OK, so I will do my best not to be cynical.
First I am relieved beyond words we do not have another Republican Administration to live through right now. Unfortunately we do have a Democratic Administration to deal with.
Obama promised change and change he will bring. Already we hear he is letting top scientists develop policy to fight global climate change. That right there is HUGE considering the past 8 years has truly been a war on science. Obama has appointed the right man to fix FEMA - the same guy who made it great under Bill Clinton. He has a few progressives scattered here and there and I am thankful for that. He is definitely a change from the past 8 years.
Before I get into his team let me just say that it is OUR responsibility to let him know and our other representatives know what we think about the decisions he and they make. I am personally holding judgement until we see what policies he pursues. The other day Obama responded to criticism that he is hiring all insiders. Many progressives are asking where is the change? Obama said not to worry, that HE is the change. He said that he has chosen people with experience and mixed them with new thinking. So we shall see, so far I am trusting Obama's judgement but I think it will be super important for the American people to continue to push him, especially if we want to end the wars.
So briefly his team of (dis)appointments. I say that because he has chosen people who have been at the center of the bad policies of late, but perhaps they have told Obama they understand where they went wrong and they are willing to change, we shall see. I must say that I am not surprised by his choices. During the primaries I told people who loved Hilary but hated Obama that in fact their administrations would look VERY similar.
So Secretary of State - Hilary Clinton. For me a major bummer since her hawkishness on foreign policy was the original reason I supported Obama over her. Talking about "obliterating Iran" and all. But she is well known throughout the world , she must have asked for the job, and she deserves to have her choice as runner up. But what exactly is her foreign policy experience? Certainly there were better choices out there.
Keeping Sec of Defense Gates - well he wants no time table in Iraq, a major surge in Afghanistan, and wants a new arsenal of nuclear weapons. Boo. This guy should get the boot. And seems like he may have worked with the Republicans and Iranians to screw Carter over on the hostage deal. And so many on Obama's policy team are hawks and were champions of the Iraq war. Madaline Allbright of course said killing 500,000 Iraqi children with sanctions was a price worth paying to keep Saddam under control.
His economic team were champions of deregulation and wall street and have in fact helped cause financial crisis in Russia, Asia, and here at home. I guess if they broke it at least they are familiar with it. But to me these guys should go too.
And his intelligence crew were champions of warrentless wire tapping, extraordinary rendition, and torture.
Not to be negative but we do need to watch what kind of influence these guys will have on policy or if it is true that Obama is gonna draw on their experience but lead them in a new direction.
Most important to me is that we end the wars. I think with the crowd he is surrounding himself with we will need to push him as an anti-war movement to actually bring these wars to an end.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Fake New York Times - amazing website resource!
hey there,Well today the Yes Men (check out the documentary about them if you do not know these guys they are incredible pranksters) gave out over a million copies of a fake edition of the New York Times with all sorts of articles like "The Iraq War Ends" and others including articles about national health care, sane economy, etc. It is really well done and worth checking out on their website you can download a PDF version. The video news release is cool to.
But the thing I really wanted to point out in this blog is "The Fine Print" part of their website. It is an amazing resource listing dozens of organizations to check out that are working for change on which ever issue is important to you. Check it out below and make time to sit down and visit these sights and sign their petitions so they have some clout when meeting with politicians.
peace, Danny
ps, any New York friends get a copy of this? I would love one!
fake NY Times website
see video
The Fine Print
This special edition of The New York Times comes from a future in which we are accomplishing what we know today to be possible.
The dozens of volunteer citizens who produced this paper spent the last eight years dreaming of a better world for themselves, their friends, and any descendants they might end up having. Today, that better world, though still very far away, is finally possible — but only if millions of us demand it, and finally force our government to do its job.
It certainly won’t be easy. Even now, corporate representatives are swarming over Washington to get their agendas passed. The energy giants are demanding “clean coal,” nuclear power and offshore drilling. Military contractors are pushing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. H.M.O.s and insurance companies are promoting bogus “reforms” so they can forestall universal health care. And they’re not about to take no for an answer.
But things are different this time. This time, we can hold accountable the politicians we put into office. And because everyone can now see that the “free market” has nothing to do with freedom, there is a huge opening to pass policies that can benefit all Americans, and that can make us truly free — free to pursue an education without debt, go on vacation every once in a while, keep healthy, and live without the crushing guilt of knowing what our tax dollars are doing abroad.
Following are just a few of the many, many groups working for change. Join them, support them, or start your own, and we can begin to make the news in this paper the news in every paper.
If you want to end the war in Iraq and prevent new wars: United for Peace and Justice (unitedforpeace.org), a coalition of that includes CODEPINK (codepink4peace.org), Iraq Veterans Against the War (ivaw.org), Peace Action (peace-action.org), War Resisters League (warresisters.org), and hundreds of others.
If you want to fight for health care: Healthcare-NOW (healthcare-now.org), Physicians for a National Health Care Program (pnhp.org), California Nurses Association (calnurse.org), Private Health Insurance Must Go Coalition (phimg.org), Single Payer New York
If you want to save the environment: Climate Crisis Coalition (climatecrisiscoalition.org), 350 (350.org), Greenpeace (greenpeace.org), Earth Policy Institute (earth-policy.org), Rainforest Action Network (ran.org), Earth First! (earthfirst.org), Earthjustice (earthjustice.org), Friends of the Earth (foe.org), Natural Resources Defense Council (nrdc.org)
If you want economic justice: United for a Fair Economy (faireconomy.org), Too Much (toomuchonline.org), Jobs with Justice (jwj.org)
If you want to protect our civil liberties, civil rights and human rights: Center for Constitutional Rights (ccrjustice.org), ACLU (aclu.org), National Lawyers Guild (nlg.org), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (naacp.org), Global Exchange (globalexchange.org), PEN American Center (pen.org), Human Rights Watch (hrw.org), Defending Dissent Foundation (defendingdissent.org)
If you want to end torture: Witness Against Torture (witnesstorture.org), Amnesty International (amnestyusa.org), Act Against Torture (actagainsttorture.org), The Quaker Initiative to End Torture (quit-torture-now.org).
