Make Democracy Money Proof

"At the end of the day, if you could deliver votes to politicians much more cheaply and effectively, in fact close to free,the problems wouldn't go away, but they'd be less severe. We may have a window of opportunity to change the system." [Sean]Parker said

Hey Erwin Listen up

Today

A forum prompted by the Christian Peacemakers Teams’ weeklong delegation against depleted uranium usage at Aerojet Ordnance was held at East Tennessee State University Tuesday.

Several individuals spoke out against DU and the harmful side effects suffered by those who come in contact with it. There also was talk about the soil and water samples released by CPT earlier this week, which showed traces of DU in Limestone Creek downstream of Aerojet Ordnance, as well as in the soil of non-residential and residential areas near the facility.

The CPT is planning an occupation of Aerojet, 1367 Old State Route 34, on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m.

“It can pierce the armor on tanks and take out underground bunkers, but it doesn’t treat the human body very nicely and that’s its handicap,” said Cliff Kindy, coordinator for the CPT depleted uranium campaign. “If anything’s going to change in Iraq, we’ve got to do the work here. What would it take to stop the production of depleted uranium weapons?”

Gathering support while educating others about DU was part of the forum’s focus. Ann Harris, executive director of whistleblower support group We The People, discussed the complex stages involved before DU munitions can be made.

“When they (the military) eject depleted uranium out of any Abrams tank or out of any facility, 70 percent of it goes into a big cloud of dust and you’re breathing it in.”

Another speaker, John Paul Hasko, said contact with DU has taken the life of at least one of his former co-workers at Aerojet. With the health of locals, especially children, on his mind, Hasko called for Aerojet to pay for an epidemiological study of the graduating classes of David Crockett High School from 1977 to 1997.

“Do you know what the real problem is with DU? We humans don’t have a four and a half billion year half life, we only have this life to make it right for the children,” Hasko said.

During Kindy’s talk, he mentioned that Aerojet was invited to the Uranium Weapons Production in Our Own Backyard forum, but didn’t not attend.

“Why wouldn’t they talk about what they’re doing?” he said. “If they’re selling a good product, certainly the community would be happy to know what they’re doing.”

Retired Army Maj. Doug Rokke was originally scheduled as the keynote speaker, but severe health issues kept him from making the trip from Illinois. He served as the former director of the Army’s DU project and says interaction with it has given him upper respiratory problems, cataracts, fibromyalgia and osteoporosis.

Robbie and Somer Seaton of Afton attended the forum in order to learn more about DU and possibly join the CPT and its delegation against Aerojet. Since their 9-year-old son Memphis died of an adult brain tumor five months ago, the couple is searching to figure out why he developed the tumor as well as why Robbie’s father suffered lung cancer and why many of their livestock and pets have developed cancer.

“Our whole cause is to find answers and protect other children,” Somer said. “And so everything we went through wasn’t in vain.”

At the occupation of Aerojet on Saturday, the CPT will look at alternatives for the facility and listen to stories from veterans.

“I think we need to begin to put this together and to understand it in ways that we don’t at this point,” Kindy said. “You’re going to be the people that make those changes, it’s not going to happen without you.”

Read more: http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/News/article.php?id=95308#ixzz1cEDHCk00

meanwhile just over the mountain in Asheville

Get out the history books, this is Howard Zinns 'History as a weapon'

Chapter 1: Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress

Arawak men and women, naked, tawny, and full of wonder, emerged from their villages onto the island's beaches and swam out to get a closer look at the strange big boat. When Columbus and his sailors came ashore, carrying swords, speaking oddly, the Arawaks ran to greet them, brought them food, water, gifts. He later wrote of this in his log:

They ... brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned... . They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features.... They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane... . They would make fine servants.... With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.

These Arawaks of the Bahama Islands were much like Indians on the mainland, who were remarkable (European observers were to say again and again) for their hospitality, their belief in sharing. These traits did not stand out in the Europe of the Renaissance, dominated as it was by the religion of popes, the government of kings, the frenzy for money that marked Western civilization and its first messenger to the Americas, Christopher Columbus.

Columbus wrote:

As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts.

Today our people are united with the Occupy Wall Street around the country and this is their statement;

  The indigenous platform calls for recognition of Indigenous Peoples right to self-determination, the repeal of the papal bull Inter Caetera (1493), and the repeal of the Columbus Day holiday among other items.

