Change we can believe in is right, but it seems most of Obama's change seems to be coming from his promises to reality, not from Bush's ruining of our country to fixing it.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to tell you everything he has done has been bad. Much praise is deserved. That does not mean much criticism is undeserved.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/13/obama-administration-upholds-terrorist-surveillance-secrecy-rules/comments/
Obama continues the use of warrentless wiretapping and evesdropping, using the same BS excuse that Bush used: State Secrets.
Well, we have to wait and see how this turns out.. but it's a little dissapointing.
If you ask me, the NSA will ALWAYS be spying where they see the need, regardless of how legal it is, if the president officially authorized it, etc. We have black ops, covert operations, world wide survaillance. I have no doubt that they can get all the information they need without having widespread wire-tapping and evesdropping (or looking at our library records, recording all our emails, etc)
The NSA is capable of monitoring, flagging, deciphering all the intel it needs. They don't need any help from Patriot Acts or Presidential "state secrets"
I have no doubt that under both presidents, the 'primary' goal was a reasonable one: find terrorists. But again, they do NOT need blanket searches, putting EVERYONE in the spotlight. People have a right to privacy, it's in our Bill of Rights.
Under Bush, liberal watch groups, peace advocates, community organizers, and such people were closely monitored. How do we have any assurances that Obama wouldn't do the same? Monitor those that dissagree with him? Those that may come out with information that he doesn't want out?
It's not about terrorism. They have other, and plentiful means to combat terrorism abroad and at home (currently he touts the use of peaceful negotiations while continuing the combatant practices of Bush)
It's about our privacy and our rights, and about holding Obama accountable to the campaign promises he made.
Ted Stevens was convicted of criminal misconduct. He almost got reelected anyway (another story)
His case is being dropped, which amounts to a complete pardon. I realize that Obama is not directly responsible.
Obama IS responsible for the continued prosectution of Tim DeCrhistopher, though. Tim is a political environmental activist, who staged a fake bidding on AN ILLEGAL AUCTION under the Bush administration to buy Federal Wildlife Reserve for the use of oil excavation. Tim waited and waited for activists to come forward to stop the illegal auction of the wildlife reserve. Nobody did, so he had to. He made fake bids, putting a stall in the process.
He is an environmental hero. The auction was wrong in the first place. Now he faces up to 10 years in prison.
Many thought that Obama would pardon him, where Bush supported his criminal procecution. However, the prosecution recently went through with no word from Obama.
This is VERY HYPOCRITICAL for a president who states that civil disobedience cannot be punished so punitively, who believes we need a green future, to lesson our dependence on oil, to cherish our wildlife.
See http://www.bidder70.org/
Help his cause, help donate to his defense.
More importantly, tell Obama to give him a pardon! Punishing people for standing up for what is right is terrible! Where are our freedoms to own a stake in our own country? Where is our ability for peaceful civil disobedience?
And where is this in the news? If the news ignores a problem, Obama ignores it, and it ceases to exist in the minds of most Americans. Take back the information!
www.DemocracyNow.org
http://www.archive.org/details/democracy_now_vid
Real news. Listen. Report to your friends. Tell Obama that you know the things the Coroporate Media does not want you to know about.
I had very high faith in Obama to do the right thing with the Online Town hall meeting. It seemed like such a good idea and an easy concept: Ask people what they think, and listen to them.
However, as critics predicted ahead of time, the questions Obama was going to answer were pre-determined. He could guarantee that certain questions would be asked, he just had to wait and see how they were worded. But his responses were all planned, and the questions selected were planned.
This is the opposite of what he stated his intentions were. He did not listen to the people, or take their questions seriously. Instead, he merely read a prepared statement in the guise of an online town hall meeting. Town Hall meetins themselves are usually screened and questions prepared, but he stated that this would be different.
Three questions in particular were completely ignored, but others we ignored in part. For instance, questions regarding how to treat the Auto Industry, how best to spend money on them (or to not) and how best to make them move forward. Many were worded differently, with different emphases. He took a blakent response to these questions, ignoring many comments about smaller companies.