If you want to defend the rights of immigrants: New York Immigration Coalition (thenyic.org), National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (nnirr.org), Desis Rising Up and Moving (drumnation.org), New York United for Immigrant Rights (nyunitedforimmigrantrights.blogspot.com)
If you want to help eliminate worker exploitation: United Students Against Sweatshops (usas.org), Sweatshop Watch (sweatshopwatch.org), Wake Up Wal-Mart (wakeupwalmart.com)
If you want to end homelessness and promote affordable housing: National Coalition for the Homeless (nationalhomeless.org), National Low Income Housing Coalition (nlihc.org), National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (nlchp.org), National Alliance to End Homelessness (endhomelessness.org), Coalition for the Homeless (coalitionforthehomeless.org), Picture the Homeless (picturethehomeless.org), Housing Works (housingworks.org), Metropolitan Council on Housing (metcouncil.net)
If you want to fight for a more democratic media: Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (fair.org), FreePress (freepress.net), Democracy Now! (democracynow.org), Reporters Without Borders (rsf.org), Committee to Protect Journalists (cpj.org)
If you want to create a more democratic media: MediaChannel (mediachannel.org), The Indypendent (indypendent.org), Common Dreams (commondreams.org), AlterNet (alternet.org), Cultures of Resistance (culturesofresistance.org), Indymedia (indymedia.org), Video Activist Network (videoactivism.org)
If you want to fight for women’s rights: National Organization For Women (now.org), A.C.L.U. Women’s Rights Project (aclu.org/womensrights), H.R.W. Women’s Rights (hrw.org/women), Feminist Majority (feminist.org).
If you want to defend LGBTQ rights: FIERCE (fiercenyc.org), Radical Homosexual Agenda (radicalhomosexualagenda.org), Sylvia Rivera Law Project (srlp.org), AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (actupny.org), Audre Lorde Project (alp.org)
Sunday, November 9, 2008
my reaction to the election - not the time for cynicism
Wow, the dust has settled and we have a new president-elect! The general feeling I have about the election is relief! Not only was it a long election but the choices between the hopeful message of Obama and the fearful message of McCain were in stark contrast and I for one am very relieved hope prevailed.
But the feelings go far beyond relief. Obama is much more than the lesser of two evils. He is a phenomenal person. Look at the way he ran his campaign to the end. He really focused on positive messages and his calm cool attitude and message of hope is so refreshing and admirable. Of course the cynics will say he did what he did just to get elected. But at least he chose to try and get elected with a positive message rather than the message of fear that McCain resorted to and that has defined the Bush administration. Obama is intelligent, thoughtful, a loving father and husband, calm under pressure, and I believe he has the best of intentions both from his heart and mind. And it is so incredibly wonderful to have a leader that has these characteristics! It has been awhile since we have.
And besides being enjoyable to listen to and besides the fact he has a capable intellect, he happens to be half black. And this fact actually was impressed upon me most significantly on election night and during the initial reaction to his win. I must admit I was a bit teary eyed during his acceptance speech. Much of was what he said and how he said it, much of it was the view of the crowd, and much of it was the thought of what this meant to our country and the world who was watching. We all know what he said, it was beautiful, (as I must say was John McCain's speech that night - we are lucky he did not speak so eloquently throughout the campaign). I was struck by the crowd. Especially in contrast to McCain's crowd which was as white as snow. The crowd gathered to watch Obama was young and old, white and black, and just looked so beautiful in their happiness and diversity. And to see the Obama and Biden families on stage together. What a sight. What a day for America!
And the third thought I had that night was that the world was watching! America for quite some time has been a dominant country in the world. The global opinion of us had slipped dramatically with the presidency of Bush and our actions post 9/11. To an all time low in fact. In one night much of that has changed. We once again set the bar high for democracy. No other western country has done what we have done and I doubt any third world democracy has done it - to elect a member of a small minority (12%), a minority who has suffered incredible oppression, to be the leader of that country in open democratic (relatively) elections. And it wasn't just that he is black. The world recognized what a significant change Obama represented in American leadership and they were rooting for him overwhelmingly. Obama is not just an American leader, he is a world leader.
And then during the initial reaction to the election the significance was clarified for me even further. My cell phone was blowing up with text messages, the country, the world was celebrating. You could hear mother Earth make a huge sigh of relief. I received a call right away from a friend in Indonesia, and emails from South Africa to London. Some of the poignant reactions came from African American friends. It is easy as a white person to think we understand, but we do not, we can't. This was illustrated to me by friends. One talked about his dad who grew up in the south in the 50's. He said that this day was as likely to him as seeing aliens land on our planet. And a coworker of mine, one of my mentors really, someone I think of as being successful and confident told me that for the first time in his life did he truly believe he could be anything he wants to be. Think about that. That is such an incredible change right there. Imagine all the kids in this country and in the world who now have a whole different set of possibilities ahead of them. Imagine all the adults that do now too.
It makes me proud to be an American.
Now for the cynics! Even I have had a hard time shedding my cynicism towards our government. During the Bush years I was quite a cynic as we watched the administration get away with crimes against the constitution and humanity. And hearing Obama talk about which wars he would fight or watching him choose Wall Street and Washington insiders to run his transition team definitely ignited a bit of that cynic. But I am officially giving that up right now. and I will explain why I think we all should.
