Afghan President Hamid Karzai proposed new laws sanctioning child marriage and marital rape.
"We are there to defend universal values and when I see, at the moment, a law threatening to come into effect which fundamentally violates women's rights and human rights, that worries me," he said.
Merkel and Sarkozy both said the alliance is pressing Afghanistan to kill the proposed laws.
"It is very important," Merkel said, "that we make the point that the rights of women are equal ... that the piece of legislation is to be withdrawn, it is unacceptable."
"Unanimously, we requested that the rights of men and women be respected," Sarkozy said. "We will not compromise on these values."
Obama said he's told the Afghan government of his objections to the law. Asked about sending U.S. troops to defend a government considering such a repugnant law, Obama stressed that the troops are there defending the United States.
"I think this law is abhorrent," Obama said. "Certainly the views of the administration have been, and will be, communicated to the Karzai government. And we think that it is very important for us to be sensitive to local culture, but we also think that there are certain basic principles that all nations should uphold, and respect for women and respect for their freedom and integrity is an important principle."
In another stress point between NATO and the Muslim world, a dispute simmered over whether a cartoon offensive to Muslims might derail the appointment of the group's next leader.
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen had been the popular choice to become the alliance's next secretary general.
But Turkey objected, saying Fogh Rasmussen would be offensive to the Muslim world because he defended the Danish publication of cartoons lampooning the Prophet Muhammad in 2006.
Muslims in some countries reacted in violent protests, but Fogh Rasmussen insisted that freedom of speech protected the publication.
Turkey eventually agreed to the appointment, reportedly in return for more say in NATO.
Obama flew later Saturday to the Czech Republic for a third summit, this one with the European Union. He planned Sunday to deliver a speech on non-proliferation.
Today, President Obama announced his comprehensive strategy for dealing with the deteriorating situation in the Afghanistan/Pakistan region. For those of us who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, it was extremely important that the new President get this situation right. With today’s announcement, he’s shown that he “gets it.”CLICK HERE TO SUPPORT PRESIDENT OBAMA ON AFGHANISTANhttp://ga3.org/campaign/afghanistanThe President sees Afghanistan as a war that must be fought on a number of levels. Yes, militarily, but also with heavy diplomacy and political negotiation, as well as humanitarian assistance. Each of those were lacking during the last administration, and the result was a situation that devolved largely into chaos. Most importantly, this President has given up the pipe dream of setting up a European-style democracy in Afghanistan, and instead has refocused our goals on a more urgent mission – protecting America and the world from terrorism.President Obama has got it right. He knows that the war against terrorists requires much more than just throwing troops at the problem. We need to stand up to show our support for his renewed focus on getting Afghanistan right.CLICK HERE TO SIGN OUR PETITION, SUPPORTING PRESIDENT OBAMA ON AFGHANISTANhttp://ga3.org/campaign/afghanistanThis is just one quick and easy thing you can do, to show your public support for the President. The more people who sign, the more attention this petition will get. And, the more attention it gets, the more lawmakers in Washington know that the people are behind the President.So please, take a moment to sign on to our petition, and get five of your friends and family to do the same. Together, we can show that we support a strong but rational policy towards Afghanistan, that will keep America truly safe.Thanks for all you do, and your support,Brian McGoughAfghanistan War VeteranAnd the entire VoteVets.org team.
Dear darlene,
I'm on the road in Washington, DC, but I wanted to send you a quick update on two big breaking news stories.
First, just a few minutes ago, the Pentagon officially announced they will be phasing out involuntary enlistment extensions, otherwise known as "stop-loss."
The Pentagon also agreed to pay $500 per month to servicemembers forced to stay beyond their original enlistment term, which is a policy that IAVA has been supporting for a long time.
Stop-loss has had an enormous impact on the lives of many of our nation's troops, veterans, and military families. As I mentioned last week, tonight's episode of MTV's The Real World, which features IAVA prominently, focuses on cast-member Ryan, an Iraq veteran who was stop-lossed. The information about that episode, which airs tonight at 10pm on MTV, is in the forwarded email below.
