Posts with the tag politics

I'm New; Welcome Me To The Family

Nick — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:47:59 EST

Hello everyone who plans on reading this blog post. I am Nicholas Ahern and I live in southern Rhode Island. I am only 15 years old and I am currently a straight A, sophmore student. I decided that I will join this great family of Obama volunteers and supporters because I wish to go to school to be a politician. This is merely my initial "hello" speech to everyone and I just wanted to say that I will be regularly maintaining a blog on my opinions on the government, the presidents actions, my experiences with volunteer work, etc. And once again, hello to everyone!

Sincerly,

Nick

Info 101: Political parties

Pat from Pittsburgh, PA — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:43:28 EST

Most of the American political debate centers on the two major parties – Democrats and Republicans. It’s easy to think that we should eliminate political parties altogether, but it would never work. Aristotle noted that humans are political animals and will always form associations based on common beliefs and experiences. Or more succinctly, we spend our time with people who see life the same way that we do. Contrary to common belief, the US Constitution does not require a two-party system, or any parties at all. They’re not even mentioned.

A brief description of the most common political parties in the US.

CONTINUE . . . .http://www.examiner.com/x-14931-Pittsburgh-Public-Policy-Examiner~y2009m11d22-Info-101--Political-parties

Random thoughts, volume two

Pat from Pittsburgh, PA — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:04:22 EST

Some things I think I think.

http://www.examiner.com/x-14931-Pittsburgh-Public-Policy-Examiner~y2009m11d18-Random-thoughts-volume-two

Assault on women's reproductive rights continues with a vengeance

Connie from Gainesville, FL — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:25:44 EST

The assault on women's reproductive rights continues with a vengeance. As Congress struggled to pass health care reform to improve the lives of America's families, anti-choice forces took advantage of the situation to mount yet another assault on abortion. They were willing to sacrifice health care reform -- even though millions of people would now be able to receive coverage, even though the bill would finally begin to lower health care costs, even though lives would be saved -- to enact anti-abortion provisions to take away reproductive rights from millions of women.

The effect of the Stupak/Pitts Amendment would be to deny the millions of women who get covered through the exchanges access to comprehensive reproductive health care that includes abortion services. These women would be denied coverage available today in private health plans. The Amendment effectively bans private insurance companies that participate in insurance exchanges from providing coverage of abortion. It tries to camouflage the impact by providing an "abortion rider" that women could choose to pay extra for to cover costs if they have an abortion.

How gullible do they think we are? Women don't expect to have an unintended pregnancy or a dangerous pregnancy that jeopardizes their health. And few if any insurance plans would actually choose to provide such a rider. Five states now have provisions to provide abortion riders. But folks have been trying to find a plan that actually provides one -- and they're still looking.

Make no mistake about it: the Stupak Amendment will deny millions of women access to safe, affordable reproductive health care. It puts an expensive price tag on women's ability to act on their reproductive rights. This outrageous provision must be stricken from the legislation before health care reform becomes law.

In 2008 the country elected a pro-choice Congress and a pro-choice President. The President has repeatedly told the country that health care reform would not take away benefits from those who currently have insurance. Now it's up to the President and the Congress to make certain that women do not lose their benefits or rights as a result of health care reform. There's no point in passing a health care reform bill that makes women less healthy, less safe and less able to exercise their constitutional rights

WiseGuyEddie On Joining Organizing for America

WiseGuyEddie — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:30:47 EDT

I have always viewed politics and politicians with a skeptical eye. Do not misunderstand, I have always been interested in the American political process but had never been so interested that participation in the process encouraged anything more in me than voting. I remain instinctively skeptical of anyone who spends tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars to get elected for a job paying a salary in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. There is something wrong with that math indeed. I suppose I can equate my skepticism to my feelings toward something like…multi-level marketing where someone may spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars and is guaranteed to earn absolutely nothing except: sequestered family members and friends in hiding to avoid hearing yet another sales pitch about a fantastic “business opportunity”...

Finish this Blog Post at http://wiseguyeddie.blogspot.com/

The defining of RC Syndrome as a condition of clergy abuse. When Syndrome becomes Culture

JohnB — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:22:30 EDT

RC Syndrome

Religious Compartmentalization Syndrome

"When Syndrome becomes Culture"

A THEORY PROPOSED BY SURVIVORS & RESEARCHERS
OF THE
GLOBAL CLERGY ABUSE CRISIS (GCAC)

OCTOBER, 2009

A call for supporting research, documentation, anecdotal, statistical or other evidence; contributing and collaborative authors.

[INITIAL DRAFT STAGE]

The notion is simple. We as human beings are able under a wide range of circumstances to compartmentalise aspects of our current or past experiences. This compartmentalisation process is carried out at any time the sufferer encounters a need or has become so conditioned that the syndrome is automated (ref: Pavlov) as they are simply at a point in an endless loop or cycle of the syndrome.

When a child is raised in an environment such as (USA, ref: Clergy abuse disclosures, legal precedents, depositions, findings & deterrents, Native American Indian populations experiencing large scale fraud and deception through to murder and theft of lands. Ireland. ref: Clergy abuse widespread through the population. Italy ref: Clergy abuse potential in the vast majority of the population. Canada ref: Genocide. School systems. Alaska ref: Innuit and Native American Indian populations.Breakdown of social order and structures creating widespread social disorder, drug and alcohol problems, breakdown of family and traditional support structures. Common to almost all Indigenous populations affected.) there is an innate requirement to survive.

Children who enter such schools or systems are most likely to come from a religious home where the process would have already been well set in place (the child is entirely compliant and will often have developed the ability to compartmentalise as their environment dictates [reason why a number of individuals in a class where a number of children have been identified as victims of a wide range of abuses - this segment often has no recall of these events or no recall of others experiencing abuse. On the contrary many see this period of their lives as 'blissful' and wonderful and they extol the virtues of those found to have committed abuses. This segment holds the greatest number of sufferers of the RC Syndrome.). This briefly describes the environment and initial development of what we encounter in a full blown stage of the syndrome where we find compartmentalisation to an extent beyond the bounds of rational thought processes which at times can place the individual in a mental situation where they are unable to process their own memories and recollections correctly.

Well documented examples of this are abundant and can be readily found in the depositions of bishops, priests, nuns, rabbis, Imams as well as in educationalists, administrators and office holders both within and without the organisational or management structure of institutions which has been comprehensively affected by the syndrome.

An understanding of the above and a review of the spread and the extent of the influence throughout society that this syndrome can reach immediately begins to answer and resolve an immense proportion of the difficulties reporting abuse victims encounter in their interactions with survivor groups, authorities, health and other support mechanisms.

The results and outcomes can be seen in all areas of life. ....

Statistics
When attempting to measure the degree of the syndrome we encounter a well developed set of regulations and systems which simply do not permit us to see the real figures. While we are entirely reliant on the Catholic church (a body identified as being in a full blown, cyclic state of RC syndrome) for figures as the gathering and processing of this type of data has been stifled and obfuscated throughout legal and governmental structures over many generations and subsequently little is really know of the relationship to crime of the various sectors classified under a heading such as that found in a census form under the title "Religion".

Profiling and identifying potential criminal activity in a RC syndrome sufferer
Profiling of community, policing, military, management and political candidates cannot be undertaken by the general population due to the lack of factual data and the inclusion into te equation of the educational experience of those experiencing the syndrome. Other aspect requiring inclusion are found when a child have without knowledge or consent been introduced into such an environment by parents who are usually at a mature stage of the syndrome in that they have achieved full cycle status.

The cycle is clearly described in the following text. The steps are broadly defined as:

Problem identification
Resolution to act
Identify outcome goal
Required actions
Actions taken
Outcome achieved
Celebration

Applied to circumstance of reference text
Problem identification       Sexually abusive priests
Resolution to act              Bring into play the full force of available resources to counter the problem
Identify outcome goal      Someone must suffer for these crimes
Required actions             Approved activities
Actions taken                  Co-ordination of actions, spread of activity to others affected
Outcome achieved         Suffering achieved
Celebration                     Cup of tea and a meal, other religious celebrations
Re-shock and re-compartmentalisation when situation is re-encountered due to the syndromes effect which caused the sufferer to conclude that the problem had been solved - return to step one for repeat of the cycle.

When applied in the general population in daily experiences this process answers the questions as to why victims self describe as being 'the crack in society which we repeatedly fall through' as well as the much lamented 'Why must we be filtered through every religious mind in the process and only after each has given their full approval will our case or documentation move further up the line only to encounter the same process once again at the next step on its fruitless and futile journey towards inevitable failure.'. Victims consistently report this encounter throughout the full extent of their healing journey and identify this as the main stumbling block in the progress of their claims, encounters with authorities, health and community providers through to victim and survivor networks (although they are quick to point out that there are those among this segment who have countered many of these issues through the benefit of their level of experience).

Areas victims highlight where they are most likely to encounter the syndrome is in policing and health areas (unfortunately these are the major areas governments provide support for victims through). Some available figures show that these areas have a recidivism rate as high as 60% in policing with an almost 95% in specialist areas of health. Psychiatry practitioners are identified by victims as having a figure above the 95% generally ascribed to health professionals. Better research in this area is urgently needed to identify the true extent of the problem identified here. Victims indicate that the number encountered in the political arena is less than the 95% although it is strongly confined to camps, factions or individuals within in party and is most often found in women; particularly those who have been marginalised, silenced or bullied.

Reported experiences strongly indicate that when a victim encounters multiple sufferers of the syndrome in one or more of the above then a 98-99% failure rate is expected. This is when syndrome becomes culture.

One of the most difficult to overcome aspects is the difficulty survivors encounter when describing their abuse as their basic instinctive response is to kill their adversary or to see them suffer an equivalent degree of harm and pain as that experienced by the victim of a sufferer of the Syndrome. Maintaining a socially acceptable behavior is extremely difficult as basic primitive instinctive notions of justice (ref: research Chimpanzee and other primates re justice and reward) are breached. The victim has little recourse but to express their anger and frustration at not being able to get at their attacker or abuser to mete out their instinctive response. This hurdle can be overcome via a variety of means including suitable psychology, (possibly brain plasticity as a result of recent research in psychiatry), low dosage medications in combination with psychology when required. Medications should be aimed at stabilising adrenalin (ref: primitive instinctive notions of justice) runaway when victims encounter self triggering as well as external triggering events. Often an understanding of these circumstance and how they affect each individual personally is sufficient for them to understand their perceived need to escalate when they perceive that someone or something is standing between them and those they identify as the perpetrator of their experience or those who impede their progress to overcome the results of the lifelong deceptions they have overcome previously and have an expectation that they are encountering or about to encounter obfuscation, delaying tactics, compartmentalisation by affected individuals of RC Syndrome.