I agree with the positions of Ralph Nader on issues, more so than Obama in fact, but hearing Nader's cynicism about Obama after his election made me quite disgusted. Let's get real. We will not likely ever agree with every policy stance by any national political figure. That is part of the beauty of living in a free country, we can disagree and say it out loud. But I lost what little respect I had left for Nader when he could not put his differences with Obama aside for a minute, to feel some pride for the Nation and honor Obama for the man that he is.
I know the root of any cynicism is that Obama is a politician and the idea that Obama may not make everyone happy with what he does once he is in charge. The cynics ask will he really bring about change? Or will he smash our hopes with another corporate aligned administration? Many see a third Clinton administration as the worst case scenario and for others that in itself would be a welcome change from the past 8 years. We all have different ideas of what change we would like to see. But the undeniable fact is Obama has already brought change, he has already inspired hope, and I believe much of this will be here to stay and there will be many more positive changes to come.
Sure he has two unwinnable wars to deal with and the worst economy in generations. He won't be able to do everything he wants or that we want. But he is gonna dramatically change the course of this country and the world. A few examples:
First off, I am OK with the fact that Obama is surrounding himself by Washington and Corporate power houses. We know this is how Washington works and this is smart for a few reasons. First without insider knowledge of the players and the game, making change would be difficult. Plus the fact is we may want to change the way the system works but we are in a mess right now and we do want to avoid screwing things up with good meaning but ill informed change. And thirdly and perhaps most importantly Obama needs to be inclusive as to not alienate any powerful groups. He needs to bring all the players down the same road for true success. If he can keep the powerful players content while helping the players who have been previously left out he will be truly successful.
Two great examples of this is his plan to change our nation's policies towards the environment and labor. While he has much of the corporatist elite on his side, he also has talked extensively to labor and environmental leaders. He has an aggressive agenda to role back as many as 200 presidential directives of president Bush. He has teams of lawyers identifying the most controversial directives Bush made and compiling a list to reverse. These are things like Bush's decision to deny California the right to regulate it's own carbon dioxide emissions. With a stroke of a pen this will be a real game changer in the fight against global warming.
Bush has ignored his administration's own scientists in the FDA, EPA, NASA, and elsewhere and relaxed regulation on pollution, increased restrictions on stem cell research and taken away funding for it, and has prohibited family planning groups in other countries who receive US aid from counseling women on abortion, even when it is legal. These are the kinds of things Obama will change. He is talking with labor leaders, environmental leaders, scientists, as well as congressional leaders from both sides of the isle before taking action.
In fact as Bush leaves office he is planning on a wide range of his most controversial deregulatory actions in the coming months including wiping out rules on pollution, protecting endangered species, labor laws, and others. The Obama team is watching these moves and has vowed to overturn whichever last minute moves they can. Unfortunately it is easier to erase laws than to reinstate them.
And luckily there are people who Obama will certainly listen too like Gore who are pushing for quick and decisive action to fight global warming and making the argument that this is the action needed to help the economy and our national security.
Another example is the military. He seems to be pretty pro-military action but at the same time he has met at length with groups like Iraq Vets against the war and is clearly a level headed, diplomatically inclined leader.
So I truly believe that while he will be keeping the Empire running, he will be doing it with a good conscience, and what a change that will be. He will make green energy a focus, he will appoint competent experts to run departments like FEMA and the EPA rather than cronies and corporate hacks, he will end the war against the working class, he will improve our health care system, he will repair alliances with countries around the world, and he will close Guantanomo, return the rule of law to the justice department, and undo many of the bad policies of the Bush Administration.
In short he will make change a reality and that gives me Hope.
PS We need to join with groups that are working to lobby Obama and the congress to bring about the change we want to see. Don't just sit back and watch and then complain that he didn't do what you wanted. Get out in the street, organize your community, write letters, join Internet groups, and ask for what you want from your federal employees.
But the feelings go far beyond relief. Obama is much more than the lesser of two evils. He is a phenomenal person. Look at the way he ran his campaign to the end. He really focused on positive messages and his calm cool attitude and message of hope is so refreshing and admirable. Of course the cynics will say he did what he did just to get elected. But at least he chose to try and get elected with a positive message rather than the message of fear that McCain resorted to and that has defined the Bush administration. Obama is intelligent, thoughtful, a loving father and husband, calm under pressure, and I believe he has the best of intentions both from his heart and mind. And it is so incredibly wonderful to have a leader that has these characteristics! It has been awhile since we have.
And besides being enjoyable to listen to and besides the fact he has a capable intellect, he happens to be half black. And this fact actually was impressed upon me most significantly on election night and during the initial reaction to his win. I must admit I was a bit teary eyed during his acceptance speech. Much of was what he said and how he said it, much of it was the view of the crowd, and much of it was the thought of what this meant to our country and the world who was watching. We all know what he said, it was beautiful, (as I must say was John McCain's speech that night - we are lucky he did not speak so eloquently throughout the campaign). I was struck by the crowd. Especially in contrast to McCain's crowd which was as white as snow. The crowd gathered to watch Obama was young and old, white and black, and just looked so beautiful in their happiness and diversity. And to see the Obama and Biden families on stage together. What a sight. What a day for America!