Second, on what has proven to be a huge day for veterans, there has been another major development in Washington, DC. President Obama listened to IAVA and the other major veterans organizations, and made a critical decision to not move forward with a proposal to bill a veteran's private insurance for the cost of caring for a service-connected injury.
Today, President Obama showed that he understands and respects our nation's veterans.
Later this week, I'll have much more to report about this whirlwind week in Washington, DC, which included meetings with the President, Speaker Pelosi and VA Secretary Shinseki.
In the meantime, be sure to tune in tonight at 10pm on MTV, and keep an eye on your inbox for more breaking news from the nation's capitol.
Thank you for standing with us.
PaulPaul RieckhoffIraq VeteranExecutive Director & FounderIraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA)--sent from my mobile device
TOWN HALL MEETING WITH PRESIDENT OBAMA
Wednesday, March 18th
Doors Open at 1:30 PM OC Fair and Event Center
88 Fair Drive
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
TICKET DISTRIBUTION INFORMATION
The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are required and will be available at the following ticket distribution location beginning at 10:00 AM Tuesday, March 17. Tickets will be limited and will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis:
OC Fair and Event Center
(Enter at Gate 1 or Gate 10; Park in Lot A.)
Costa Mesa, CA
Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan resolution declaring 2009 the “Year of the Military Family”: http://militarytimes.com/news/2009/03/military_militaryfamily_year_031109w/
With more and more people aware of military family concerns, if you are a military family member or know one, be sure you and/or all the military families you know are a part of the conversation about military family needs by taking 10 minutes to complete Blue Star Families’ Top Military Family Issues Survey 2.0 by clicking on the link on the new website www.BlueStarFam.org. While you’re there, take a look around to see the new direction of the group and join "Blue Star Families" in order to receive notice of the survey results.
It ain't over until we've won the hearts and minds of a greater number of the haters such as those passing around emails like the following:
Family members of people killed on September 11, 2001, and in other terror attacks say they are outraged by President Obama's draft order calling for the suspension of war crimes trials of prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay. "To me it's beyond comprehension that they would take the side of the terrorists," said Peter Gadiel, whose son, James, was killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11. "Many of these people have been released and been right back killing, right back at their terrorist work again." Obama's request on the first full day of his presidency came as a draft order was being prepared ordering the closing of the Guantanamo prison within a year. A judge responded by halting the case against a Canadian detainee accused of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan, issuing a 120-day continuance in the case. Click here for photos. "I see no reason why we should delay these proceedings. Let justice be served," said Jefferson Crowther, whose 24-year-old son, Welles, was killed in the Twin Towers after he saved the lives of several others. Critics blasted Obama's decision, which they said would delay justice in cases that have already been waiting for the better part of a decade. "There is no need to suspend [the military tribunals]. There is no reason why [Obama] can't conduct a concurrent review at the same time that the military commission process is moving forward to render justice for the terrorists that have murdered thousands of people," said former Cmdr. Kirk Lippold, who lost 17 sailors during a suicide bombing attack on the USS Cole in 2000. A suspect in the case is being held at Guantanamo. "It demeans their deaths because we seem to be more concerned with the rights of detainees than we are with the justice that is being denied to my sailors that were killed," Lippold told FOXNews.com. Obama's request may mark the end of the system used by the Bush administration to try terror suspects. War crimes charges against 21 men are pending at Guantanamo, though the detainees may have to be moved to America or extradited, depending on the administration's plans for them. The Obama administration is calling for a systematic review of each detainee's case to determine who can be released and who cannot. "It is in the interests of the United States to review whether and how such individuals can and should be prosecuted," says the draft order released on Wednesday. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said he would take the detainees in his own district, which lies just a few miles from the field near Shanksville, Pa., where United Flight 93 crashed after it was hijacked by terrorists on Sept.11, killing all 44 people aboard. "Sure, I'd take them. They're no more dangerous in my district than in Guantanamo," Murtha said, calling the Guantanamo prison a "sore in the United States' moral standards." "There's no reason not to put them in prisons in the United States and handle them the way they would handle any other prisoners." But some 9/11 families said they were concerned that if the trials were moved to criminal courts in the U.S., the proceedings would put civilians at risk. "The safest place to have these trials is Guantanamo Bay. If they were to move to the homeland it would endanger all of us," said Lorraine