Those well advanced through their journey or process describe the need to re-introduce basic parental instincts which have been repressed through the experience of both victim and sufferer of RCS as well as what we currently refer to as basic human rights. Once the focus of the victim is on their genetic heritage as found through their biological connection to their off-spring and they find others working towards a common goal of implementing a solution the need to take up an individual battle can be resolved and better directed towards the implementation of a social solution which is the next evolutionary step in the recovery process.

The example text

Source: http://www.thebostonpilot.com/articleprint.asp?id=10937

Laypeople invited to fast for priests Oct. 24

By Jim Lockwood
Posted: 10/9/2009

ATTLEBORO -- Anna Rae-Kelly saw the Catholic priesthood becoming embattled as a result of the clergy abuse scandal that rocked the Church beginning in 2001.

Suffering from a decline in prestige and reputation among the general public, the priesthood frequently became the butt of jokes and the center of calls for change in longstanding traditions and practices including celibacy and an unmarried clergy.

That is why Rae-Kelly felt a call to action.

“If they are under attack, we don’t receive the Eucharist and the sacrament of reconciliation,” Rae-Kelly said. “After the abuse scandal, they were weakened and we were weakened as a result.”

She organized what has since come to be an international phenomenon called the Lay Fast for Priests.

“For some time, I had felt called to pray for the priests in America and all over the world,” Rae-Kelly said.

This year, the Lay Fast for Priests will be held on Oct. 24. The fast is to be observed until 3 p.m. that day, the hour when Christ died on the cross. Participants refrain not only from food but from anything else that is “significant” to them. For example, Rae-Kelly has known of people fasting from talking, television, or other aspects of everyday life.

At 3 p.m., the fast is broken with prayer. Past fasters have prayed in their own homes or held services in their parishes.

Some people who have expressed interest in fasting have told her they will pray a Divine Mercy Office in honor of priests. At the National Shrine of Our Lady of LaSalette in Attleboro, there will be a 3 p.m. closing service that will include the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, an international rosary in five languages representing the different continents in the world, and benediction.

“Then we go home and have something to eat,” she said.

International unity, for Rae-Kelly, illustrates the fast’s impact.

“All the people of God -- the Body of Christ -- are all fasting at the same time and praying for the same intention,” Rae-Kelly said. “That’s what gives it such power.”

When Rae-Kelly introduced this concept four years ago, she encountered her share of cynics who said it would not work; nonetheless the idea gained credence.

After obtaining permission from Bishop George Coleman, bishop of her home diocese of Fall River, she announced the fast at the La Salette shrine.

“I did a two-minute talk,” she recalled. “201 people signed up.”

At the closing service that year, she remembers a man arriving in his bare feet. The man had walked the nearly 8-mile trek from Pawtucket, R.I. as a sacrifice for priests.

“It was just moving and inspiring,” Rae-Kelly said.

Since that time, people have taken Rae-Kelly’s idea and brought it to their own parishes. It has won the blessing and approval of many, including Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley.

It has also gone global.

Last year, Rae-Kelly said, a lady arrived at the shrine dressed in traditional Korean clothing and is now organizing a fast in her native land. Last week, Rae-Kelly received an email from a woman in South Africa who translated the sign-up sheets into Zulu to bring the fast to her village.

Over the coming weeks, laity will be speaking at their parishes to promote the fast and enroll the parishioners. However, Rae-Kelly said, Catholics should not expect to hear about this from their parish priests.

“It shouldn’t be a priest who promotes the fast,” Rae-Kelly said. “This is our gift to them. If they promote the fast it’s like me asking a friend to take me out to dinner.”

For more information on the Lay Fast for Priests, visit Rae-Kelly’s website, www.annaprae.com

Politics and marketing

Rdelarosa — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:40:27 EDT

I read an interesting question and answer earlier today from a relatively famous graphic designer and wanted to post it here.

Stefan Sagmeister's website has a pretty unique interface and has posted several questions that were sent to him from students. Here's the one I found intriguing:

Q:Do you think you could defeat a politic campaign trough a design campaign? Can a design campaign decide an election? Is a politic campaign a design campaign?

A: No I actually think not. Now I know that Saatchi always claimed he put Margret Thatcher into office and he is full of shit. We have the annoying habit to constantly overestimate our power.

Design and advertising has a huge impact where the consumer cannot possible see a difference between products or services (say: Vodka) but is surprisingly less powerful when the average person does see that difference (say: cars or politics).

Have we become so partisan that the President of The United States can't tell kids to stay in school

GLC3 — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:18:14 EDT

Have we become so partisan that the President of the United States can't address students about staying in school?
By George Cook www.letstalkhonestly.com

Hi my name is George L. Cook III the owner of www.letstalkhonestly.com. I felt the need to chime in on this whole made up controversy about President Obama addressing the nations students on September 8.

First in the interest of full disclosure I must let you know that I personally support Barack Obama on this and my daughter will be in school to see the speech. I hope others read up and not "listen up" before making any decisions on sending their child to school on Sept 8.

To gain some perspective we all must first know that in 1988 Ronald Reagan did the same thing as did President Bush 9 ( 41 ) in 1991. They both delivered a message of staying in school and doing your best much like President Obama will. There is nothing wrong with that message no matter what your political perspective

President Reagan even managed to slip in some information about tax cuts to the nations students who can't even vote.

While there were some grumblings from the left there was nothing like what is going on now. Have we become so partisan that the President of the United States can't address students about staying in school?

Now President Obama will be giving a 15-20 minute speech to school students on Sept 8. The speech is abut setting goals and doing well in school. For some that is a problem. They are claiming that the lesson plans which have been revised are the issue.

These SUGGESTED lesson plans for teachers and students were provided for lessons after the speech. Now many on the right are rising up and saying that this is some type of indoctrination or brainwashing of America's students. Some are saying that this is an introduction to President Obama's "Socialist Agenda". Some talking heads are even suggesting that parents keep their kids at home on Sept. 8.

While that is a parents choice I believe it should be made on actual information devoid of political idealogy and not the far rights hatred of President Obama or liberals. Don't late talk radio make this decision for you. Use the links below to read the actual lesson plans and then decide whether or not you want to send your kids to school on Sept 8.

George Cook www.letstalkhonestly.com

Lesson Plan Pre-k to 6th grade

Lesson Plan 7-12 grade

On Missing Senator Kennedy

kanna — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 09:49:48 EDT

As time goes on in the various coverages, I find or hear more interesting takes and stories about the Senator.

One of the folks who lined the route to the Library said something about her father telling her they would be safe as long as Sen. Kennedy was around.

I think many of us felt that for quite a while now.

His death is a great loss to the country; especially to those who have the least.

His political excellence will be greatly missed for so many reasons.

http://kannasthoughts.blogspot.com/

Americans will Respond...JUST WAITING

Citizens for Change in America! — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:59:25 EDT

America is waiting...
only a few have the COURAGE to stand for the AMERICAN citizen!
Citizens will respond...
many will be replaced as Americans see what politicians they elected
DID NOT do to help the citizen they were supposed to represent...

Tell the Gang of 6: Give back your dirty insurance money

MaryPickford — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 06:58:36 EDT

Tell the Gang of 6: Give back your dirty insurance money

Have you heard about the six senators who are out to kill health care reform? Of course, that's not how they'd phrase it. Sens. Baucus, Bingaman, Conrad, Enzi, Grassley and Snowe say they're striving for "bi-partisan compromise." But what they're actually doing is working to make sure reform won't include a public option or mandatory employer-based insurance - two key policies needed for effective reform.

There are 100 members of the Senate, but these six, inexplicably, seem to be holding all the cards when it comes to health care. So you probably won't be surprised to learn that all six have taken a huge amount of money from the health insurance industry and pharma - more than $3 million between them.

These six senators -- who, by the way, represent only 2.74% of Americans between them -- are writing bad policy, and they're doing it while they take money from the very companies who stand to benefit the most.

I just signed a petition to tell the "Gang of 6" to give back every dime of their dirty insurance money. I hope you will, too. Please have a look and take action.

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/gang_of_6/?r_by=5220-1983015-GiBIiLx&rc=confemail

Daily action is our apple a day. We can't let up. Lobby money and anti-reform money is pouring into this fight. Republicans have announced a plan to spend at least 1 million dollars to kill reform using ad campaigns during the three week Congressional break. Please take 5-10 minutes for action every day as we battle for our lives on this issue.

Thanks -

President Barack Obama, God Bless America...MY FOOT!

Carolyn from Live Oak, FL — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:59:54 EDT

Mr. President, I worked very hard, spending many hours and had contributed monetarily as much as I could afford on a fixed income, to get you elected. Now, I feel you have let us all down on so many of your promises; especially, concerning affordable health care for all. Please, if you can find the time, go to this link and hear my (and most of the people in our nation's) pleas...

http://thinkingblue.blogspot.com/2009/06/petition-to-pres-obama-god-bless.html

EXCERPT:

"I have been signing petitions such as this one for healthcare reform, for years. Still the problem exists. What I would like to know is... Why? Why does such shameful neglect and uncaring occur in a country like ours? Why are so many of our people left to suffer?

We are no longer a country “of the people, by the people” we are a country of “the big business/big lobbies, by the big business/big lobbies”. They are the true owners of this land and greed will continue to step on and over those who outnumber the greedy few at the top, millions of times over. Even when they flagrantly and arrogantly fail, they succeed and go on conducting their greed in the same manner.

God bless America, MY FOOT!" http://thinkingblue.blogspot.com

Also on: http://www.youtube.com/user/thethinkingblue

Did I Get Bamboozled By Obama?

Leo — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:39:34 EDT

Is it just me- or is anyone else starting to feel 'had'?

Covering up and not prosecuting the torture scandal?

Going back on one of the most ringing campaign promises regarding transparency? And I get weekly requests to donate more money from the Obama campaign? Maybe I was just a dumb wide-eyed child.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31373407/ns/politics-white_house/

OFA is not just for Democrats

LindaLu Nordling — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:48:47 EDT

Dear ALL:

I would agree with the authors of this letter. As this is a letter seek to clearify what has become quite a fiasco of camps of self interests.