Another Report, you best read (follow link)

found at Huffington Post .... Of the 1,714 Americans nationwide surveyed by the Waco, Texas-based Baptist university, 40.9 percent said they "strongly agree" that "God has a plan for me," while 32.2 percent "agree," 12.3 percent "disagree" and 14.6 percent "strongly disagree." Those who strongly agree that God has a plan were more than twice as likely as those who strongly disagree that God has a plan to say that "the government does too much" -- 52.6 percent to 21 percent.

Similarly, the strong believers in God's plan were more than twice as likely as the strong disbelievers to say that healthy people should not receive unemployment benefits -- 52.6 percent to 21.1 percent.

Generally, "people who believe in government deregulation believe in God's plan," said Baylor researcher Paul Froese. "Economic perspectives are intricately linked with different cosmologies."

The survey also showed a relation between income and belief in God's plan, with the strong disbelievers being more than twice as likely as the strong believers to make $100,000 or more a year. A similar, albeit somewhat weaker, connection was found between education level and religious belief. While 42.6 percent of the strong disbelievers had earned a college degree, just 32.8 percent of the strong believers had.

The Baylor survey appears amidst a debate on what lessons politicians should draw from religion to address issues such as the nation's deficit. On the one hand, religious voices such as Sojourners, a Washington, D.C.-based evangelical organization, have called for "shared sacrifice" among Americans to help the "least of these," a phrase drawn from Matthew 25:45. At the same time, others have advocated what's called the "prosperity gospel," which includes the belief that God will provide and financially bless those who believe.

States Shortchange The Unemployed With Junk Debit Card Fees: Study

Tennessee stands out for having the card with the most "junk fees," the study says. Tennessee's card, provided by JPMorgan Chase, charges $1 for initial ATM withdrawals, 40 cents for balance inquiries, and 25 cents whenever someone swipes the card at checkout. It's one of just four states that doesn't provide even one free ATM withdrawal per deposit.

Tennessee doesn't think its card's fees are junk.

"I’m not sure calling them 'junk fees' is a fair statement," said Jeff Hentschell, a spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Workforce Development, which distributes Tennessee Automated Payment cards for jobless benefits. "When you look at the context of where we were and where we are today, the fees are actually minimal compared to where people were going to cash paper checks before."

Indeed: The NCLC study itself points out that for people without bank accounts, "getting cash from a UC prepaid card will usually be cheaper than paying a check casher to cash a paper check."

Roe, GOP are peddling snake oil

Rep. Phil Roe is selling snake oil by comparing vouchers to his benefits since most seniors don’t have his retirement income. Congress members, who are mostly wealthy, can draw full pension at age 62 after just five years of service, at age 50 with 20 years service, as compared to the average senior whose retirement consists mostly of Social Security. Under the GOP plan, seniors would have high premiums, high deductibles, no guarantee of coverage, and no guarantee of a Social Security check, since this plan also begins the privatization of Social Security. They’re guaranteed the possibility of running out of voucher money before the year is up, with the result of no health care at all. They also say those of us over 55 shouldn’t be concerned since it won’t affect us, assuming this will pacify seniors. They would be wrong.

No one should be thrown to the wolves so for-profit insurance companies can make millions off senior citizens, whether it’s now or 50 years from now. This profit motive is the real reason behind this roadmap. Their claim of saving Medicare is belied by the $4 trillion in tax cuts they want to give millionaires and corporations.

Here’s a simple plan to reduce the deficit, though reducing debt is certainly a new concern to GOP members, who took a balanced budget and ran up trillions on the credit card. Roll back the Bush millionaire tax cuts, end subsidies for record-profit oil companies, raise the income cap on SS payments, allow anyone that wants to sign on the option of buying into Medicare (Medicare currently consists only of old and sick people, guaranteeing financial problems) and end the wars. Also, let’s cut back on congressional pensions and medical plans. Give them a taste of their own snake oil.

Mary Acito

Kingsport

Wonder; I second that, Give them a taste of their own snake oil. I've also wondered why John A Boehner seemed to use his emotions as a political tool, he is sincerely crying for himself I believe is his emotional crisis.

Critical Letter by Catholics Cites Boehner on Policies

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

Published: May 11, 2011

[snip-it]

More than 75 professors at Catholic University and other prominent Catholic colleges have written a pointed letter to Mr. Boehner saying that the Republican-supported budget he shepherded through the House will hurt the poor, the elderly and the vulnerable, and that he therefore has failed to uphold basic Catholic moral teachings.