And the third thought I had that night was that the world was watching! America for quite some time has been a dominant country in the world. The global opinion of us had slipped dramatically with the presidency of Bush and our actions post 9/11. To an all time low in fact. In one night much of that has changed. We once again set the bar high for democracy. No other western country has done what we have done and I doubt any third world democracy has done it - to elect a member of a small minority (12%), a minority who has suffered incredible oppression, to be the leader of that country in open democratic (relatively) elections. And it wasn't just that he is black. The world recognized what a significant change Obama represented in American leadership and they were rooting for him overwhelmingly. Obama is not just an American leader, he is a world leader.
And then during the initial reaction to the election the significance was clarified for me even further. My cell phone was blowing up with text messages, the country, the world was celebrating. You could hear mother Earth make a huge sigh of relief. I received a call right away from a friend in Indonesia, and emails from South Africa to London. Some of the poignant reactions came from African American friends. It is easy as a white person to think we understand, but we do not, we can't. This was illustrated to me by friends. One talked about his dad who grew up in the south in the 50's. He said that this day was as likely to him as seeing aliens land on our planet. And a coworker of mine, one of my mentors really, someone I think of as being successful and confident told me that for the first time in his life did he truly believe he could be anything he wants to be. Think about that. That is such an incredible change right there. Imagine all the kids in this country and in the world who now have a whole different set of possibilities ahead of them. Imagine all the adults that do now too.
It makes me proud to be an American.
Now for the cynics! Even I have had a hard time shedding my cynicism towards our government. During the Bush years I was quite a cynic as we watched the administration get away with crimes against the constitution and humanity. And hearing Obama talk about which wars he would fight or watching him choose Wall Street and Washington insiders to run his transition team definitely ignited a bit of that cynic. But I am officially giving that up right now. and I will explain why I think we all should.
I agree with the positions of Ralph Nader on issues, more so than Obama in fact, but hearing Nader's cynicism about Obama after his election made me quite disgusted. Let's get real. We will not likely ever agree with every policy stance by any national political figure. That is part of the beauty of living in a free country, we can disagree and say it out loud. But I lost what little respect I had left for Nader when he could not put his differences with Obama aside for a minute, to feel some pride for the Nation and honor Obama for the man that he is.
I know the root of any cynicism is that Obama is a politician and the idea that Obama may not make everyone happy with what he does once he is in charge. The cynics ask will he really bring about change? Or will he smash our hopes with another corporate aligned administration? Many see a third Clinton administration as the worst case scenario and for others that in itself would be a welcome change from the past 8 years. We all have different ideas of what change we would like to see. But the undeniable fact is Obama has already brought change, he has already inspired hope, and I believe much of this will be here to stay and there will be many more positive changes to come.
Sure he has two unwinnable wars to deal with and the worst economy in generations. He won't be able to do everything he wants or that we want. But he is gonna dramatically change the course of this country and the world. A few examples:
First off, I am OK with the fact that Obama is surrounding himself by Washington and Corporate power houses. We know this is how Washington works and this is smart for a few reasons. First without insider knowledge of the players and the game, making change would be difficult. Plus the fact is we may want to change the way the system works but we are in a mess right now and we do want to avoid screwing things up with good meaning but ill informed change. And thirdly and perhaps most importantly Obama needs to be inclusive as to not alienate any powerful groups. He needs to bring all the players down the same road for true success. If he can keep the powerful players content while helping the players who have been previously left out he will be truly successful.
Two great examples of this is his plan to change our nation's policies towards the environment and labor. While he has much of the corporatist elite on his side, he also has talked extensively to labor and environmental leaders. He has an aggressive agenda to role back as many as 200 presidential directives of president Bush. He has teams of lawyers identifying the most controversial directives Bush made and compiling a list to reverse. These are things like Bush's decision to deny California the right to regulate it's own carbon dioxide emissions. With a stroke of a pen this will be a real game changer in the fight against global warming.
Bush has ignored his administration's own scientists in the FDA, EPA, NASA, and elsewhere and relaxed regulation on pollution, increased restrictions on stem cell research and taken away funding for it, and has prohibited family planning groups in other countries who receive US aid from counseling women on abortion, even when it is legal. These are the kinds of things Obama will change. He is talking with labor leaders, environmental leaders, scientists, as well as congressional leaders from both sides of the isle before taking action.
In fact as Bush leaves office he is planning on a wide range of his most controversial deregulatory actions in the coming months including wiping out rules on pollution, protecting endangered species, labor laws, and others. The Obama team is watching these moves and has vowed to overturn whichever last minute moves they can. Unfortunately it is easier to erase laws than to reinstate them.
And luckily there are people who Obama will certainly listen too like Gore who are pushing for quick and decisive action to fight global warming and making the argument that this is the action needed to help the economy and our national security.
Another example is the military. He seems to be pretty pro-military action but at the same time he has met at length with groups like Iraq Vets against the war and is clearly a level headed, diplomatically inclined leader.
So I truly believe that while he will be keeping the Empire running, he will be doing it with a good conscience, and what a change that will be. He will make green energy a focus, he will appoint competent experts to run departments like FEMA and the EPA rather than cronies and corporate hacks, he will end the war against the working class, he will improve our health care system, he will repair alliances with countries around the world, and he will close Guantanomo, return the rule of law to the justice department, and undo many of the bad policies of the Bush Administration.
In short he will make change a reality and that gives me Hope.
PS We need to join with groups that are working to lobby Obama and the congress to bring about the change we want to see. Don't just sit back and watch and then complain that he didn't do what you wanted. Get out in the street, organize your community, write letters, join Internet groups, and ask for what you want from your federal employees.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Californians' most important vote: NO on "h8"
Hi everyone,
Well of course the most imporant issue to the world right now is that Obama is elected President and McCain/Palin are denied their chance to bring about Armagedon.