Nothing about this congress is representative of the INTEREST of the People of United States of America other than on issues which have been grossly under-represented.

As far as all "reforms" including the Green Movement, HealthCare, Sustainability, Climate Change... has each been nothing more than self interest for the MONEY people behind the poppets of Politicians. It is obvious NOTHING in each of those TOPICS has anything to do with the reality of people losing and lost their job, room, apartment, house,..
.

It is very disappointing but nothing surprising given Barack H. Obama does not have ALL the GOP kind of influence, power, money behind him when WE started the road to White House.

There's saying: Keep your friends close
Keep your ENEMIES CLOSURE (closer)

so, here's a TOAST to y'll who are continueing to be of SELF interests and NOT for America or Americans.

You know who you are...and so do the rest of the "peeps" which COMPLETELY OUT # YOU...of course, there was/is/has been "UNCLE TOMS" pardon for borrowing a phrase not from my race but i'm sure y'll know exactly AGAIN who you think you might be...get it MIGHT just BE. ... and so do THIS Transparent information TIME. Good luck to all your self-interest committment and to your health.

Sincerely,

Linda Lu-Nordling

-----Original Message-----

To: San Francisco for Obama <SanFranciscoforObama@groups.barackobama.com>
Sent: Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:38 pm
Subject: [SanFranciscoforObama] FW: [GroupAdministratorsforObama-Collaboratio] OFA/DNC

From: alanhny@aol.com
[mailto:alanhny@aol.com]

Sent: Thursday, June 11, 2009 7:31
PM

To: Group Administrators for Obama
- Collaboration Group

Subject: [GroupAdministratorsforObama-Collaboratio]
OFA/DNC



Dear Kurt, Ben, Brent,
Greg, Jennifer,

I started out replying to
each of your very thoughtful comments but got sort of overwhelmed, so I'm
taking this collective route.

There is no question in
my mind that on all the most important issues we are on the same page. This
dialogue itself, respectful, logical, passionate, is just one more confirmation
for me of the power and beauty of the movement we created over the course of a
long election campaign.

=0 A

Believe me, there is
absolutely no despair here. We are working harder than ever for the President's
agenda, with complete confidence in his leadership, and I believe we continue
to make a modest but valuable contribution to the overall effort.

All of you make a
persuasive case for the grass roots party organizing you are doing. We have a
lot of campaign volunteers here in NYC doing the same. Hopefully there are many
more around the country making similar progress.

But the question under
discussion is the relationship between OFA and the DNC and how it impacts our
work.

If OFA were to say
clearly tomorrow that it wants all of its volunteers and the people we sign up
for various activities under the OF
A banner to throw ourselves into
transforming the Democratic Party into an instrument of people's needs rather
than corporate profits, I would salute and try to figure out how to do that in
our own little piece of the world here.

But there's a good reason
OFA hasn't said that. There is that 30% of the electorate who define themselves
as Independents, there is the unknown but large percentage of the electorate
who vote Democrat while holding their noses, and there is even that 30% of
Republicans who today say they disagree with the policies of their party. In
addition to loyal active Democrats, we will have volunteers from each of these
other three categories participating in our June 27 Health Care Day of Service
event. They will eagerly work with OFA, because th ey see it as something
really new and different from the existing party political system, but they
would tell us to take a hike if we asked them to show up at the next meeting of
our local Democratic club. I guess it's different where you are.


I happen to agree with
them that what came out of the campaign, which took the organizational form of
OFA, is truly something new and different, one of those social/political
movements that come along once every generation or two with tremendous
potential to change the country and the world f
or the better. We see it at work
every day, with the battle for a decent health care system and in so many other
ways in which this President continues to make us proud. That is why OFA
correctly continues to project itself as a movement built on the agenda of a charismatic
political leader, whose politics, fortunately, are fundamentally progressive.

When the decision was made after the
election to fold the campaign base into the DNC, there were advantages and
disadvantages to it. I might have disagreed with the decision at the time, but
I understand why it was made and it has not deterred my participation in OFA,
whose leadership and staff are absolutely doing the best they can with the hand
they've been dealt. But the disadvantages are clearly making themselves
felt.

While very specific and
powerful members of Congress are killing, undermining or going wobbly on key
provisions of the President's agenda, OFA does not target any of them,
presumably because of its DNC relationship, and so organizers and activists are
drawn to groups that are doing that kind of targeting. The same happens with
specific features of the agenda. I don't recall seeing anything, for example,
about the public plan option in the material for the June 4 kick off event. I
understand why this happens, but I think it's a
significant disadvantage.

The OFA/DNC relationship
had this movement/party contradiction built into it at birth, and it needs
to be resolved. It blurs the strategic focus with its generalities and
therefore appears lacking in transparency. Even going by what I think is
Jennifer's accurate characterization of the thinking behind the decision, of it
being a way to hold together the base and keep the buzz going for 2012, I don't
see the numbers telling us that is happening. The numbers I see on the site, the numbers released by OFA, I do not find encouraging--and I doubt that the
hard-headed realists who run OFA do either, despite the obvious need to remain
publicly positive. And what about the 347 other people on this list, who apparently
lack the time or interest to weigh in on a subject we seem to agree is pretty
important? My hunch is their attention a nd energies are otherwise engaged.

Which reminds me, we all have day jobs and I've gone on much too long.

In conclusion, he said, to deafening applause: I think we face great and unprecedented challenges but they can be met; I think we have an obligation to communicate our concerns to each
other and to OFA leadership because I know they want to hear them and because
this is=2 0our organization and we need to make it thrive.



Best,

Alan Howard

NY 8th CD







Dell
Deals: Don't miss huge summer savings on popular laptops starting at $449.

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Final Push Toward Real Reform Looking Positive

Jodi — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:01:45 EDT

With Obama taking his message on the road and to the people, and the masses speaking at least as loud as the health insurance industry, there has been a crack in the invinsiblity of the status quo. Even Senator Baucus is now allowing that a national public health plan must be considered. It feels very good to see our efforts paying off. We must keep making waves until a bill is signed.

Must watch Documentary Flow - For Love of Water Directed by Irena Salina

Peter from Carrollton, TX — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:38:18 EDT

Must watch Documentary Flow - For Love of Water Directed by Irena Salina “Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.” –W.H.Auden

Irena Salina’s award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - The World Water Crisis.

Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world’s dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel.

Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question “CAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER?”

Beyond identifying the problem, FLOW also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround. (Excerpt from main website)

Please visit the official website for more information:
http://www.flowthefilm.com

Click the Fullscreen Button for a larger version.

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Media: The Somali pirates have decided to abandon piracy

Unknown user — Mon, 25 May 2009 20:19:10 EDT

About 200 pirates in the north of Somalia have agreed to throw a pirate craft, and the release of the captured hostages.

As a committee, meet the pirates with local community leaders and people from Somalia took place in the autonomous region of Puntland. The representative of the pirates Abshir Abdullah told the BBC that all the ships and hostages, whom they held, will now be released.

Note, for the last day the Canadian patrol frigate Winnipeg detained two pirate ships in the Gulf of Aden.

Previously, it was reported that by early May, the number of pirate attacks on ships in the vicinity of the eastern coast of Somalia more than a similar figure for the whole last year. In connection with such activity, many States in the Gulf of Aden sent their warships to patrol the territory and the protection of merchant ships.

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The U.S. banned the writing on the packs of cigarettes designation "light"

Htyra from Vallonia, IN — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:00:26 EDT

The U.S. banned the writing on the packs of cigarettes designation "light"
Today, 22 May, the Federal Court of Appeals in Washington found tobacco companies guilty of misleading consumers because they use cigarettes to the term "light".

According to Themis, cigarettes with this symbol represent the same threat to human health, as usual.

Thus, the Court of Appeal upheld the decision previously rendered by the lower instance court, and ordered tobacco companies to remove the packs of cigarettes denote light or natural.

As reported by AFP, the largest tobacco companies like Philip Morris and Reynolds, likely to appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal in the Supreme Court of the United States.

Previously, it was reported that in the past year, the percentage of smokers among the adult population in the United States fell to a record low.

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D.C. Awakening--Jen Nedeau, FAB member

Madama Ambi — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:03:21 EDT

D.C. Awakening--my interview with Jen Nedeau, Women's Rights blogger at Change.org.

Jen Nedeau blogs about Women's Rights at Change.org. She's not a seasoned feminist who has it all figured out; in fact, her feminist awakening began only a year ago. But she understands that women of her generation have grown up with a "dangerous sense of equality" that does not sync with real-world politics. This interview was recorded in March of 2009.

Get it at iTunes.

Hello everyone,

winbald — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:36:47 EDT

I just create a blog on the site of Barack Obama, hoping that many of you will read me, and especially to correct me, I expect a lot from you! I am a young Senegalese also a citizen of the world, because our borders are only fictitious although in places in the world of the walls are erected, the nature wished that there were no boundaries and this benefits the birds , whales, ... hopefully!

Now is the time to start preparing for 2012!

commonsense — Mon, 18 May 2009 01:10:50 EDT

Come aboard and let us start preparing now, for the 2012 election. Let's ensure the democratic party retains the white house, so that we can all get America where she needs to be.

click on link: http://commonsensecrisis2.blogspot.com/

How The 44th President Barack Obama Brought Change To The Oval Office

The Idea Girl — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 08:29:31 EDT

As we celebrate President Obama's first 100 days in office, we can take a look back at a job well done. It's great to see a President keep all of his campaign promises to some degree. When we compare him to President Bill Clinton, or President George W Bush, it's like night and day. Here's a man that wants to hear from his followers and takes the advice of everyone who is willing to voice their concerns.

It was a genius named Christopher Hughes who helped develop this community site, so that for the first time in history we could talk about the things we love about the United States. A place where we can create a community, raise money and blog about politics.

It's the information age, and President Obama is young, fresh and jubilant as a leader. A great mentor and one we can look up too. I love the fact that he uses his blackberry and posts notes on Twitter every now and then.

A modern day President, one who addresses the problems of the nations and travels around the world to set up a web of communication with all the super powers of the world. At first the Taliban seemed to sit back in surprise, here was a man to contend with. One who shows great wisdom, brings people together and unites us all as one strong unit. Its no longer one countries battle against terrorism, it's the world (population 6,706,993,152)against a small group of people that refuse to be peaceful on this earth.