“Mr. Speaker, your voting record is at variance from one of the church’s most ancient moral teachings,” the letter says. “From the apostles to the present, the magisterium of the church has insisted that those in power are morally obliged to preference the needs of the poor. Your record in support of legislation to address the desperate needs of the poor is among the worst in Congress. This fundamental concern should have great urgency for Catholic policy makers. Yet, even now, you work in opposition to it.”

The letter writers criticize Mr. Boehner’s support for a budget that cut financing for Medicare, Medicaid and the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program, while granting tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations. They call such policies “anti-life,” a particularly biting reference because the phrase is usually applied to politicians and others who support the right to abortion.

Michael Steel, a spokesman for Mr. Boehner, responded by e-mail: “The speaker will be delivering a personal, nonpolitical message at the Catholic University of America that he hopes will speak to all members of the graduating class, regardless of their backgrounds or affiliations. He is deeply honored to have been invited by C.U.A. to address the school’s graduating class, and is looking forward to receiving an honorary degree from the only Catholic college in our country that is chartered by Catholic bishops.”

Wonder

Document

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Wonder more

The bill is SB 1028 in the Senate and HB 1353 in the House.

Can anyone say 'Unconstitutional'?

Proposed law is 'nonsense,' critic says
Tennessee bill would jail Shariah followers

A proposed Tennessee law would make following the Islamic code known as Shariah law a felony, punishable by 15 years in jail.

State Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, and state Rep. Judd Matheny, R-Tullahoma, introduced the same bill in the Senate and House last week. It calls Shariah law a danger to homeland security and gives the attorney general authority to investigate complaints and decide who's practicing it.

It exempts peaceful practice of Islam but labels any adherence to Shariah law — which includes religious practices such as feet washing and prayers — as treasonous. It claims Shariah adherents want to replace the Constitution with their religious law.

Wonder more

Missionaries of Hate

Two very unrelated subjects Our land and what Betty knows best

Our lands





Betty knows best

The Last Ocean Swimming Elephant

The Last

The word Thanks implies one side giving and one side taking

I have gave and am giving this thanksgiving day, and so will I take later in the day and give thanks for what I receive. First I share Thanksgiving for me a struggle just knowing, knowing what part of my ancestry have given to all of you without that small gesture, thanks. One outcast, and one adoption later their children met and married and became us. With conscious torn, we gather later, this is what we will talk about these stories. Dear land, still today.








Democracy Now! Special: An Hour of Music and Conversation with Legendary Native American Singer-Songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie



About That Doing Unto Others Thing... by Abby Zimet

Oh my Allah. Now right-wingers are up in vociferously-defended arms because Best Buy's vast and stuff-packed Thanksgiving flyer included a little-bitty ad wishing Muslims "Happy Eid al-Adha," a holiday that 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide mark by giving to charity. Dear hate-and-fear-filled, so-called Christian folks: It's the season of understanding, even among those of us who are not you. Try, please.

"It makes perfect business sense to acknowledge and celebrate a holiday that one out of four people celebrate." - Ahmed Rehab, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

On the other side of Pakistan

When there is time, time to ask, time to search we may find another reason to the unreasonable.

Burma: It Can't Wait - Thich Nhat Hanh - Day 14 - watch more funny videos

• Buddhists: Vietnamese police try to oust famed monk's followers from second temple
• Buddhists: Vietnamese police, mob force monks from monastery
• Buddhists: Mob, police force last followers of famed monk to leave Vietnam monastery
• Tensions rise at Vietnamese pagoda as police question followers of world-famous monk
• Army says 11 killed, more than 20 wounded in 2 days of violence in restive southern Thailand
• Vietnamese official says evicting Buddhist monks just the law, not religious repression
• Buddhist channel Deep Questioning: The Kalama Sutta Comes Alive
  

Wonder endorsing, well no, examining well yes. Why?, just because. We get it.

Tennessee Tea Prescription

In the following you will get a overview any layman can understand, short and to the point, the second video more detailed you will fully know why so many are infertile, birth defects, cancer and increased health cost driving Health Care Reform. If you happen to be of the Tea Party kind, be prepared to be considerate of another kind, fast.



second more detailed, most important to view, with family and friends, become informed.



More Links:
EPA Won't Restrict Toxic Herbicide Atrazine, Despite Health Threat

NYT Terrifies Over "Weed Killers" in Water

Water. Water. Everywhere. Clean or poisoned?

EPA Broke Law Making Secret Deals with Industry

EPA Broke Law Making Secret Deals with Industry The Natural Resources Defense Council Thursday 17 February 2005 Private meetings with chemical companies violat ...