Many asked whether it makes any sense to bail out the companies that are failing. After all, this is the market. They failed for a reason: They had two decades to figure out that using oil is not a permanent solution, and begin to make real progress. They did not. They sold out to the oil industry, killed the electric car in 2000, and continued making gas guzzlers. If we paid for gas as we should, as other parts of the world do, which is unsibsidized, we would ALWAYS be paying double what we pay. Do you think there would have been a bigger push for the elctric car in 2000 if gas was not disproportionately low from government subsidies? This just passes the buck on to our next generations, as we do with many things. So why was gas subsidized? To keep people thinking it was cheap, and that it'd be around forever, and that we don't NEED to have a new solution.
So what did the car companies do? They delayed the inevitable, they got greedy, they sacrificed long term servivability for short term gains. For this, they deserve to go bankrupt. What about the workers? Well, pay them while they look for another job, just as other people are on welfare.
What about our auto-industry? Well thats easy. There's 30 electric car companies waiting to make a shot at it. see: http://venturebeat.com/2008/01/10/27-electric-cars-companies-ready-to-take-over-the-road/
Other companies are working on other solutions, hydrogen power cells, alternative fuel sources. The free market will sort this out, and it won't take as long as people think. The vacuum left from the failing car companies would be quickly filled.
But Obama did not address these questions. Instead he only addressed those that dealt with how to monitor the EXISTING car companies, while ignoring the questions that regarded focusing on NEW car companies. The message? That he doesn't care about the free market figuring this out, nor what his constituents say on the matter, nor about any REAL GREEN SOLUTIONS. Pushing the car companies (that have failed from greed) to make expensive electric and hybrid cars, and SLOWLY push out new alternatives, WILL NOT HELP. Other companies are offering cheaper, better solutions. But he is ignoring those, pushing them aside, and assuming (wrongly) that the only way forward is to work with, and reward, the existing companies.
The other two questions that Obama ignored he did much more overtly.
One is regarding Industrial Hemp. Hemp has been used for thousands of years for everything from clothes, rope, car parts, fuel, paper, to food. Every country in the world grows it except America. America can import it and use it, but not grow it.
Industrial Hemp is the true green future. It could solve many problems at once: economic, farming, food, fuel.. Many questions were asked regarding Industrial Hemp (which contains less than 1% THC - the active ingredient in smoked marijuana) Many questions regarded seperating the two, removing the myths, and taking Industrial Hemp off the banned drug list. At the very least, many stated that it should be up to states to decide. see http://hemporganic.com/whyhemp.html
http://azhemp.org/Archive/Package/Uses/uses.html
Obama chose not to even MENTION this.
Instead, he made a joke about the SINGLE BIGGEST QUESTION asked.
This question was about decriminalizing marijuana.
There were legitimate questions and statements. Economically, it could save tons of money on the war on drugs, make lots from taxing. Ethically, it would keep people out of prison for a relatively minor crime. Pratically, it would allow the government to CONTROL it, who sells it (cut out the gangs and the cross border drug trafficking) who can smoke it (age limits) what they can do while smoking (test for recent use is available now, and could be used by traffick cops to determine if someone has used before driving, just like alcohol)
So there were many legitimate concerns raised (the most salient being economic, the VAST amount of money that could be generated by the government)
Obama, however, made a crack about "this shows who the internet users are" as if EVERYONE who voted for these questions was currently smoking a bong. Many people stated clearly that they were not users. Regardless, who is asking should not concern him. The fact is that it was asked by the people HE SAID HE WOULD LISTEN TO. The Media claimed that the polls were hijacked. Obama claimed that it was not a real concern of the American people.
Clearly, it was a concern. One that will not go away. And for all the valid reasons offered by many, the most obvious is economic. He asked for economic solutions, and three were provided to him that he BLATANTLY IGNORED.
I say SHAME ON OBAMA. He has done much good since coming into office, but is FALLING FAR SHORT of where he promised. He uses unmanned drones to kill civilians in Pakistan. He continues many policies he said he would end. He has NOT checked bills line by line as he said. He has NOT allowed for 3-4 days for the public to view and critique any bill before signing. He has NOT cut spending on porky projects.