All this fighting and war that goes on affects the vibrations of the earth. Does the Taliban care about the earth or it's people? Don't they believe in Karma? What they do to others, it shall be done to them. Maybe everyone should pray that the powers that be will deal with these evil men who are hurting innocent people to prove a point. All we see is a bunch of men who like to murder innocents, if they are trying to get across a "religious" message, it's not working. I'm sure they are very wise men in the Taliban, perhaps they should take a step back and look at what's going on in the world. Instead of bringing destruction to the earth, they should try to resolve their differences and help to bring peace instead. What is it that they need and want? Does the Taliban just want our attention? Is this the basis for the violence that they insist on placing on the shoulders of our world leaders?

Only goodness can win, even if evil rears it's ugly head, united nations will stand and those that are evil will fall. And all will be naught. It's best to work with the world and not against it. Peace is what we all want. We want our family, children and loved ones to be safe and not have to worry about biological diseases caused by weapons of war.

I know we are all impressed with President Barack Obamas way of dealing with every issue and the problems left behind by other presidents. He takes each problem as a grain of salt and works to bring resolution to problems that have plagued the US Government for 100's of years. It's nice to know that President Barack Obama can be trusted. We can believe in this man that he will do as he says. Let's all jump on his band wagon of life and help him achieve his goals, we will all benefit from it, I'm sure!

I have posted more articles about President Barack Obama's First 100 Days on http://ideasaboutlife.today.com/2009/04/29/the-44th-president-barack-obama-brings-change-to-the-oval-office/

The Taliban: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliban

Change is in Our Future Not Our Past

Tom Awtry — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:30:55 EDT

Every good past President has looked to the future, while every failed administration has suffered with the past, in part by their own misunderstandings of the failure(s) and to fully concentrate on moving their own agenda’s forward! Consequently, we the American public are as much to blame, for their failures as they are.

Today in office we have elected a forward looking Chief Executive, tasked with the mission of tackling the previous administrations failures and deceptions; while moving onwards his own vision of how America should be.

To me, this means let the president delegate responsible, for corrective action on the issues concerning Gitmo, torture, Rove, FOIA and FISA to his appropriate cabinet members and select committees within congress.

We as diligent citizens and supposed caretakers of our country should and must be focused on issues such as health care, getting out of Iraq, the economy and perhaps an over looked issued by many, an improved, affordable plan to enhance our current educational system of higher learning.

We have seen hundreds of thousands of jobs disappear over the past several months, will these jobs ever come back? The answer is “No”!

Soon we will have thousands of veterans returning from overseas, will they remain in the military service? Again, the answer is possibly “No”!

So what are the solutions to the aforementioned issues within the Obama Administration? I feel the president has chosen the most correct choice by relying on what made our nation what it was in the “past” – “Education”.

But, as we all know, including the president, both the cost and quality are the downsides for most of us, even the slightly “upper middle class”.

As quoted by President Obama (President Obama on Higher Education and Reforming Student Loans):

Over the past few decades, the cost of tuition at private colleges has more than doubled, while costs at public institutions have nearly tripled. Tuition has grown ten times faster than a typical family’s income, while inefficiencies in the student loan system provide lenders billions of dollars in wasteful subsidies instead of making college more affordable for all Americans.

When we review the 60’s, the days of placing a man on the moon and the golden times of NASA; education was at our country’s forefront, even while the Vietnam War was in progress, education was considered a must for survival in the Cold War overall and personal success in life as an individual(s).

We must not accept taking a backseat within the international community, as we have and again noted by the President in his Remarks by the President at the National Academy of Sciences Annual Meeting:

Our schools continue to trail other developed countries and, in some cases, developing countries. Our students are outperformed in math and science by their peers in Singapore, Japan, England, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, and Korea, among others. Another assessment shows American 15-year-olds ranked 25th in math and 21st in science when compared to nations around the world. And we have watched as scientific integrity has been undermined and scientific research politicized in an effort to advance predetermined ideological agendas.
Complementing while confirming the aforementioned is the following from Gallup Polls with an article entitled: “Public Discontent With Quality of U.S. Education, where we can see the American public over the past eight years have been frustrated with the Bush Administration’s progress on education:
A three-year aggregate of Gallup data (2002-2004)* on attitudes toward the public schools indicates that 44% of Americans are very (11%) or somewhat (33%) satisfied with public education, but a slight majority, 55%, are either very (25%) or somewhat (30%) dissatisfied. Despite these negative perceptions about the quality of the U.S. education system, past surveys have demonstrated that most Americans are happy with their own educations and the educations their children receive.

So, should you subscribe to the fact our nation’s higher learning institutions are to expensive and our primary education system(s) of public schools are not performing as they should; how is the president and perhaps more selfishly “us the American public” going to resolve the educational systems and turn their services into “jobs” and an increased standard of living for all of us?

The President has prepared congress for needed changes, staring with his Fiscal Budget for 2010 with major investments in broadband networks, clean energy technologies, and health information technology, as I’ve quoted him here (Fact Sheet A Historic Commitment To Research And Education):

President Obama has already made science and technology a top priority: The Recovery Act includes $21.5 billion for research and development, the largest increase in our Nation’s history, and well as major investments in broadband networks, clean energy technologies, and health information technology. The President’s FY10 budget includes sustained increases in basic research, $75 billion to make the research and experimentation tax credit permanent, and funding to triple the number of the National Science Foundation’s graduate research fellowships. The President is committed to restoring integrity to science policy, and making decisions on the basis of evidence, rather than ideology.

Also, the President has enacted steps within his own Executive Branch (President Obama Meets with Family Struggling with College Costs, Underscores Need to Eliminate Wasteful Spending in Federal Student Loan Program, Reinvest Savings in Making College More Affordable):

Today, President Barack Obama met with a family struggling to afford the cost of college and underscored his commitment to cutting wasteful spending on federal student loans by ending taxpayer subsidies to banks. President Obama discussed the strain that rising tuition costs are placing on middle class families and his proposal to end the private Federal Family Education Loans program that lines the pockets of the banks who serve as middlemen while costing the American people $5 billion a year.

As I elated to earlier, since this is a failure of past administrations to attend address the president has wisely delegated this national concern to Vice President Joe Biden, who in my own opinion as been doing an outstanding job for the president in seeing all measurers are brought to the forefront on getting legislation authored and past in a bipartisan manner.

Vice President Biden has implemented “Middle Class Task Force” to find solutions and assist him in seeing colleges become more affordable through a series of town hall meetings. Here in an excerpt from such a meeting in St. Louis, the excerpt is entitled: “Middle Class Task Force Report: College Affordability”

Middle Class Task Force Report: College Affordability

An obstacle to federal student aid is the unnecessarily complicated application process that is often intimidating to families and students seeking loans. In order to qualify for aid, students or their parents must first complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form, which contains well over 100 questions on income, assets, family characteristics, personal characteristics, and other items. Completing the FAFSA requires families to sift through paperwork and transfer numbers from tax forms that they may or may not have readily available.

The following is a downloadable pdf report, which bears reading, regarding steps being taken by the Obama administration to lower college cost to the middle class desiring to enter college and making the application procedure more simplified and friendly:

Middle Class Task Force Staff Report (pdf)

So, what’s the Point:

Much “to do” recently has been made in the media over the release of torture memos and the president’s first 100 days in office, which are all constructive concerns and self-servicing pats on our own backs for electing the “right person for the right job”, but lets not get hung-up on the issues of witch hunts and arrogance that got us into the trouble we’re in today.

Lets keep pressing forward in correcting mistakes and apathy of the past with “new ideas” and approaches that will insure we’re never in the fix we are in today.

After all wasn’t it President Bush who said “Fool me once and you’re a fool, fool me twice and I’m a fool”.

The following selections of videos cement President Obama’s commitment to the middle class and his devotion to insuring every American is entitled to higher learning:

Opening the Doors of Higher Education

Taking a defiant stance towards those banks defending the status quo, the President proposes cutting out the middle man in student loans for a savings of almost $50 billion over ten years.

Additional Videos:

Real Tax Cuts Making a Real Difference

Flanked by Americans who have benefited from his Making Work Pay tax credit, President Obama speaks about his tax policy and how it is helping people across the nation.

Taking on Education

The President explains the urgency of changing the way we educate our children, and offers four pillars of reform.

Meet Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan talks about the source of his passion for education reform — and why he thinks it’s about more than education, it’s about social justice.

Additional postings regarding this topic and others may be found here:

Yacbaj

Unknown user — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 03:02:10 EDT

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BARACK OBAMA FIRST 100 DAYS

WEBMASTER — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:23:01 EDT

During the first 100 days of the Obama presidency we have seen outstanding leadership in tackling the many issues facing our great nation. And it seems that overwhelming poll numbers indicate that America agrees with President Obama. see THE WHITE HOUSE

The question remains; What can we as fellow Americans do to help our neighbors and countrymen? Included are nine things you can do to help the President celebrate his first 100 Days in office:

1. Donate unused suits to the Salvation Army
2. Donate time to Americorps
3. Donate toys for children at Toys for Tots
4. Donate blood at the Red Cross
5. Donate a can of food each week to a Local Shelter or Food Pantry
6. Donate money to Save the Children
7. Donate time at local a Veterans Hospital
8. Donate an hour a day to your Child
9. Donate to the Make a Wish Foundation

Participation is greatly appreciated. What you do for the least of our brethren, you do for yourself -
http://donate.barackobama.com/page/community/post/president/gGxWJh

Barack Obama First 100 Days posted by David Apperson

Like Father – Like Daughter

Tom Awtry — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 21:22:05 EDT

I to would like to see Donald Rumsfelt, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice and George Tenet face charges, but first I want to see how our current administration handles this black mark on our country’s history, without outside interference. Basically, whose going to align themselves on whose side.

Think about it for a moment – Here’s Dick Cheney with every opportunity he can get a hold of, to voice his displeasure with any and all of Obama’s policies with the media; what other former Vice Presidents has done that? Not a one!

Now his daughter is getting into the act:

Liz Cheney Defends Father ‘Dick Cheney’ Torture Legacy/Policies

So Why, easy, to confuse along with attempting to defuse the issue at hand, his own personal involvement with authorizing torture.

Rice, Cheney Approved Waterboarding
Associated Press

The Director of Central Intelligence in the spring of 2003 sought a reaffirmation of the legality of the interrogation methods. Cheney, Rice, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft and White House counsel Alberto Gonzales were among those at a meeting where it was decided that the policies would continue. Rumsfeld and Powell weren’t.