Since California is probably in the bag for Obama I titled this blog, Californians' most important vote. For this is a very pressing issue and it is disturbing that proposition 8 has a chance to pass. It is vital everyone gets out to vote No and to spread the word to their friends and colleagues and even their neighbors with whom they may disagree. This is a civil rights issue and one worth standing up for.
The ridiculous proposition would amend the California State Constitution to prevent same sex marriage. Now regardless of how you feel about marrying someone of your own sex, amending the constitution to limit the rights of a portion of our society is plain WRONG! Imagine if a majority decided to vote that Blacks and Whites should not marry. This is Tyranny of the majority and should not be allowed.
Of course the arguments for prop 8 are rooted in hatred and bigotry but they use all sorts of lies and distortions to convince the electorate to vote for this awful law.
This is supposed to be the land of the free, well let people marry who they want. Two consenting adults should be able to marry each other regardless of race, religion, or sex. Period.
Now this morning I heard a radio ad for prop 8 that said this issue is all about school kids and that kids will be taught about gay marriage if this passes. Well as a teacher who has worked in a number of schools I can say this amendment will have little or no effect on that. Kids will be taught about same sex couples regardless. For our job as educators is to teach children to respect diversity. This diversity certainly pertains to different types of families for at all the schools I have worked we have had kids with two moms or two dads and there is no teacher I know who wants those children to feel like their family is wrong or weird. Of course I live in the Bay Area where people are ahead of the curve on this basic human right issue. But nonetheless teachers need to create safe learning environments for their students and this means teaching students to respect each other in all their wonderful differences.
In school we talk about kids having two moms or two dads, we do not get into the details of whether or not the parents are legally married. We do not discuss what would happen if one of them died and the other could not have legal custody of their child or if one was sick whether or not they could be with them in the hospital and make legal decisions regarding medical treatment. These are rights that laws like Prop 8 could take away, which is one of the reasons to vote it down.
Even if you are against all this, do really want to start a precedent of allowing the majority of voters to amend the constitution to limit the rights of minorities in this country? Amendments to the constitution have a history of granting people rights, not taking them away.
For this reason alone proposition 8 must fail.
This is a human and civil rights issue and everyone needs to get out and vote!
Thanks,
Danny
Well of course the most imporant issue to the world right now is that Obama is elected President and McCain/Palin are denied their chance to bring about Armagedon.
Since California is probably in the bag for Obama I titled this blog, Californians' most important vote. For this is a very pressing issue and it is disturbing that proposition 8 has a chance to pass. It is vital everyone gets out to vote No and to spread the word to their friends and colleagues and even their neighbors with whom they may disagree. This is a civil rights issue and one worth standing up for.
The ridiculous proposition would amend the California State Constitution to prevent same sex marriage. Now regardless of how you feel about marrying someone of your own sex, amending the constitution to limit the rights of a portion of our society is plain WRONG! Imagine if a majority decided to vote that Blacks and Whites should not marry. This is Tyranny of the majority and should not be allowed.
Of course the arguments for prop 8 are rooted in hatred and bigotry but they use all sorts of lies and distortions to convince the electorate to vote for this awful law.
This is supposed to be the land of the free, well let people marry who they want. Two consenting adults should be able to marry each other regardless of race, religion, or sex. Period.
Now this morning I heard a radio ad for prop 8 that said this issue is all about school kids and that kids will be taught about gay marriage if this passes. Well as a teacher who has worked in a number of schools I can say this amendment will have little or no effect on that. Kids will be taught about same sex couples regardless. For our job as educators is to teach children to respect diversity. This diversity certainly pertains to different types of families for at all the schools I have worked we have had kids with two moms or two dads and there is no teacher I know who wants those children to feel like their family is wrong or weird. Of course I live in the Bay Area where people are ahead of the curve on this basic human right issue. But nonetheless teachers need to create safe learning environments for their students and this means teaching students to respect each other in all their wonderful differences.
In school we talk about kids having two moms or two dads, we do not get into the details of whether or not the parents are legally married. We do not discuss what would happen if one of them died and the other could not have legal custody of their child or if one was sick whether or not they could be with them in the hospital and make legal decisions regarding medical treatment. These are rights that laws like Prop 8 could take away, which is one of the reasons to vote it down.
Even if you are against all this, do really want to start a precedent of allowing the majority of voters to amend the constitution to limit the rights of minorities in this country? Amendments to the constitution have a history of granting people rights, not taking them away.
For this reason alone proposition 8 must fail.
This is a human and civil rights issue and everyone needs to get out and vote!
Thanks,
Danny
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
the most important action you may ever take
" Those who say it can't be done need to stop interrupting those already doing it!"
Please stick with me through this convoluted essay. There are lots of points I will try to make briefly. Basically I am arguing that every one of us MUST take action (beyond voting) because we have an opportunity to spark a change in world history as monumental as the industrial revolution, and the cost of inaction is likely to be very dire indeed. We must use this grass roots enthusiasm for the November election and the widespread concern over the economy and national security to put pressure on our elected officials to take immediate and drastic action toward a future of green, clean, domestic energy. This will reduce our dependence on and financial support of the middle east, it will put our economy back on track driving innovation and creating jobs, and it will put us back as leaders in the world in addressing the most pressing global issue of our time; global climate change. To anyone who says we cannot afford to this we must say "we cannot afford not to".