And most importantly: HE HAS NOT LISTENED TO THE PEOPLE!Speak out against this! Next online town hall, remind Obama that we will not be silenced so easily! If he wants to claim to be OUR president, he has to listen to us. And not just us, the people who voted for him, but all Americans who have a valid point.
The people want REAL GREEN CARS. The big companies FAILED to provide them, and giving them money will lead to more of the same, and the change will be SLOW AND EXPENSIVE. There's already better alternatives, give them a chance!
The people want INDUSTRIAL HEMP. It is the real green future crop. It grows fast, has plenty of uses, is less harmful to the environment than cotton, prevents deforestation, and has been used for thousands of years! It can be imported but not grown!
The people want DECRIMINALIZED AND TAXED MARIJUANA. Keeping it as a prohibited drug increases crime and mis-use, just as prohibited alcohol did. It is less harmful and addictive than both alcohol and nicotine. It can be controlled, taxed, and monitored.
According to this report, the top concern of citizens is changing cannabis laws. Does Obama have the cojones to do this or will he politic out of responsibility?
What do you think?
The ban on hemp cultivation can be lifted and control of hemp transfered to the Agriculture dept.
The DEA's highest administrative law judge ruled there was no evidence to support placing Marijuana (Hemp) on schedule 1. This ruling was overturned by presidential decree I believe.
President Barack Obama can change this unjust and cruel ban by writ ?
This change for the better can lay the foundation for and gather the support needed to address more intractible problems like health care.
Just wanted to let you know that if you live in Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Wisconsin or Wyoming you can register to vote at the polls ON Election Day.http://www. voteforchange. com/Please spread the word; only a few more days to go.
Thank you!
Can I brag? She thought up this answer all by herself. Next stop: the Bill O'Reilly show! See the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re8oKYCe7BE
I gotta say, when the opposition candidates can be so grossly shameless in their lying, I am losing my patience with post-partisanship. THOSE BASTARDS WANT TO HURT AMERICA. It's right out of Naomi Klein's "disaster capitalism" playbook. They WANT the majority of Americans to suffer. That's how they make their profits and "save" their souls.
Senator Obama and Senator Biden, if you f' this up, I might have to be through with the Democratic Party. Any political party that can throw away what should be a totally guaranteed landslide is useless to the people of the country. Partisan politics is no good when it is for the sake of partisanship, but the opposition today is beyond dangerous. They are downright pathological. They MUST be defeated, and if that takes anger and accusatory language, then so be it. Today, there is a GOOD REASON to be partisan--the other party will hurt America and the American people, and much of the rest of the world while they are at it. Undecided voters must know that Obama and Biden will not sit idly by while McCain and Palin lie and cheat and steal their way to the White House and the nuclear button.
You won't sit idly by, will you? Sirs, we have got to know that you mean business, that you are LEADERS who can face down the challenges that face this country. Right now, the biggest challenge is the prospect that McCain and Palin will win--and in so doing, doom us all. I want to hear you say that, loud and clear. Please don't let all of us down.
Tonight I caught John McCain acceptance speech, and I was mostly offended.