Arias Believeau of New Jersey, whose brother, Adam, was killed on 9/11. But human rights groups welcomed the president's draft order, calling it an important first step for his administration. "It is a major positive step in the right direction," said Jamil Dakwar, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union who observed pretrial hearings at Guantanamo this week. If transferred to U.S. courts, some of the detainees might be freed because of the aggressive interrogation techniques used against them. Mohammed al-Qahtani, the alleged "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11 plot, was interrogated so severely at Guantanamo Bay that Bush administration officials said he was tortured and did not refer his case for prosecution. Some of the accused terrorists, meanwhile, were impatient to have their trials proceed. "We should continue so we don't go backward, we go forward," Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks told the judge in their case. He is among five detainees accused in the attacks who have asked to be given the death penalty, believing they will become martyrs if they are executed. Lippold, who helped determine detainee policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a strategic planner, said he feels he has a large investment "in making sure that these guys do not return to the fight, that they do not kill again." He said moving the cases to civilian courts was primarily a political act and could make it difficult to proceed with cases without compromising vital intelligence sources and methods. "The whole issue of detainees has become so politically charged that people forget that Americans lives are at stake," he told FOXNews.com. Crowther, a volunteer fireman for decades, said he does not care where the trials take place, but he wants to see more action from his government. "I'm constantly doing my part -- I want my government to do its part for me.I want those people who participated in my son's death and the death of some 3,000 others, I want to see them punished, if found guilty, in a court of law," he said. If the cases don't go to trial, Crowther said, "many, many families are going to be very upset." The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Family members of people killed on September 11, 2001, and in other terror attacks say they are outraged by President Obama's draft order calling for the suspension of war crimes trials of prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay.
"To me it's beyond comprehension that they would take the side of the terrorists," said Peter Gadiel, whose son, James, was killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11. "Many of these people have been released and been right back killing, right back at their terrorist work again."
Obama's request on the first full day of his presidency came as a draft order was being prepared ordering the closing of the Guantanamo prison within a year. A judge responded by halting the case against a Canadian detainee accused of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan, issuing a 120-day continuance in the case.
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"I see no reason why we should delay these proceedings. Let justice be served," said Jefferson Crowther, whose 24-year-old son, Welles, was killed in the Twin Towers after he saved the lives of several others.
Critics blasted Obama's decision, which they said would delay justice in cases that have already been waiting for the better part of a decade.
"There is no need to suspend [the military tribunals]. There is no reason why [Obama] can't conduct a concurrent review at the same time that the military commission process is moving forward to render justice for the terrorists that have murdered thousands of people," said former Cmdr. Kirk Lippold, who lost 17 sailors during a suicide bombing attack on the USS Cole in 2000. A suspect in the case is being held at Guantanamo.
"It demeans their deaths because we seem to be more concerned with the rights of detainees than we are with the justice that is being denied to my sailors that were killed," Lippold told FOXNews.com.
Obama's request may mark the end of the system used by the Bush administration to try terror suspects. War crimes charges against 21 men are pending at Guantanamo, though the detainees may have to be moved to America or extradited, depending on the administration's plans for them.
The Obama administration is calling for a systematic review of each detainee's case to determine who can be released and who cannot. "It is in the interests of the United States to review whether and how such individuals can and should be prosecuted," says the draft order released on Wednesday.
Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said he would take the detainees in his own district, which lies just a few miles from the field near Shanksville, Pa., where United Flight 93 crashed after it was hijacked by terrorists on Sept.
11, killing all 44 people aboard.
"Sure, I'd take them. They're no more dangerous in my district than in Guantanamo," Murtha said, calling the Guantanamo prison a "sore in the United States' moral standards."
"There's no reason not to put them in prisons in the United States and handle them the way they would handle any other prisoners."
But some 9/11 families said they were concerned that if the trials were moved to criminal courts in the U.S., the proceedings would put civilians at risk.
"The safest place to have these trials is Guantanamo Bay. If they were to move to the homeland it would endanger all of us," said Lorraine Arias Believeau of New Jersey, whose brother, Adam, was killed on 9/11.