(This blog was written and then I saw today's headline which said the economy may prevent either candidate from addressing global warming. This is the fallacy we need to expose! We just threw $700 billion at to save wall street. What about saving the world? What if a country threatened to devastate an American city (Like New Orleans) we might launch a $3 trillion war (like Iraq) to prevent it. Well if we don't act we will have moreKatrinas , we will see war over water and food resources throughout the world, do you think terrorism in the world will be more of a threat in the world if this happens, of course. And we must remember that efficiency can go a long way towards fixing the problem with relatively little investment and will create jobs which will grow the economy. The more domestic energy production we have the more money we will keep circulating in our economy. Also green energy lends itself much more towards the creation of small companies than does say oil and of course small companies help our economy much more than do large international corporations. But I digress)
A few months ago I wrote a journal entry about what I see as the coming paradigm shift in humanity and how I am dedicated to doing my part in bringing it about. I will turn this into a blog in thenearish future but it basically was about a future of social and environmental justice, a future where economics, environmental stewardship, human rights, consumerism, energy, politics, international trade, national security, and other issues are thought of systemically and through a moral lens of cooperation, empathy, efficiency, and the right of all living things to exist unharmed by the actions of others.
Now I had envisioned this taking an unknown amount of time and my main niche for helping to cause this shift is through education of our younger generations to understand their sense of place in the world and how they can live as a contributing member to the world rather than a destructive force.
But since I wrote that the world has changed. There is a window of opportunity that has presented itself since then and many experts argue it could be the last chance we have. Two factors have opened this window and provided lubrication for us to slip through it. One is the financial crisis and failure of the "free market" and two is the election of a new president and new congress.
OF course we do not know at this point who the next president will be and if there will be a shift in the congress (to say a Democratic,fillabuster proof majority). Regardless of who wins we must attempt to do what I lay out below. I think Obama is much more likely than his opponent to actually take the steps needed and he will only have the power to do so if there is a majority in congress who will agree with him or push him in the right direction. Of course if Obama is elected there is no guarantee he will be thetransformative president we need. That is where we come in. If elected Obama and congress will have industry lobbyists and Washington nay sayers filling their ears with garbage. Trasformative presidents of the past acted because the groundswell of citizens pushing for change was too much to ignore. This is what we need again. This is the defining moment of our time, how we shapeObama's presidency in the first few months could change the course of the world and honestly if we fail the world's leading experts now agree the situation will be dire.
So the economic collapse is a double edged sword. On the bright side it has gotten usually apathetic Americans to wake up and pay attention to the issues and to want a solution. It has also exposed the deregulated free market as fundamentally flawed and forced even Republicans to take steps to "socialize" or "federalize" the banking industry. In other words they can no longer argue that there is no role for government to play in all this.
On the down side the crisis has drained even further our coffers. With 700 billion dollars thrown at the problem we are even further in debt and even less likely to be able to muster up large amounts of money to pay for programs that the people want and need. Cities, States, and Federal agencies are all slashing budgets at a time we need investment in our future.
Luckily doing the right thing is also good for business and can SAVE us money. For EFFICIENCY is gonna be one of the most important first steps. Efficiency alone can help us get off fossil fuels, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create jobs, drive innovation, and will save us money!! Just a small example. If we were to introduce basic energy efficiency to this country's public school system we could save $6 billion! That is enough to hire 30,000 new teachers. McCain is right, we do not necessarily need to throw more money at the problem to solve it. Imagine the savings to be had in the Military budget!!! Let's bring our troops home and employ them to make our nation's buildings energy efficient!
Now back to global climate change. There is a magic number that scientists said is the point at which we cannot avoid climate change that will greatly effect our world and its ability to provide food, water, and stable living conditions for those of us who live here. That number is 350 and it represents parts per million of CO2 in the atmosphere. (Go to 350.org to learn more and take action!) We are already PAST that number which means we need to take immediate and dramatic action to freeze and reverse the current trend. In 2009 the world community will gather to try and agree on a global plan to address this issue. (Leading experts warn this is most likely the world's last chance to address this problem effectively. We need, as "the leaders of the free world", in this country, to take a lead on the issue and we need our President to go to this meeting in '09 and be able to say, "here are the steps WE ARE TAKING, and we hope the rest of the world will join us". (again for the naysayers who say "what about China, India, etc. Well China right now is actually doing more than we are, they are not necessarily unwilling, in fact they are less entrenched in the old way of doing things than we are. And when developing nations realize it is actually cheaper and more sustainable to be green, clean, and efficient do think they will hesitate?
To elaborate on the cheaper part of it. In a time of abundance it is easy to be wasteful. Americans throw out 25 % of the food we buy. (During the depression do you think this was the case?) The standard light bulb wastes 95% of its energy producing heat. Our cars get half the miles per gallon than the cars in Europe. If we increased the fuel efficiency of cars we would not have to "drill baby drill" or even import oil from the middle east and it would cost less for Americans to get to work/school/etc. So as oil prices rise so do food prices and as the economy turns down people need to save money. Efficiency is the easiest first step and it happens to also be the best way to be an "environmentalist".
So back to politics. Our government is by the people for the people. So we the people need to be engaged. We need to be a voice that can be heard over the chatter of coal industry lobbyists. We need to say no to new coal and we need to say it loud. There is no such thing as "Clean Coal" - this is just a theory and the fact Obama talks about it shows us what we are up against. But I strongly believe that Obama has the intellect, foresight, and heart to grasp the problem and chose the right solutions. But we must let him and our representatives in congress know that this is important to us.
The take home message must be that we need to address global climate change and in doing so we will solve our economic and national security problems and without doing so any attempts to fix the latter two problems will fail! It needs to be done through efficiency and clean, renewable energies like solar and wind, we need to stop using coal and nuclear power, reduce our use of oil and natural gas, and end the wars which are draining our resources and destroying lives and the environment.