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Europe Back Off and Stay Out

Tom Awtry — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 22:07:43 EDT

Nuremberg Trials

America, as all countries today, is undergoing a vast amount of change; however there exists a hopefully small number of individuals within our country who in essence mistakenly subscribe to the notion “the Bush doctrine on terror” was correct and righteous, which includes the use of torture to obtain supposed Intel information.

I believe our President is taking the right steps, as he promised during his campaign to “right the wrongs” of our country’s past eight years of injustice regarding our treatment of combative detainees. First by releasing the Bush Administration’s memos condoning torture (listed here and here also here), which he followed up by insuring his release would not produce a witch hunt (as some want) by traveling to CIA’s Headquarters and assuring employees individual prosecution would not be presumed and finally, most importantly turned the entire matter over to our Justice Department and directly to Eric Holder, the Attorney General.

On this past Wednesday (22 Apr 09) an article in the Washington Post, authored by Craig Whitlock, of Washington Post’s Foreign Service Department and entitled: “European Nations May Investigate Bush Officials Over Prisoner Treatment” confirms my beliefs by the following excerpt:

On Tuesday, Obama for the first time raised the possibility of creating a bipartisan commission to examine the Bush administration’s handling of terrorism suspects. He also said he would leave it up to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to determine whether to prosecute senior officials who approved waterboarding and other tactics.

This was further confirmed in a statement published by the American Civil Liberties Union, entitled: “Attorney General Holder Says He Will “Follow The Law” And Investigate Torture” where the following excerpt stated:

Attorney General Eric Holder said today that the Justice Department will “follow the law wherever it takes us” in investigating the U.S. officials behind the CIA torture policies under the Bush administration.

Europe, you have every obligation and right to legally pursue whatever action you feel is appropriate, but please let our present administration do what they can to correct these past “wrongs”; in our way of first and let America reestablish itself under the “Rule of Law”.

A.G. Holder: Investigate Torture

The people who authorized Bush’s torture program shouldn’t get off scot-free. It’s time for Attorney General Holder to appoint an independent special prosecutor.

Update 23 Apr 09:

Clinton Questions Cheney’s Credibility: “I Don’t Consider Him A Particularly Reliable Source Of Information”
Huffington Post | Nicholas Graham

The sensitive topic of the release of the torture memos came to the forefront when Republican Rep. Dana Rohrbacker asked Clinton if she agreed with Dick Cheney’s request that documents ostensibly showing the efficacy of the torture programs should be declassified. Clinton ultimately replied that she believes “we ought to get to the bottom of this entire matter” and that it “is in the best interest of our country” to do so, but not before she took a shot at Cheney’s credibility, saying “I don’t consider him to be a particularly reliable source of information.”

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Order Our Steps!

White House Prayer Team — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:47:32 EDT

In our research recently, some amazing finds were discovered. Imagine a life with no stairs or grand staircases. Is that even possible? Apparently so, considering there were no stairs built into The White House until the Truman renovations, (President Harry Truman gutted the entire White House in 1948).
Stairs have become such a commonplace fixture in contemporary architecture that it is easy to forget that they were known as "stairsteppes" as they were originally called, most people moved between building levels using ramps or ladders.
The same was true at the White House. While most Presidents were quite adept at negotiating the interior ladders, some found the arrangement unworkable. For that reason, President Benjamin Harrison had an elaborate system of winches and pulleys installed on the White House exterior.
Evening passers-by on Pennsylvania Avenue often could catch a glimpse of the President being hoisted to the window of his second floor bedroom. Indeed, those nightly episodes were the genesis of the campaign slogan, "Heave Ho for Harrison!" which the President used extensively during his unsuccessful 1893 campaign.

While the interior staircases at the White House were all installed during the Truman administration, the various exterior stairs were installed piecemeal, with the last being completed in February 1963.
If I could continue on and utilize the stairs of the White House as a metaphor, with each step built into this expansive residence and global headquarters of the U.S. presidency, the president also rises. Truman, was able to do something no other president before him had ever done before; acend with one step at a time.
2 Samuel 22:37 says "Thou hast enlarged my steps under me so that my feet (do) not slip". Our prayers for the leaders of our government is intended to enlarge their steps to prevent their slipping away from those unrightous deeds that plague the offices they hold. President Truman realized that the White House looked wonderful to the natural eye, but on the inside, the floor literally gave way under heavy furniture and many of the walls, nearly 150 years old, were leaning at the touch.
One of my favorite verses is one of King David's in Psalms 37:23, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord..." In this nation of democracy and order, we aim to elect those of good character and intention to represent us not only in this country but around the world. Going forward, this prayer team would encourage you to build on the monumental efforts accomplished during this past election cycle when by large majorities, the people of this nation elected its first african american to the presidency of the United States.
We need you to continue to perform your citizenry, help those who need it, share with those who do not have, feed those who are hungry as well as love those lack it. However, in all of your doing, pray for this White House and all that is expected to come down the stairs from the residential quarters and walk over to the Oval. Pray that every step he takes is ordered by the Lord. Believe God, that as his family follows behind him in places he trods, they too will serve as the examples our families in all corners of this country have come to hope for from them.
Every secretary, clerk, guard and house-keeping staff member will be blessed as they serve through the historical progress of this nation. With each new office holder, the country moves forward just as another step in the right direction. Progress. Where there were ramps and hoists, now there are 8 sets of staircases and 3 elevators.
Write to us and tell us some of the steps you have taken and how God has blessed you through the progress of your life. We've all had some hoists and spiraling ramps in our spiritual lives. Thank God for His mercy so that now the steps we take are "grand". Let me hear from you by email whitehouseprayer@live.com, or facebook by clicking the ad to your left on the home page.

A simple thank you!

White House Prayer Team — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 00:24:41 EDT

We have been working around the clock to maximize the opportunity that we have come to have recently where as we are reaching out to those who have labored in a major way to ensure the election of our president, Barack Obama. We want to keep you energized about this presidency and the direction inwhich he taking this country so The White House Prayer Team was formed to encourage Americans to get behind the solemn vow and sanctity of prayer to better lift up our leaders in our nation.

We have gotten the prayer requests as we have requested. We want to pray for you and your family as well so feel free to join our LIVE chat online or contact us by email at Whitehouseprayer@live.com. Our web address is http://whitehouseprayerteam.blogspot.com. We can't do this without you. Its free, so come on over. Also, for many of our Facebook followers, "White-House Prayer" is how we can be found or by the email acct.

This prayer team stays up on all the happenings and we must...we need to know in advance what we need to pray for! Pray with us as we pray for this White House.

WHPT

Urnrana

Uajsa from Moorpark, CA — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:27:16 EDT

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A Lot of Talk Finally Some Action

Tom Awtry — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:04:28 EDT

Call Centers - India

During the Presidential campaign we heard numerous politicians expounding on their concepts on ways to retrain our veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and fellow Americans workers who saw their jobs outsourced overseas.

Finally we have one brave Democratic Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania with a workable plan to introduce a new law that aims to pay community colleges nationwide $1,000 per student to retrain laid-off workers, which Casey says would come from existing funds already allocated to job retraining in the department’s budget.

In an article authored by Anne Fisher of TIME, entitled: “Tuition Help for the Unemployed Gains Traction” the following excerpts regarding Senator Casey’s pending bill:

His inspiration for the bill: Pennsylvania’s community colleges, 10 of which have enrolled 1,062 unemployed workers in free training programs this semester, at a total cost to the schools of $741,788. “They shouldn’t have to foot the bill alone,” Casey says. “My bill will encourage other community colleges across the U.S. to do the same thing.” Senate Democrats are working to build bipartisan support for the bill and expect to move it forward in the coming months. (See TIME’s special report on paying for college.)
A few states already have a head start. California, whose 11.2% March unemployment rate is the state’s highest since 1941, is rushing to funnel $415 million in federal stimulus money to 49 job-retraining centers. Most of the training will be designed to qualify people for jobs in infrastructure construction, health care and green industries like waste recycling and wind-farm technology. In Texas, legislators will vote next month on a final version of a 2010-11 budget, already passed by the state senate, that boosts spending on higher education by $1.5 billion. That figure includes $500 million in federal stimulus funding for workforce retraining and a $134 million state-funded increase in financial aid for students.
Michigan, whose 12.6% jobless rate is the highest in the U.S., with still more auto-plant closings coming soon, launched its “No Worker Left Behind” program in August 2007. So far the state has footed the bill — up to $10,000 per displaced worker — for 61,434 unemployed Michiganders to learn the math, technology and science skills they need to embark on new careers at companies like Hemlock Semiconductor, Dow Chemical and Dow Corning, which are investing and hiring there. Also in demand: the program’s newly trained nursing assistants, physical therapists and health-care technicians.

Hopefully Senator Casey’s proposed legislation will quickly be approved, in congress, since it won’t be long before our long awaited veterans will finally be returning home and will be in direr need of employment.

The following video concerning outsourcing is a revolutionary twist on outsourcing. American workers have themselves gotten into the act of sending their jobs overseas. For example; there are tasks, such as proof reading that could be accomplished overseas as well as it could be done in the office back in the states, thus allowing more time, useful energy and increased productivity to be devoted to other, more important tasks. Give the video a watch it’s interesting.

More American Workers Outsourcing Own Jobs Overseas

The following video concerning outsourcing is a revolutionary twist on outsourcing. American workers have themselves gotten into the act of sending their jobs overseas. For example; there are tasks, such as proof reading that could be accomplished overseas as well as it could be done in the office back in the states, thus allowing more time, useful energy and increased productivity to be devoted to other, more important tasks. Give the video a watch it’s interesting.

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Deforestation

Southern Cross — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 02:42:16 EDT

Between May 2000 and August 2006, Brazil lost nearly 150,000 square kilometres of forest?an area larger than Greece?and since 1970, over 600,000 square kilometres (232,000 square miles) of Amazon rainforest have been destroyed.

Deforestation practices around the world are NOT going to stop no matter how bad the figures look. The truth is we need the timber for houses, furniture paper etc. The only thing that's going to slow the deforestation of the Amazon forest is the Y3000 Plan.

Continue reading Deforestation

Bars of the Helpless

Tom Awtry — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:55:11 EDT

It’s become a depressingly predictable event. Every few months, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), a branch of the US Department of Justice, releases new figures showing that the US prison and jail population has grown yet again and has reached a new all-time high. The latest statistics, released last week, show that as of June 30, 2008, more than 2.3 million people were behind bars in this country — an increase of almost 20 percent just since 2000. This gives the United States an incarceration rate of 762 per 100,000 residents - the highest rate in the world, dwarfing those of other democracies like Great Britain (152 per 100,000), Canada (116), and Japan (63).