But now, I have a fire lit under my ass and real fear in my heart, that we could possibly allow this country to continue down this path of destruction, indifference and ignorance.The idea that any one political party has a monopoly on "putting Country First" or caring about the health, security and prosperity of this nation is childish and offends my intelligence. Both Governor Palin & John McCain utilized this tactic in their speeches, and it was like nails on a chalkboard for me.What I like about Barack Obama is that he has operated with dignity and love during this campaign. I have caught a few of his supporters or campaign staff reduce themselves to the bitter, frightened and hateful politics of usual, but I haven't seen any of that from Barack. He hasn't attacked individuals, only the results of poor decision-making and out-of-date ideas on government and politics as usual. Barack has acknowledged that we need a whole country to work together in order to fix our problems, instead of pandering to his base and insisting the democratic party has a monopoly on the subject. He has made more than enough concessions that the conservative population loves this country, and try to do what they believe is best for our society. But he knows that we can't move into the future by holding onto the war-hawk military industrial complex and an ancient view of human rights that relegates those who are different from us to a figurative space of "lesser than". The world has lost faith in the competency and respectfulness of our nation, and there is no way we can earn that back by continuing the republican obliteration of our values and constitution.There's so many reasons why I'm supporting Barack Obama for president, but right here, right now, it's because I don't trust John McCain and his dream of "want(ing) all Americans to love and praise the God I know".*shiver* It's one thing to bless me with your god, it's a whole 'nother set of scariness to insist you want all of us to praise your god as our own.He may have been a war hero, he may have been broken by the vietcong, but he supported and voted with Bush, who compared me and the rest of the "radical left" to those torturers when he spoke at the RNC via video.John McCain 2000 was ridiculed by Karl Rove & the Bushies for being a POW, because they said, he must not be mentally fit for office after living through such trauma. John McCain 2008, and you can't get anyone, including Karl Rove & the Bushies, and John McCain to shut up about his service and the abuse he suffered.Still... water boarding, sexual humiliation and sleep deprivation don't count as torture when the great ol' USofA is on the giving end, right?? Ugh! How can we be respected as leaders in this world if we don't protect the most vulnerable?John McCain celebrated with birthday cake and President Bush the day after Hurricane Katrina. Now, we're supposed to forget that preventable tragedy and ignorant and insensitive celebration because 100s of people weren't killed this time around? I don't think so.
~::~ *Delaware Senator Joe Biden* Is Barack Obama's Announced Choice For His Vice President. ~::~
http://AuthorsDen.Com/ShivaniSannyasini
~::~ Shivani Sannyasini ~::~
MONTPELIER, Vermont (May 30, 2008) — Vote Hemp, a grassroots advocacy organization working to give farmers the right to grow non-drug industrial hemp, is extremely pleased that Vermont Governor Jim Douglas allowed H.267, the Hemp for Vermont Bill, to become law without his signature yesterday afternoon. The bill overwhelmingly passed both the House (126 to 9) and the Senate (25 to 1). The new law sets up a state-regulated program for farmers to grow non-drug industrial hemp, which is used in a wide variety of products, including nutritious foods, cosmetics, body care, clothing, tree-free paper, auto parts, building materials and much more. Learn more about industrial hemp at the Vote Hemp Web site.
Smart and effective grassroots organizing by Vote Hemp and the Vermont-based advocacy group Rural Vermont mobilized farmers and local businesses, many of which pledged to buy their hemp raw materials in-state if they have the opportunity. Rural Vermont Director Amy Shollenberger says that "the Hemp for Vermont bill is another step toward legalizing this important crop for farmers. The United States is the only industrialized nation in the world that doesn't allow this crop to be grown. Looking at the Canadian experience, hemp provides a good return for the farmer. It's a high-yield crop and a great crop to mix in with corn."
Vermont grows an average of 90,000 acres of corn per year, a small amount compared to Midwest states; however, the need for a good rotation crop exists nationwide. From candle makers to dairymen to retailers, Vermont voters strongly support hemp farming. Admittedly a niche market now, hemp is becoming more common in stores and products across the country every day. Over the past ten years, farmers in Canada have grown an average of 16,500 acres of hemp per year, primarily for use in food products. In Vermont, the interest in hemp includes for use in food products, as well as in quality and affordable animal bedding for the state's estimated 140,000 cows.
"Vermont's federal delegation can now take this law to the U.S. Congress and call for a fix to this problem of farmers missing out on a very useful and profitable crop," comments Eric Steenstra, President of Vote Hemp. "North Dakota farmers who want to grow hemp per state law are currently appealing their lawsuit in the federal courts. The real question is whether these hemp-friendly state congressional delegations feel compelled to act," adds Steenstra.