But human rights groups welcomed the president's draft order, calling it an important first step for his administration.
"It is a major positive step in the right direction," said Jamil Dakwar, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union who observed pretrial hearings at Guantanamo this week.
If transferred to U.S. courts, some of the detainees might be freed because of the aggressive interrogation techniques used against them. Mohammed al-Qahtani, the alleged "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11 plot, was interrogated so severely at Guantanamo Bay that Bush administration officials said he was tortured and did not refer his case for prosecution.
Some of the accused terrorists, meanwhile, were impatient to have their trials proceed.
"We should continue so we don't go backward, we go forward," Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks told the judge in their case. He is among five detainees accused in the attacks who have asked to be given the death penalty, believing they will become martyrs if they are executed.
Lippold, who helped determine detainee policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff as a strategic planner, said he feels he has a large investment "in making sure that these guys do not return to the fight, that they do not kill again."
He said moving the cases to civilian courts was primarily a political act and could make it difficult to proceed with cases without compromising vital intelligence sources and methods.
"The whole issue of detainees has become so politically charged that people forget that Americans lives are at stake," he told FOXNews.com.
Crowther, a volunteer fireman for decades, said he does not care where the trials take place, but he wants to see more action from his government.
"I'm constantly doing my part -- I want my government to do its part for me.
I want those people who participated in my son's death and the death of some 3,000 others, I want to see them punished, if found guilty, in a court of law," he said.
If the cases don't go to trial, Crowther said, "many, many families are going to be very upset."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
KCUF, Still the Most Eclectic Music on the WWW, Now at 128 Kb/s on Shoutcast Unlimited: http://tinyurl.com/kcuf-on-shoutcast-limited to play and http://www.urdomain.us/kcuf.htm to see what's playing
In 2008 California grassroots activists changed the nation! California Democrats from up and down the state volunteered their time, made phone calls, donated money, and knocked on doors in California and across the county as part of our largest grassroots effort ever.
The California Democratic Party's Assembly District Election Meetings will be held on January 10th & 11th, 2009. At these meetings, registered Democrats will elect 12 delegates from each Assembly District to be members of the California Democratic Party State Central Committee.
WILL YOU BE THE CHANGE CALIFORNIA NEEDS and run to be an Assembly District Delegate for the California Democratic Party?
Now is your opportunity to help direct the future of Democrats in California! Delegates approve the platform of the Party, elect Party officers and endorse candidates for congress, state legislature, and executive office.
If elected, you will automatically become a delegate to the California Democratic Party's State Convention, which will be held April 24-26, 2009 in Sacramento, as well as the Convention in 2010. If you are interested in running you must file with the State Party by 12:00 noon, Wednesday, December 31, 2008. Be a part of change and run for Assembly District Delegate.
We have got to keep our energy going! 2008 was a historic year, and if we keep it up, our energy will drive us to victories in 2010 and beyond!
The time for change is now and I hope that you can be a part of it!
http://action.jstreet.org/t/3251/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=508&tag=gaza-fwd
Dear J Street Member,Thanks for teaming up with J Street to support an immediate end to the violence and a strong U.S.-led diplomatic effort to reinstate a meaningful ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Now, can you take 30 seconds to tell 3 friends about our action right now? You can use the message below as a template.- IsaacIsaac LuriaOnline DirectorJ Street-----------------------------------------------When I heard the news about Gaza I got sick to stomach. More than 275 Palestinians dead. More than 100 rockets fired at Israeli civilians. I joined J Street, a new Jewish-led progressive Israel lobby in calling for an immediate resumption of the ceasefire that stops the rockets aimed at Israel and lifts the blockade of Gaza. I hope you’ll join me:http://action.jstreet.org/t/3251/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=508&tag=gaza-fwdThey’re trying to demonstrate the depth and power of a sane majority that recognizes that both sides are right and wrong – either Hamas’ rockets or Israel’s disproportionate response – so that American politicians don’t only get pressure from the extremes. This is so urgent – who knows how many more will die on either side before this round of violence is over – so I hope you’ll take action and forward this message to everyone you know. Thanks.
http://www.veteransforamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/survival-guide.pdf