The aforementioned is quoted from an article appearing within the Huffington Post, entitled: “Prison Nation” and authored by David C. Fathi. This ever increasing prison population demands immediate action as to “why” our country is producing so many incarcerated individuals within our society and “how” can prevent this increasing trend of penalized peoples.

Mr. Fathi’s article also sites:

Of course incarceration doesn’t affect everyone equally. Black men in the United States are 6.6 times more likely than white men to be incarcerated. More than 10 percent of all black males ages 25 to 39 were in prison or jail as of June 30, 2008. And a 2006 BJS study showed that prisons and jails have become the new asylums, with more than half of all prisoners suffering from mental health problems like major depression and psychotic disorders.
It wasn’t always like this. For much of the 20th century, the US incarceration rate remained fairly stable. It began to climb sharply in the late 1970s, as a result of policy changes like mandatory minimum sentencing and the widespread abolition of parole. In the 1980s and 1990s, the “war on drugs” and “three strikes” laws fueled further growth. More people were going to prison, and staying there for longer periods of time. By 2004, the incarcerated population was six times what it had been in 1972.
Contrary to popular belief, the growing prison population has little or nothing to do with an increase in crime. In fact, crime rates fell steadily between 1991 and 2006, eventually reaching levels not seen since the 1960s. Yet the incarceration rate increased by more than 50 percent in that same period. It’s clear, then, that political choice, not crime, has given the United States its massive prison and jail population.

As you can read, our past political environment seems to account for these numbers and hopefully will begin to decrease once attention is directed by our President to these alarming statistics.

Our dysfunctional criminal justice system has been a long time in the making, and no one should have any illusions that it will be fixed overnight. But a National Criminal Justice Commission would be an important first step toward ending our shameful status as the world’s leading prison nation.

The following video presents Janet Reno, former Attorney General in the Clinton Administration presenting her views on concerns within our present day legal system.

Janet Reno: Improving the Legal System

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A few points about the racist UN - Durban "anti-racism" conference

Natalia from Acampo, CA — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 03:38:40 EDT

A few points about the racist UN - Durban "anti-racism" conference

1) When will Arab racists & Islamic bigots let go of the UN and stop hijacking it with it's lobbies (silencing Arab racist genocide in Darfur, yet daming innocent Israelis who merely try to survive)?

2) Why is Arab terror singling out Jews not racist?

3) Why is the essence of the entire "conflict'" in the M.E. not a form of bigotry by Arab Muslims who can't "accept" the non Arab non Muslim pluralistic democratic Israel?

4) Are Jews living, or even allowed to live in racist "Palestinian" controlled territories (Judenrein - ethnic cleaning)?

5) When will lefty radicals (Meretz/B'Tzelem) talk about preferential treatments to Arabs OVER Jews inside Israel, like in Hebron and in other cases?

6) Why are (Arab Palestinian or Hezbollah) the ones using its own kids as cannon fodders considered "innocent victims"?

7) Is Israel battling just terrorism or an ARAB MUSLIM CAMPAIGN OF GENOCIDE since the 1920's?

8) Since Muslim nations (OIC & Iran) push to criminalize criticism of Islamists' bigotry, doesn't it mean that anything being said in that conference is the opposite of tolerance and of truth?

9) How can the UN avoid the largest practitioner of racism, which is Arabism (against: Kurds, Berbers, Africans, Jews, Assyrians, Asians, etc.), but focuses on the so called "anti-Arab racism"?
[ http://geocities.com/panarabism - Arabism is racism! ]

10) How more racist can the Durban-conference get, If the two oppressive regimes: Libya & Iran are the "stars"?
Libya - whose Muamar Qaddafi (besides his own persecution of non-Arabs, especially blacks in his country) the one of the champions in today's racist Arabization, and Arabist racism against Africa (whose "vision" has been compared to Hitler's "lebensraum"), in: Chad, Nigeria, etc., ultimately his crimes in the Sudan region helped in leading the current Al-Bashir's genocide on Millions of Africans (financed mainly by Libya and S. Arabia).
Iran, the regime of Islamic bigotry's oppression on its own population with an added special persecution on all on-Muslims: Christians, Baha'i, Jews, etc. or on non-"pure-Persians" like: Ahwazi - Arabs, Kurds, Azeris, Baluchis, etc. now under the leadership of: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [EichmannJihad - the Islamic Hitler] who plays as if he "denies" the holocaust only in order to prepare for (his wishful) the second, "wiping off Israel".
Thus, the shame of the UN, kidnapped by the epitome of intolerance today, the infamous twin fascism: Arab racism, as in Gadhafi, and Islamic bigotry as in Amadinejad, are going to be "preaching" (and determine) to the world on tolerance.

My blog is at http://mark.baland.net/blog .

markbaland — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 17:51:31 EDT

My blog is at http://mark.baland.net/blog .

vThe Speaker of Georgian Parliament called on the opposition not to create a self-defense units

Unknown user — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 18:03:55 EDT

Georgian opposition creates a self-defense units. Speaker discourages
Chairman of Georgian Parliament David Bakradze called on opposition leaders to abandon the idea of creating self-defense units to protect participants of protest actions, which take place on 9 April in Tbilisi.

"We already have the experience, when in 1992 the civil war in Tbilisi has started with the establishment of self-defense units, so the appeal to the leaders of the opposition - is responsible to take this idea," - said Bakradze, commenting on the establishment in the capital of Together.

It should be noted, members of the organization declared the beginning of patrols of the vicinity of protests at the residence of the head of state buildings, the Parliament and the Public Television. Under the plan, to patrol the territory will be the group of ten men.

Barradze has instructed the leadership of the MVD strengthen police patrol in the center of Tbilisi that the opposition did not fear, and ultimately do not create self-defense units.

Recall, according to the Georgian human rights organizations, since 9 April, a group of youths beat up more than 50 opposition supporters who were returning at night to picket their homes. The attackers, they said, moved to the black jeep with the shaded glasses, without numbers. Opposition leaders accused the police even in the establishment of punitive squads, beating the rally participants.

As reported, the Easter holiday period, shares in Tbilisi will continue, but will not be extensive. Participants in the rally will continue to demand the resignation of President Mikhail Saakashvili. molten colossus 10th amendment julia allison nfl schedule jamie foxx miley cyrus deadly boss mods forteo true renewal oscar de la hoya british idol pettifogger women for hire brian regan the rose lyrics pig book brooklyn decker emalon the storm watcher william hurt curse gaming quotes about people fighting cancer helmut newton nl pork shoulder carnita recipe blisters on gums in mouth diagram of earthworms digestive system blue tick beagle puppies swelling under arm and shoulder what s your japanese zodiac lego ghost rider corvairs for sale buy goldeneye n64 meaning of the word grendel eimac vacuum tube pandapple plush for sale blend letters and letter patterns what words end in ery ity ment is arizona is legal state to have medica free skins for gta vc flip flop thong rubber submissive transformation of energy dizziness and dry eyes jon gosselin having an affair be mine valentine animated gif cam inside vagina letra cursiva em tattoo artis payudara besar where can i find norton activation key abdul rahman sudais mp3 bhop for css download fee antivirus fit nude women outdoor night three people game bitesze games serial key na norton antivirus 2009 how to make bunnies with the keys sql hash wikipedia alfabeto letras manuscritas examples of rhyming slogans nav product key example story with script igrica grid driver generic camera fancy types of writing handball games for pc cantilever scope mount quick heal.com long penis vw trike process pixos template designs ghetto keyboard symbols keyboard heart symbol www.freecookingmamagames.com adult game download -torrent free florida breeders bill ben 10 gentai how to know the pin of an account in cab myspace banners imajenes de maura rivera canon digital brochure how to make rs private servers windows xp activation code keygen free apology letter sample tb negative example of receipt creatures with seven letters skirt outline httpfdp-sa.com2312.html acknowledgment of a job hack headshot cf netherland dwarf bunnies princess castle birthday cake pictures layout myspace graffiti norton anti virus bootable cd dreadful clipart hairstyles a4ld transmission nagra vision cervical abrasion front yard hill landscaping quran juhani

The race card by Arab Muslim bigots at the UN (Durban II)

Natalia from Acampo, CA — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 02:26:34 EDT

The race card by Arab Muslim bigots at the UN (Durban II)

Even though it’s really Islamism that is the epitome of bigotry and it’s Arabism that Equals Racism against all non-Arabs, including: Kurds, Berbers, Jews (not only inside Israel), Persians, Africans (not only the millions of victims in Sudan), etc. and as an Arab admitted the true Nature of the Twin Fascisms of Islamism and Pan-Arabism’ that dominates the Arab Muslim world , yet the UN, in its Durban proclaiming to be an anti-racism forum, bows to the Arab Muslim lobby control to ignore the above but concentrate rather on anti-Arabism and Islamophobia, both terms which have been used as tools by Islamists to gage any criticism of intolerance in the Arab-Muslim world (and radicals have been politicizing genuine feelings, to call true fear of terror as “racism” ).

______________

Kicking Israel Around [Anne Bayefsky] April 07, 2009 What’s behind all this? The OIC countries are locked in a struggle with EU states over the ability to stifle free speech (such as “defaming” Islam) in the name of protecting religion. The Russian move helps the OIC nations by letting them use the anti-semitism clause as a bargaining chip, to be played in exchange for the EU’s allowing free-speech restrictions. In a related issue, the Danish are unhappy with the mention of something the U.N. invented called “anti-Arabism.” That phrase has been inserted in the paragraph about discrimination in the form of Islamophobia, Christianophobia and anti-semitism. But the rest of the EU has told the Danes to get lost, on the grounds that if the EU proposes deleting anti-Arabism, the OIC will insist on deleting anti-semitism. As EU officials explain to observers, “We want to show restraint.”