This sounds like a lot but it must be done, in fact it is already being done. For example through the efforts of nonprofits and foundations who came together to revolutionize how these two sectors work together, taking a systemic, cooperative approach, the RE-AMP initiative has made huge progress in the countries most unlikely region. RE-AMP is a seven-state network of nonprofits and foundations, striving for Midwest leadership in 21st century clean energy by reducing electricity sector global warming pollutants 80 percent by 2030. This group has been so successful that the governors from each of the states involved have signed on to the plan. And RE-AMP has done this with investment in the millions (pennies for the federal government).
And if you think industry won't like it then get them to talk with Ray Anderson. A dozen years ago he made the audacious goal of turning his $1 billion dollar carpet manufacturing company Interface, INC. , into one with a ZERO environmental footprint! He is now halfway to his goal and each and every step the company has boosted profits by more than he could have imagined. Green is good for business!
So what can each of us do? There are a few things we all can do, MUST do!
(before you think you do not have time, we all can admit that we have some time we could devote to saving the world. Turn off the TV, put down your magazine, and get to work!
1) The first small step is VOTE! And make sure EVERYONE you know is voting.
2) Join 1sky This is a very well organized group pushing politicians to fight global climate change through green jobs and green energy. At the least join them, better yet, get everyone you know to join, and even better still become a precinct captain to make sure we succeed in this mission.
4) Go to the Presidential Climate Action Project, learn about the Plan and sign your support.
5) Go to 350.org and invite Obama/McCain to the 2009 global summit on global climate change.
6) Call and write letters to your congressional representatives as well as key members of congress and federal government and tell them you think this is of utmost importance. To find out who to contact and how to do it go to USA.gov.
7) write letters to the editors of every newspaper and magazine you can think of!
8) spread the word to everyone you know!
thanks for taking the time to read this and even more thanks for passing it on and doing your part to be an engaged citizen of this country and world.
Peace and God Bless the World,
Danny
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
what I hope Obama says tonight in the debate
So I am gonna preemptively comment on the last debate which is tonight.
In the past weeks McCain/Palin have been attacking Obama, saying he does not love America, McCain has asked "who is the real Obama?" They say he pals around with terrorists, that he does not love America, that he does not think America is a force for good in the world and they insist that he answers these questions to the America public.
Interestingly enough, these typical republican strategies of character assassination, have not worked like they have in the past for the simple reason that the economy has people interested, for once, in the issues, to the point they have been turned off by the attacks and lack of leadership that McCain has shown in a time of crisis.
Now as the lunatics in the crowds are yelling "kill him" this rhetoric enters dangerous territory.
I had hoped Obama would take McCain to task during this last debate over this issue. But as the polls show it has all worked against McCain I suspect Obama will continue to take the high road since it has been working. But McCain actually said that he is gonna bring up the William Ayers thing during the debate!
Boy I hope this happens! Then Obama will have the chance to answer and this is what I hope he says:
First he should mention that he is not interested, and neither are the American people interested, in such baseless distractions, but since McCain brought it up he must address it.
second he needs to address the bigger picture. How can McCain/Palin question Obama's patriotism and love of this country? Obama never questions McCain's nor Palin's. In fact it is safe to say that everyone running for the office of President loves the country, in fact every senator loves the country, there is no need to question their patriotism, that is exactly the divisive politics that McCain preaches he is against. In fact he answers every question with the statement that he is the one to reach across the isle.
third, to suggest Obama is friendly to any terrorist is beyond the pale, absurd.
so what is the relationship to Ayers? Well a conservative Republican and supporter of Reagan started the Annenberg Foundation which has an institute for education reform. Annenberg hired Ayers to work for the foundation since he is an expert on Education Reform. He also asked Obama to be on the board. So Obama and Ayers both worked together on this mostly republican foundation. End of story. Ayers involvement in the Weather Underground happened when Obama was 8 years old.
Of course Obama won't mention it but he could mention the following story:
In the past weeks McCain/Palin have been attacking Obama, saying he does not love America, McCain has asked "who is the real Obama?" They say he pals around with terrorists, that he does not love America, that he does not think America is a force for good in the world and they insist that he answers these questions to the America public.
Interestingly enough, these typical republican strategies of character assassination, have not worked like they have in the past for the simple reason that the economy has people interested, for once, in the issues, to the point they have been turned off by the attacks and lack of leadership that McCain has shown in a time of crisis.
Now as the lunatics in the crowds are yelling "kill him" this rhetoric enters dangerous territory.
I had hoped Obama would take McCain to task during this last debate over this issue. But as the polls show it has all worked against McCain I suspect Obama will continue to take the high road since it has been working. But McCain actually said that he is gonna bring up the William Ayers thing during the debate!
Boy I hope this happens! Then Obama will have the chance to answer and this is what I hope he says:
First he should mention that he is not interested, and neither are the American people interested, in such baseless distractions, but since McCain brought it up he must address it.
second he needs to address the bigger picture. How can McCain/Palin question Obama's patriotism and love of this country? Obama never questions McCain's nor Palin's. In fact it is safe to say that everyone running for the office of President loves the country, in fact every senator loves the country, there is no need to question their patriotism, that is exactly the divisive politics that McCain preaches he is against. In fact he answers every question with the statement that he is the one to reach across the isle.
third, to suggest Obama is friendly to any terrorist is beyond the pale, absurd.
so what is the relationship to Ayers? Well a conservative Republican and supporter of Reagan started the Annenberg Foundation which has an institute for education reform. Annenberg hired Ayers to work for the foundation since he is an expert on Education Reform. He also asked Obama to be on the board. So Obama and Ayers both worked together on this mostly republican foundation. End of story. Ayers involvement in the Weather Underground happened when Obama was 8 years old.