04/21/2008 - 19:51

EU Parliament Votes by Sweeping Majority to Ban Farm Pesticides

British government strongly opposed to EU measures which, say critics, may put winter vegetables such as carrots at risk. Brussels - The European parliament today voted by a sweeping majority to ...

01/27/2009 - 22:55

Bob Dole Lobbied White House to Prevent EPA Curbs on Hazardous Weed-Killer

Natural Resources Defense Council | Press Release Bob Dole Lobbied White House to Prevent EPA Curbs on Hazardous Weed-Killer Tuesday 16 December 2003 NRDC S ...

04/21/2008 - 18:47

Michael Pollan | Mass Natural

Mass Natural By Michael Pollan The New York Times Sunday 04 June 2006 "Elitist" is just about the nastiest name y ...

04/21/2008 - 20:30

Audrey Schulman | A Worried Mother Discovers the Secrets of Pesticide Testing

Do It Yourself By Audrey Schulman Grist.org Thursday 01 December 2005 A worried mother discovers the secrets of pesticide testing. ...

04/21/2008 - 20:14

Female Troubles for Wildlife Raise Human Worries

Female Troubles for Wildlife Raise Human Worries By Molly M. Ginty Women's eNews Monday 18 December 2006 Across the US, female animal ...

04/21/2008 - 20:45

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | The Junk Science of George W. Bush

Go to Original The Junk Science of George W. 0aBush By Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The 0aNation March 8, 2004 Issue As Jesuit schoolboys studying world history we ...

04/21/2008 - 18:50

Julia Olmstead | A Look at the Impacts of Biofuels Production

What About the Land? By Julia Olmstead Grist.org Tuesday 05 December 2006 A look at the impacts of biofuels production, in the U.S. ...

04/21/2008 - 20:44

Pollution Triggers Bizarre Behaviour in Animals

Pollution Triggers Bizarre Behaviour in Animals By Andy Coghlan NewScientist.com Wednesday 01 September 2004 &nbs ...

04/21/2008 - 19:39

atrazinelovers.com

Tyrone Hayes on YouTube


Spiked Tea to detour attention away from the problem humans will face for generations and generations to come, reform health care is not an option, what is an option is stopping the sick madness now. We know what causes cancers, many birth defects and premature or low birth weight and infant mortality, infertility, and ultimately high death rates. Those translate into high cost in health care, viola, the problem, cure the problem, ban atrazine in the health care reform bill, reform with truth.

• Think Progress: The Wacko Wing

• DailyKos: Take a Trip to Hawaii, Mr. Dobbs, My Treat

• Americablog: CNN defends its in-house racist, Lou Dobbs, Refuses to run ad from Media Matters.

• Crooks and Liars: Lou Dobbs and the Birthers: Mainstreaming fringe ideas for ratings eventually will catch up with you
  

• Salon.com: The right bails on Birthers

• Washington Monthly: Dobbs gets creative in his criticism

• Think Progress: CNN’s Howard Kurtz Criticizes CNN’s Lou Dobbs For Giving Airtime To ‘Birther’ Conspiracies

• Plum Line: CNN President Brushes Off Criticism Of Lou Dobbs’ Continued Floating Of “Birther” Theories
  

• The Huffington Post : Major Civil Rights Group Demands CNN Remove Lou Dobbs >From The Air

• Gawker: The Birthers: Who Are They and What Do They Want?

Wonder

No Dealing With American Lives Anymore

Kucinich: Blood Money

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 22) - Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) gave the following speech on the floor of the House of Representatives today:

"The Associated Press reports that the latest Iraq Supplemental funding plan, incredibly, will tie an increase in the minimum wage to funding the war through October.

"If this is true, and I hope it is not, it tells American workers that the only way they will get an increase in wages is to continue to support funding the war which is taking the lives of their sons and daughters.

"First blood for oil. Now a minimum wage for maximum blood. Aren't the American people giving enough blood for this war without having to give more to have a wage increase?

"What's happened to our country? We are losing our moral compass. We're losing our sense of justice. We're losing touch with the difference between right and wrong.

"We do not have to fund this war. We must leave Iraq now. Support our troops and bring them home. HR 1234 is a plan to end the war and stabilize Iraq and give Iraqis control of their oil.

"We must take a new path. We must take a path of truth and justice."