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Mzk3YjI3NDQxNDMzYzE1ZTQ4NzY4ZjU4Y2VkNTE4ZTI=

Human Rights of Non-believers, Apostates and Free-thinkers “The terms belief and religion are to be broadly construed”. General Comment 22 on Article 18, United Nations Human Rights Committee, 1993. We find paragraph 10 of the draft outcome document to be deeply flawed in that it singles out only Christians, Jews and Muslims as named victims of “phobias”. Furthermore, while the term “Islamophobia”, for example, is undefined, it is used to falsely equate disdain for or opposition to Islam with intolerance of, or violence and hatred towards the believer. Secondly, no mention is made in paragraph 10 of discrimination, intolerance and violence towards non-believers, Polytheists, apostates, and free-thinkers. Yet the human rights of non-believers, free-thinkers and those of other faiths are systematically denied in many parts of the world, and many face discrimination, abuse and even death. We urge delegations to recognise that all are entitled to protection from discrimination, whatever their belief or lack of belief. We therefore respectfully suggest either that the list of specific types of discrimination be deleted from paragraph 10, or the list be expanded to include non-believers, polytheists, apostates and free-thinkers. We are equally concerned that anti-Arabism is included in the list, while no mention is made of the anti-Westernism endemic in many parts of the world. Again, we would respectfully suggest that either the reference to anti-Arabism be deleted or that the list should be extended to include anti-Westernism. Our preferred text, which we respectfully offer to delegations, then becomes: 10. Recognizes with deep concern the negative stereotyping of religions, beliefs and non-beliefs, and the global rise in the number of incidents of racial or religious intolerance and violence. With, as an alternative: 10. Recognizes with deep concern the negative stereotyping of religion, beliefs, and non-beliefs, and the global rise in the number of incidents of racial or religious intolerance and violence, including Judeophobia, Christianophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Arabism, anti-Westernism and intolerance and violence towards non-believers, polytheists, apostates and free-thinkers.

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/025617.php

Islamic Agenda: “Defamation of Religion” The Islamic Group (Pakistan) stated, “Defamation is not about freedom of expression, but the abuse of this freedom.” Iran was very active throughout the week, taking the floor more than any other country on this issue. It consistently advocated “elaborating” legislation to fight racism, proposing further, “Model legislation on the necessity of upholding respect for…reputation, public morals as well as incitement to racial and religious hatred [code for defamation].” As the debate on defamation was getting underway, the chair asked two journalists to leave the room, explaining that members of two regional groups had requested that the cameras be removed from the room in that they have had adequate time for filming. The journalists were from the French-German cultural channel ARTE and were making a documentary about the human rights debate at the UN. Pakistan, South Africa, and Egypt expressed their concerns that these journalists would engage in “selective interpretation” of the discussion. Counter-terrorism, Islamophobia Pakistan wanted to include even more language to equate counter-terrorism with racism. Pakistan, Algeria, and Iran also wanted the words, “Islamophobia” and “anti-Arabism” to remain in the document.

http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1316871&ct=6645721&printmode=1

Njanraj

Unknown user — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:21:34 EDT

Nabahe acaeka

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Obama heads to Mexico amid escalating drug violence

Unknown user — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 04:52:24 EDT

Obama recently announced a crackdown on border violence and on the smuggling of cash and weapons into Mexico -- a step that could mark an end to a blame game over where responsibility for the violence lies.

The president recently designated three Mexican organizations, which he says are involved in drug trafficking, to face hefty financial sanctions under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday.

The law, signed by President Bill Clinton in December 1999, authorizes the president to impose penalties against foreign drug kingpins -- and organizations that do business with them, according to the Treasury Department.

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Obama heads to Mexico amid escalating drug violence

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Going Beyond the Limits Surveillance

Tom Awtry — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:21:21 EDT

Admittedly before 911 we were open to terrorists and we’ve paid dearly for our lacks and arrogant mistakes in many ways; loss of life of those involved in the twin towers attack, individual freedoms, increased taxes, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and international embarrassment on the Bush’s administration policies regarding torture to name a few.

However, we keep reading and hearing, for the past five years, how we’re “winning” the “War on Terror”, and reading an article such as this posted in the New York Times, entitled “N.S.A.’s Intercepts Exceed Limits Set by Congress”, authored by Eric Lichtblau and James Risen is disturbing to me.

I was taught and agree with the fact; we live in a country governed by the “Rule of Law”, which to me implies our laws were authored for one sole purpose and to prosecute those who break this intended law. Not to use the congressional passed legislation to uncover personal information concerning individuals for storage in a National Database and used for unknown purposes.

Here are a few excerpts from the Post article which I feel are significant:

The National Security Agency intercepted private e-mail messages and phone calls of Americans in recent months on a scale that went beyond the broad legal limits established by Congress last year, government officials said in recent interviews.
Several intelligence officials, as well as lawyers briefed about the matter, said the N.S.A. had been engaged in “overcollection” of domestic communications of Americans. They described the practice as significant and systemic, although one official said it was believed to have been unintentional.
The Justice Department, in response to inquiries from The New York Times, acknowledged in a statement on Wednesday night that there had been problems with the N.S.A. surveillance operation, but said they had been resolved.
The questions may not be settled yet. Intelligence officials say they are still examining the scope of the N.S.A. practices, and Congressional investigators say they hope to determine if any violations of Americans’ privacy occurred. It is not clear to what extent the agency may have actively listened in on conversations or read e-mail messages of Americans without proper court authority, rather than simply obtained access to them
After a contentious three-year debate that was set off by the disclosure in 2005 of the program of wiretapping without warrants that President George W. Bush approved after the Sept. 11 attacks, Congress gave the N.S.A. broad new authority to collect, without court-approved warrants, vast streams of international phone and e-mail traffic as it passed through American telecommunications gateways. The targets of the eavesdropping had to be “reasonably believed” to be outside the United States. Under the new legislation, however, the N.S.A. still needed court approval to monitor the purely domestic communications of Americans who came under suspicion.
One official said that led the agency to inadvertently “target” groups of Americans and collect their domestic communications without proper court authority. Officials are still trying to determine how many violations may have occurred.
Notified of the problems by the N.S.A., officials with both the House and Senate intelligence committees said they had concerns that the agency had ignored civil liberties safeguards built into last year’s wiretapping law. “We have received notice of a serious issue involving the N.S.A., and we’ve begun inquiries into it,” a Congressional staff member said.
And in one previously undisclosed episode, the N.S.A. tried to wiretap a member of Congress without a warrant, an intelligence official with direct knowledge of the matter said.
Following is a video I produced during President Obama’s Presidential campaign, which I feel outlines the problems associated with the FISA legislation:

Senators Obama, Clinton, McCain - The Patriot Act

As one can surmise it is my personal feelings that in the coming November election we will be voting for Senators Obama, Clinton or McCain to be our next President. Also, it is my sincere hope that this newly elected president will restore many of the personal liberties, we as citizens of America have given up over the past eight years.

One example of surrendering our liberty, and for me the most important, is our Patriot Act. If I resided or visited a country outside the United States, and this country was on our country’s “watch” list, as being hostile to America; then I would fully support our current Patriot Act, has authored. But, me visiting a “friendly” country, to our nation and electronically communicating to my family, friends or work from this country, then I deem this an uncalled and unjustified surveillance an invasion of my privacy.

Over the past six months I have attempted to follow all the candidates closely through their web sites, televised debates (via the Internet wire services) and YouTube; but really do not have a clear understanding of their feelings on this issue. I am not expecting any direct response from any of these three aforementioned candidates, but would like clarification stated within their respective web sites’.

The video, produced by the ACLU and distributed by iTV presents our two governmental agencies that facilitate the usage of the Patriot Act and how it is implemented to monitor our electronic communications.

Additional postings regarding this topic and others may be found here:

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Torturing Democracy – The Film

Tom Awtry — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:33:33 EDT

Film and video documentaries are beginning to roll out regarding the Bush years of echoing continuous threats to our livelihoods if we didn’t adhere, allow and fellow our vice assistant leader Dick Cheney and his chief adviser on torture assistant Mr. John Yoo, (John can recalled here and here to refresh your memories).

The latest and most popular is entitled “Torturing Democracy” and has been awarded the RFK Journalism Award, where the awards committee calls the film “The definitive broadcast account of a deeply troubling chapter in recent American history”.

National Security Archive Update, April 14, 2009:

Washington, DC - Today, the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights announced that “Torturing Democracy” has won a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for domestic television and is a finalist for the grand prize. Produced and written by eight-time Emmy winner and National Security Archive fellow Sherry Jones, the RFK Center called the documentary film on the Bush administration’s interrogation and detention policies “the definitive broadcast account of a deeply troubling chapter in recent American history.”

From the RFK Center’s Web site:

“Domestic Television Winner: “Torturing Democracy”, Sherry Jones, Washington Media Associates: Meticulous reporting unravels the inside story of how torture was adopted by the U.S. government as official policy in the aftermath of 9/11. With exclusive interviews, explosive documents and rare archival footage, the documentary has been called the definitive broadcast account of a deeply troubling chapter in recent American history.”
The entire film can be viewed at the companion Web site, www.torturingdemocracy.org, along with key documents, a detailed timeline, the full annotated transcript of the show, and lengthy transcripts of major interviews carried out for the film. Hosted by the National Security Archive at George Washington University, the Web site will ultimately include a complete “Torture Archive” of primary sources.

Please consider giving the website a visit and reviewing this timely and informative film, it’s definitely worth a “watch”.

Prior to the just released nine memos of Bush Administration regarding torture, the following seven highly censored documents were released in the fall of 2008. All furnished documents are in pdf format:

Memo from John Yoo to Tim Flanigan - September 25 2001

Memo John Yoo to William Haynes - January 9, 2002

Letter from John Yoo to Alberto Gonzales - August 1 2002

Action Memo to Secretary Rumsfeld - November 27 2002

Memo from Alberto Gonzales to President Bush - January 25 2002

Colin Powell Memo to Alberto Gonzales - January 26 2002

Memo from Jay Bybee to Alberto Gonzales - February 7 2002

The following uploaded documents were just released by the Justice Department on the 16 of April 09:

Memorandum Regarding Applicability of 18 USC - 4001-a to Military Detention of United States Citizens 06-27-2002

Memorandum Regarding Authority for Use of Military Force to Combat Terrorist Activities within the United States 10-23-2001at-terrorist-activities-within-the-united-states-10-23-2001

Memorandum Regarding Authority of the President to Suspend Certain Provisions of the ABM Treaty 11-15-2001

Memorandum Regarding Constitutionality of Amending Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to Change the -Purpose- Standard for Searches 09-25-2001gence-surveillance-act-to-change-the-purpose-standard-for-searches-09-25-2001

Memorandum Regarding Determination of Enemy Belligerency and Military Detention 06-08-2002

Memorandum Regarding October 23 2001 OLC Opinion Addressing the Domestic Use of Military Force to Combat Terrorist Activities 10-06-2008

Memorandum Regarding Status of Certain OLC Opinions Issued in the Aftermath of the Terrorist Attacks of September 11 2001 - 01-15-2009

Memorandum Regarding Swift Justice Authorization Act 04-08-2002

Memorandum Regarding the President’s Power as Commander in Chief to Transfer Captured Terrorists to the Control and Custody of Foreign Nations 03-13-2002

Update 16 Apr 09:

Richard Armitage On Torture: I Should Have Resigned From Bush Administration (Video)
Ryan Grim | HuffPost Reporting From DC

Richard Armitage, the second in command at the State Department under President Bush, told Al Jazeera English in an interview to be aired Thursday that had he known then what he knows now about the torture of detainees, the right thing to do would have been to resign.