Rural Vermont's Shollenberger states that "the Vermont law is significant for two reasons. First, no other state until now has followed North Dakota's lead by creating real-world regulations for farmers to grow industrial hemp. Second, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont is Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, as well as a member of the Committee on Agriculture — relevant committees that could consider legislation. We also have a friend at the USDA in new Secretary Ed Schaffer who signed North Dakota's hemp bill as Governor. I plan to visit Washington, DC and try to figure out what Congress and the Administration intend to do."
Support Vote Hemp Vote Hemp depends on your support to do the work we do. You know we are effective and get things done. Your donation will go a long way. Help us bring Vermont and North Dakota farmers to Washington, DC to lobby their delegations. It's time to ratchet up the pressure! Please make a donation today.
Vote Hemp is a national, single-issue, non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance of and a free market for low-THC industrial hemp and to changes in current law to allow U.S. farmers to once again grow this agricultural crop. More information about hemp legislation and the crop's many uses may be found at www.VoteHemp.com and www.HempIndustries.org. BETA SP or DVD Video News Releases featuring footage of hemp farming in other countries are available upon request by contacting Adam Eidinger at 202-744-2671.
Direct from BradBlog, get a load of this.
Hillarious, you might say...
I just learned of TWO new bills introduced into congress this week! One by a Democrat, and one by a Republican. The first, H.R. 5843, was introduced by Barney Frank (D-MA), and removes penalties for personal use of marijuana by responsible adults, and is the first decriminalization legislation introduced since Ronald Reagan's administration. The other, H.R. 5842, introduced by Ron Paul (R- TX) protects medical patients in states with medical marijuana laws from federal prosecution.
Finally, we see that the tide has turned, and we are not alone. As we finally have a candidate who honestly admits having been a toker as a teenager, the truth is creeping out, and maybe someday we can live honestly and openly like the other Americans.
This is something we can all contact our representatives about!
One more teenager got expelled from school for marijuana. This one was politically savvy and computer literate and blogged about it. You go, girl! You remind me of our candidate who said, "When I was a kid, I inhaled. That was the point." And, "when I was a teenager, I did things that people don't like to talk about. I needed some hope." Most people hush up things like this. I think blogging about it is much more positive. And Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Telling the truth about marijuana can be very empowering.
After all, marijuana isn't dangerous. It can't kill you, like alcohol can. It won't addict you, like cigarettes or even cause a headache when you can't get it, like caffiene.
This girl was expelled for an herb, that is mistakenly called a drug, that poses no danger.
And we have known this all her life.
In 1988, the DEA was forced to hold a rescheduling hearing. In this report, an estimate of a lethal dosage was given. The DEA's official estimate of a lethal dosage: 1500 pounds consumed in 15 minutes. The conclusion? Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young ruled that it would be "unconscionable, arbitrary and capricious" not to make this available to physicians to prescribe, and that marijuana is " the safest theraputically active substance known to man." Yet this finding was ignored.
20 years ago.
Consumer Reports, Licit and Illicit Drugs was published in 1973. Among its conclusions were the fact that the chief result of any prohibition law was to drive the price up. And that any dangers associated with marijuana had been exaggerated.
35 years ago.
The Schaeffer Commission, The Report of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse published 1972, said that marijuana was not associated with criminal behavior, and it did not constitute or cause social problems.
36 years ago.
We didn't fix it then. Now our children are being targeted, in part because we didn't fix it. Soon it will be our grandchildren.
Let's not wait any longer. We're all getting older, and we're really gonna need the medicine soon.
I apologized to the young lady for not fixing these laws yet. Maybe she will help us, and this time we won't stop until we've fixed it, so we don't have to apologize to yet another generation.