Of course Obama won't mention it but he could mention the following story:
McCain Official Helped Saddam Lobbyists
The McCain campaign, meanwhile, is facing new scrutiny over a top official’s ties to former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. The investigative journalist Murray Waas has revealed the head of McCain’s presidential transition team took part in a lobbying effort to lift the US-backed sanctions imposed on Iraq after the first Gulf War. The lobbyist, William Timmons, worked closely with two other lobbyists later convicted for acting as unregistered agents of Saddam Hussein’s government. Timmons helped the lobbyists on a deal that would have granted a contract to resell Iraqi oil. Timmons stood to share a $45 million windfall if the deal was approved. Timmons reportedly consulted on public talking points and lobbying strategies with top Iraqi officials, including former deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz.
so who should we be concerned with, those with ties to Saddam or a professor of education?
Thursday, October 9, 2008
The most important comic book ever written!
Hi,
There has been lots written about how the last two elections were stolen. It is one of those facts that many Americans refuse to believe because it sounds like a "conspiracy theory". There are a number of tactics they use including voter purging and passing laws that will make it harder for many to vote. Greg Palast and Bobby Kennedy Jr. have written a free comic book that tells how this happens and more importantly how people can make sure their right to vote is not taken away.
Well there is nothing theoretical about this conspiracy, it is a fact. Just look at what is happening in preparation for this election as reported in the New York Times and elsewhere. 10's of thousands of voters, (probably millions actually) are being purged from voter rolls, especially in swing states like Colorado and New Mexico. %19 or 1 in 5 voters have been removed from the voter registration rolls in Colorado. The woman who did this in Colorado was since promoted by Bush to work nationally on the election.
How can they do this you ask? Well they have many reasons but the excuse is the claim that voter fraud is a problem ie: people are voting twice or illegal aliens are voting. This scare tactic has helped them cloud the issue and go about their anti-democratic business. Of course this claim is false. In Ohio, for example in 6 years there have only been 4 cases of voter fraud according to Ohio's current secretary of state. Bush appointed a republican prosecutor to go after voter fraud cases and after years of not being able to find any legitimate cases Bush fired him for what the prosecutor says was because he "refused to prosecute innocent people".
So the excuses they use to purge names include people with felonies (anyone with the same name as a felon would be purged) and people who are no longer at their residences where they are registered such as people who have been foreclosed on or people who are in the military and are being deployed to Iraq. When people show up at the polls to find their name has been removed they are given a provisional ballot. Then these ballots can be thrown out using the same excuse they used to remove the name. In 2004, according to Palast, more than a million provisional ballots cast were thrown out!
of course another trick they use is to make stricter laws such as requiring people to bring a picture ID. On the surface this seems fair but it effects many poor and elderly people who do not have a drivers licence or passport. In fact 1 in ten Americans do not have a government issued ID so for instance in Indiana, a swing state, the new law will prevent 100,000 black people from being able to vote!!!
So go to the website and download or order copies of the Palast/Kennedy comic book called "Steal Back Your Vote"
There has been lots written about how the last two elections were stolen. It is one of those facts that many Americans refuse to believe because it sounds like a "conspiracy theory". There are a number of tactics they use including voter purging and passing laws that will make it harder for many to vote. Greg Palast and Bobby Kennedy Jr. have written a free comic book that tells how this happens and more importantly how people can make sure their right to vote is not taken away.
Well there is nothing theoretical about this conspiracy, it is a fact. Just look at what is happening in preparation for this election as reported in the New York Times and elsewhere. 10's of thousands of voters, (probably millions actually) are being purged from voter rolls, especially in swing states like Colorado and New Mexico. %19 or 1 in 5 voters have been removed from the voter registration rolls in Colorado. The woman who did this in Colorado was since promoted by Bush to work nationally on the election.
How can they do this you ask? Well they have many reasons but the excuse is the claim that voter fraud is a problem ie: people are voting twice or illegal aliens are voting. This scare tactic has helped them cloud the issue and go about their anti-democratic business. Of course this claim is false. In Ohio, for example in 6 years there have only been 4 cases of voter fraud according to Ohio's current secretary of state. Bush appointed a republican prosecutor to go after voter fraud cases and after years of not being able to find any legitimate cases Bush fired him for what the prosecutor says was because he "refused to prosecute innocent people".
So the excuses they use to purge names include people with felonies (anyone with the same name as a felon would be purged) and people who are no longer at their residences where they are registered such as people who have been foreclosed on or people who are in the military and are being deployed to Iraq. When people show up at the polls to find their name has been removed they are given a provisional ballot. Then these ballots can be thrown out using the same excuse they used to remove the name. In 2004, according to Palast, more than a million provisional ballots cast were thrown out!
of course another trick they use is to make stricter laws such as requiring people to bring a picture ID. On the surface this seems fair but it effects many poor and elderly people who do not have a drivers licence or passport. In fact 1 in ten Americans do not have a government issued ID so for instance in Indiana, a swing state, the new law will prevent 100,000 black people from being able to vote!!!
So go to the website and download or order copies of the Palast/Kennedy comic book called "Steal Back Your Vote"
This is a non-partisan comic book made to help teach people how to prevent their voting rights from being taken away. Regardless of your party, voting is the key to democracy.
The book is free (you must donate as little as a penny). Once you download it they encourage reproduction, there is no copyright.
It is especially important if you know anyone in swing states to get this info to them. They can order boxes of the comic and distribute them.
the link is http://www.stealbackyourvote.com/
check it out and spread the word
read the New York Times article at: voter purging in Times
read the New York Times article at: voter purging in Times
Thanks,
Danny
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