“I hope, had I known about it at the time I was serving, I would’ve had the courage to resign,” Armitage said in an interview, according to a transcript provided to the Huffington Post.

Armitage: ‘Maybe I should have quit’

Richard Armitage, the former US Deputy Secretary of State, tells Avi Lewis on Al Jazeera’s Fault Lines why he should have resigned from the Bush administration over its lack of respect for the Geneva conventions.

From Fault Lines, a new show on Al Jazeera English hosted by Avi Lewis and Josh Rushing.

The first episode examines the Obama administration’s emerging policies on detention, rendition and torture.

Will Obama Block Release of Key Bush-era Torture Memos?

Huffington Post | Jeremy Scahill

On several occasions, Obama has invoked the “state secrets” doctrine, including to argue that a lawsuit filed against the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping should be thrown out.

Updates 16 & 17 April:

Statement of President Barack Obama on Release of OLC Memos
The White House | Office of the Press Secretary

The Department of Justice will today release certain memos issued by the Office of Legal Counsel between 2002 and 2005 as part of an ongoing court case. These memos speak to techniques that were used in the interrogation of terrorism suspects during that period, and their release is required by the rule of law.

Obama To Release CIA Interrogation Memos, Defends State Secrets
TIME | Posted by michaelscherer

The big news is that at any moment now, the world should know the contents of the once-secret memos that governed President Bush’s harsh interrogation program. The smaller news is that President Obama is further embracing his invocation of “states secrets” to attempt to derail lawsuits over the potentially illegal acts of the Bush Administration. According to a just-released statement.

CIA Off The Hook For Past Waterboarding
from CBSNews.com

The Obama administration on Thursday informed CIA officials who used waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics on terror suspects that they will not be prosecuted, senior administration officials told The Associated Press.

Obama: Memo release a weighty decision
from Politico by Josh Gerstein,Mike Allen

Obama consulted officials from the Justice Department, the CIA, the director of National Intelligence and the DHS.

Obama consulted widely on memos
from Politico by Mike Allen

Axelrod says Obama considered it “a weighty decision.”

Annals of Torture: End Of The Story?
from CBSNews.com

It was a great day for Alberto Gonzales, John Yoo, and Jay Bybee. Those ignominious men and dozens more learned that they would be spared from prosecution either here in the United States, where they formulated our odious torture policies.

Update 18 Apr 09:

Harsh Interrogation Tactics Revealed in Torture Memos
from ABC News: Home Page

Memos detail use of insects, confinement boxes and waterboards under Bush.

Ex-CIA Chiefs Slowed Torture Memos Release
from Huffington Post | PAMELA HESS | April 17, 2009 04:48 PM EST

The Obama administration’s release of classified Bush-era memos on harsh CIA interrogations was delayed for nearly a month in part because of strenuous objections from four former intelligence directors.

Expedience and the Torture Amnesty
from Huffington Post | David Bromwich | Professor of Literature at Yale

President Obama’s statement on releasing the Bush-era torture memos is a curious and depressing document, but it bears the marks of having been revised with care by the president himself. He takes the occasion to assure the country that a dark age has passed. At the same time he assures the agents of that darkness that they will be exempt from prosecution. The statement betrays an odd mixture of frankness and caution; the appearance of resolution, with a good deal of actual equivocation; a wish to channel the conspicuous truth to one’s own cause without revealing a disadvantageous quantity of truth.

Bush Torture Memos: Commercial Diets Used As Justification
Sam Stein | Huffingtonpost.com

In an effort to rationalize the use of dietary manipulation on detainees, Bush administration officials turned to Slim Fast and Jenny Craig.

In a footnote to a May 10, 2005, memorandum from the Office of Legal Council, the Bush attorney general’s office argued that restricting the caloric intake of terrorist suspects to 1000 calories a day was medically safe because people in the United States were dieting along those lines voluntarily.

U.N. Official: No Pass For Torturers
from CBSNews.com

President Barack Obama’s decision not to prosecute CIA operatives who used questionable interrogation practices violates international law, the U.N.’s top torture investigator said.

Additional postings regarding this topic and others may be found here:

The Democratic Party is Finally Back

Tom Awtry — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:41:08 EDT

In a Huffington Post article by Thomas B. Edsall, entitled “Permanent Democratic Majority: New Study Says Yes”, Mr. Edsall points out two areas of growth in the Democratic Party:

The increasing numbers of black and Hispanic voters
A decisive shift away from the Republican Party by the suburban and well-educated constituencies that once formed the backbone of the GOP

As quoted from the article:

In a March, 2009 51-page paper [PDF] “New Progressive America: Twenty Years of Demographic, Geographic, and Attitudinal Changes Across the Country Herald a New Progressive Majority,” Ruy Teixeira makes a strong case that “progressive arguments are in the ascendancy,” that demographic and geographic “trends should take America down a very different road than has been traveled in the last eight years. A new progressive America is on the rise.”
To further buttress his case, Teixeira has put together “a very cool interactive map that includes 7 levels of exit poll demographics and county-level vote shifts going back to 1988.”

The only slightly negative point in the report was stated: “The only circumstances that could bring back the Republicans is Obama’s failure to stem the recession.”

“Obama does have to succeed, and so far, he’s pretty much on the right track, and the Republicans are definitely not. That suggests to me that he and the Democrats will be able to solidify their majority in 2010 and 2012,” Judis said. “But again, I don’t fully understand what is going on in the world, and events could defy demography.”

Again a quote from the report:

Perhaps the strongest evidence in support of the Teixeira-Judis-Abramowitz thesis is, however, the current inability of the Republican Party to respond to market pressures. Defeat has, ironically, diminished the GOP’s capacity to respond to loss. As the elected leadership gets smaller, the strength of the most dogmatically rigid and least elastic faction has grown. On issues running the gamut from immigration to the economy, this dominant faction has yet to demonstrate “a wonderful corrective” in reaction to losing. Instead, they have retreated further inside an ideological shell that began to show cracks — Bush I in ‘92, Dole in ‘96, and Bush v. Gore — well over a decade ago.

Additional postings regarding this topic and others may be found here:

Islamic Pirates & Jihad - Terror Connection

Maria from New York, NY — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 03:49:13 EDT

Islamic Pirates & Jihad - Terror ConnectionSomalia Standoff Generates US Policy Debate
Voice of America - ‎Apr 10, 2009‎
US officials said the group, which controls parts of Somalia, poses a dilemma. They point to its rapid expansion, ties between its leaders and the al-Qaida ...
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-04-11-voa12.cfmThe Pirates Challenge Obama's Pre-9/11 Mentality
Wall Street Journal - ‎Apr 10, 2009‎
As the eminent military historian Sir Michael Howard argued shortly after 9/11, the status of al Qaeda terrorists is to be found in a distinction first made ...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123940383654409651.htmlSomali Pirates Tied to Jihad
Intellectual Conservative - ‎Apr 8, 2009‎
Since 2003, Somalia has witnessed the growth of a brutal network of Jihad with strong ties to Al-Qaeda. In fact, when the US forces faced a bloody battle in ...
http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2009/04/08/somali-pirates-tied-to-jihad/---Commentary: Take fight to the pirates
CNN - ‎Apr 9, 2009‎
It is time to change strategy and take the fight to the pirates, as our military predecessors did with great success more than 200 years ago.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/04/09/wilkerson.pirates/Harper's Magazine - ‎Apr 9, 2009‎
Unconventional warfare, against an unconventional enemy. What a novel idea. We handled things better 200 years ago!
http://harpers.org/archive/2009/04/hbc-90004751Lessons From the Barbary Pirate Wars
New York Times - ‎April 10, 2009‎
We’re talking about the Barbary Wars, about 200 years ago, when pirates from the Barbary Coast (today’s Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya) hijacked ...http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/weekinreview/12gettleman.html?ref=africaSomalia: Direct connections about Somali pirates and Islamic extremists
Djibouti (HAN) April 10th, 2009 - Unied states regional based military officials and the Somalia Minister for Fisheries Professor Abdulrahman Ibbi, have found no direct ties between the Somalia Coast pirates and the International Islamic terrorist groups, such as Al-qa'ida or Al-Shabab, but continue to search for signs of links between the two factions in the wake of the Indian Ocean hostage incident; that is close of the Somali city of Kismayo, run by Al-Shabab and Al-Itihad groups. It was not clear whether officials were specifically scrutinizing the Somali pirates who boarded the Maersk Alabama on Tuesday and fled in a lifeboat after taking hostage the cargo ship's captain.
http://www.geeskaafrika.com/somalia_10apr09.htmSOMALIA: Why The Pirates Are Immune From Attack
Strategy Page - ‎Apr 9, 2009‎
There are over a thousand gunmen attached to pirate gangs in the north, although the group operating off the east coast pay "taxes" to al Shabaab for the ...
http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/somalia/articles/20090409.aspx---October 02, 2008
al Qaida + Pirates = Jihad on the High Seas
Al Qaida has claimed responsibility for the increased pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia this year. So far this year there have been around 60 attacks against cargo ships in the Gulf of Aden, in 2007 there was 13. The islamic pirates are currently holding up to 300 crewmen hostage and 14 cargo ships for ransom.
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/194284.phpSomali pirates: Islamist insurgents demand weapons from hijacked ...Oct 6, 2008 ... The Islamist gunmen from the al Shabaab group opposing Somalia's weak ... British tourists narrowly avoid being captured by Somali pirates ...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/somalia/3140884/Somali-pirates-Islamist-insurgents-demand-weapons-from-hijacked-ship.html

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