For Immediate Release:
Contact: Natalie Laber (202) 225-5871 (o); (202) 365-1040 (c)

Conservatism is perfectly clear

Via Pharyngula

South Dakota: very conservative, very Republican, very concerned with women's reproduction, and none of it in a good way. This story just personifies the worst of South Dakota's repressive residents perfectly.

There is more to the morals of the story, seems wide spread in what Melissa McEwen coined as "(R-Middle Ages)"

"Rape is Not Only Hilarious; It’s No Big Deal".

And

The Christian Right's Fear of Pleasure is Our Greatest Threat to Choice
The war against abortion has nothing to do with the protection of life. It is a war against an open society -- a cover for assaults against sexual pleasure and personal choice.

A wonder of, begins a quest EVEn if answers to be found with no ends

Our way of life, where in we live and breast cancer

http://www.silentspring.org/sciencereview

LA Times article Common chemicals are linked to breast cancer

and

Researchers learn why tar pits are bubbly

Newsweek takes on gender issues for those with issues of those of differences and diversity, thanks for sharing this news, Curtis Via intersexulite.org.

May 21, 2007 NEWSWEEK
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18618970/site/newsweek/

ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE:
The Mystery of Gender

Rethinking Gender: What Makes Us Male or Female?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18618970/site/newsweek/
My Life as a Transgender Politician
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18660657/site/newsweek/
A NASCAR Racer On Her Sex Change
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18619862/site/newsweek/
Alexis Arquette on the Politics of Gender Change
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18615747/site/newsweek/
Journalist Christine Daniels On Her New Life
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18615905/site/newsweek/
Q&A: A Prudential VP on Her Transition
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18617786/site/newsweek/
Live Talk: Rethinking Gender
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18630323/site/newsweek/
Resources for Gender and Transgender Issues
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18629920/site/newsweek/

Culture issues in the news read the Headlines At MoJo Blog

UAE: No Melamine In Food, Please, And No Food On Melamine, Either.

via CLG News of natural wonders

Hundreds of Birds Falling from the Skies Above Florida --Smoke From Wildfires Leave Birds Dazed and Confused 13 May 2007 The clouds of smoke produced by the fire are causing hundreds of birds in Broward and Miami-Dade counties to drop out of the sky or crash into the windows of buildings. Wildlife officials say hundreds of yellow warblers have died.

Tell the Bush Administration to protect polar bears and their critical habitat (Polar Bear SOS) Polar bears are completely dependent on Arctic sea ice to survive, but 80 percent of that ice could be gone in 20 years and all of it by 2040... The Bush Administration's proposal to list the polar bear as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act is a crucial first step toward ensuring a future for these magnificent Arctic creatures. Yet the administration's proposal does not designate "critical habitat" for protection, even though melting habitat from global warming is the main threat to the polar bear's survival. Send a message urging the Bush Administration to finalize the listing of the polar bear and designate its critical habitat.

Climate change to force mass migration --1bn likely to be displaced by 2050, says report --Environmental factors will exacerbate existing crisis 14 May 2007 A billion people - one in seven people on Earth today - could be forced to leave their homes over the next 50 years as the effects of climate change worsen an already serious migration crisis, a new report from Christian Aid predicts.

"Pat Robertson's University" Bill Moyers Journal

Airdate: Friday, May 11, 2007 at 9:00 p.m. EDT on PBS.
(Check local listings at http://www.pbs.org/moyers.)

Bill Moyers Journal takes a look at Regent University, Pat Robertson's Christian leadership institution, which is working to ensure that Biblical principles are reflected in the law of the land.

The recent controversy over the firing of federal prosecutors found Regent University graduate Monica Goodling - special counsel to Alberto Gonzalez and one of some 150 Regent students who have worked in the Bush administration since 2001 - at the center of a political firestorm. Bill Moyers Journal takes viewers to commencement at Robertson's university for a closer look at its mission to ensure Biblical principles are reflected in the law of the land.

Also on the program: Nick Gillespie, editor-in-chief of the libertarian monthly Reason magazine, discusses the war, the media and the impact of the religious right in Washington today; and historian Marilyn B. Young, co-editor of Iraq and the Lessons of Vietnam: Or, How Not to Learn from the Past, talks about history's lessons for the war in Iraq.

Windows into their own frustrations

Tennessee passed a bullying law, that is progress, but hidden away into the halls and corridors of school class structure born to the self righteous and continued in false family structures . . . . the hum of hate.

Read and learn, The Queer Thing About School Shootings and just maybe parents, teachers, students, people of all races, all religions, all people will see how harmful words can really be, deadly.