The war on the tree of life must stop. This sacred herb could save the planet.A president cannot unilaterally change legislation, like the Controlled Substance Act. However, the executive branch does have great power. Here is my "wish list" for administrative acts that President Obama would have the power to perform:1. Issue an executive order to the Justice Department, the DEA, and all other Federal Law Enforcement Agencies to cease and desist from interference with all state medical marijuana programs. This should include sanctions to be applied to any federal employee that impedes the delivery of medicine to any medical marijuana patient, or who interferes with the healing work of any doctor or caregiver.2. Require the Justice Department to investigate all violations by any governmental agency of the civil rights of Rastafarians and any others who use Cannabis as sacrament, and prosecute all individuals who have violated these civil rights to the fullest extent of the law. 3. Require the DEA to act on the findings of its Administrative Law Judge, Francis L. Young, in the matter of the marijuana rescheduling hearings of 1993, in which he found that failing to reschedule marijuana would be "arbitrary, unreasonable and capricious."4. Immediately stop all federal funding of programs that are targeted specifically at marijuana, diverting the monies into programs that specifically target drugs that are associated with dependency, addiction or behavior problems. 5. Require an investigation of all public relations programs, so that only those programs based on actual facts and research data will continue to be funded.6. Issue a presidential pardon for all federal prisoners convicted of marijuana offenses.The drug war has been a war on the American people, and we the people have been losing. The BAD DRUGS are a problem, but they are a health care problem, not a law enforcement problem. The Consumer's Union, in its book, Licit and Illicit Drugs, reports that the chief result of a prohibition law is price inflation of the prohibited substance. That's it. Prohibition brings money to the black market. Well, that and a real boom to the prison industry.And when prohibition is applied to marijuana, a sacred herb that is safer than aspirin, medicine to some and sacrament to many, its prohibition brings sickness, aggression,pollution and godlessness.
There is a cure for cancer.
Rick Simpson is a Canadian hero who has been making medicine for himself and more than 300 other people in a small town in Canada. The video that tells his story is called "Run From The Cure, and it can be downloaded from Jack Herer's site, jackherer.com or from their own website, PhoenixTears.ca I, Rev. Nancy of Sacred Truth Mission, am blogging about this because it is so vitally important. If we are endowed by our creator with unalienable rights of Life, Liberty, and Happiness, what is the most fundamental of these? Life, because without life neither of the others even make sense. Free but not alive? Happy but dead?
Viewing this video may save your life or the life of a loved one. I know this sounds extreme, but it couldn't be more true.
This was a really great interview. Listen to it, and if anybody you know still thinks we can go on with business as usual and the environment will be just fine, MAKE them listen to it! I can't wait to read the book.
James Gustave Speth: "The Bridge at the Edge of the World" (Yale)on The Diane Rehm Show, WAMU 88.5 FM American University Radio (NPR) Mar. 27, 2008 11:00
http://wamu.org/programs/dr/08/03/27.php#19158
A leading environmentalist explains how American-style consumer capitalism harms the planet and what must be done to save the earth for future generations.
James Gustave Speth, dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University and co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
CD | Transcript
Two years ago, my father died of ALS...also known as Lou Gherigs Disease. Prior to his diagnosis he couldn't remember the last time he was sick. He was healthy and happy and the best father anyone could hope for.
During the quick decline in his health a local reporter (Chera Kimiko), who has taken on ALS as her cause, came into our lives. She has proven to be more than just a reporter...but also a friend and a unstoppable advocate. Aside from the many things she does on behalf of ALS patients throughout the year, she organizes a fund raiser called "Hunt for a Cure" We went to the fund raiser dinner this past Saturday. It was an amazing night for so many reasons...but the end (which was an Obama moment) was like the cherry on top!
We sat at a table with two couples we had never met before. Throughout the night we laughed and cheered on the auctions and found that we shared alot in common. The older couple was donating a puppy from the no-kill animal shelter they just started. The younger couple was donating a dinner prepared in the winners home, by the man, who is a personal chef. They asked what I was donating...I said "my dad." Both of their auctions sold for $10,000 each - of which every penny will go to ALS reasearch and outreach....their contrbuitions (and the generous bidders) mean more to me than they could imagine.
At the end of the night a photographer came over to take our picture and we gathered together...I had my purse on my shoulder, which happened to have my big Obama button on it. One of our new friends shouted "HA! they're Obama supporters - now wonder we hit it off so well!!" Come to find out...both couples were also Obama supporters.
I went home with the most amazing feeling...one I have felt before - the feeling that the skies the limit!
here is some photos (the small one is the group photo, the other two are my dad)
