February 24, 2008 archive

Feb 24 2008

Updated NYC Impeachment Forum/Town Hall Meeting

Update:  Keith Ellison became the fifth Democrat on the HJC to sign onto Wexler’s letter today!  We only need two more to have a majority of the Dems.  Whose next? Weiner? Lofgren?  

A group of concerned New Yorkers have come together under the banner of AskNadler2Impeach.org to lobby Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York CD 8 to support impeachment.  We have launched a website where we are hosting a petition asking him to support Rep. Wexler’s call for impeachment hearings in the HJC.  Please go here to sign the petition.

AskNadler2Impeach.org is also hosting a Town Hall Meeting/Impeachment Forum on Sunday March 9th from 4-6pm at Judson Memorial Church, 55 Washington Square South, NYC.  The impeachment forum will address the question Is Impeachment Necessary to Protect the Constitution?

Speakers include:

Bruce Fein, Constitutional scholar, former associate deputy attorney general, and Chairman of the American Freedom Agenda;

Elizabeth Holtzman, a member of the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment of Richard Nixon, and co-author of The Impeachment of George W. Bush: A Practical Guide for Concerned Citizens;

Scott Horton, Contributor to Harper’s Magazine, adjunct professor at Columbia Law School, and member of the board of the National Institute of Military Justice and the Council on Foreign Relations;

John Nirenberg, a retired college professor from Vermont who walked 485 miles from Boston to Washington, DC to raise the question of impeachment to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.  

Feb 24 2008

Pony Party: Sunday music retrospective

Cream II



Strange Brew

Feb 24 2008

Muse in the Morning

Cream II



Strange Brew

Feb 24 2008

What if we valued joy?

What if we valued joy?

We easily put values on our material possessions, and we want more. More and more and more. More stuff.  Why do so many of us (and, by ‘us’, I mean Americans and westerners in general) want so much stuff?  Why do some families have more cars than adults? Can you drive two cars at once?  Why do we throw out so much stuff, to replace it with more stuff, when the old stuff was perfectly good?

Do you need a new cell phone? A new car? A bigger house? Fancier clothes?

How does a fashion label help keep you warm?

There is a quotation (I can’t find the source)


To be content with little is difficult, to be content with much impossible

But why?

For one thing, many of us want what the other person has.  We want to ‘keep up with the Jones’.  Yet, we do not ask if the Jones are happy, if they are joyful, or if they are only busy keeping up with some other family…..

Relax.  You will never, not ever, have as much as Bill Gates.  Do you need it?

If you value your life by your possessions, by your net worth, then you will never be number one.  

Near the beginning of Douglas Adams’ Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, he writes that most schemes for the promotion of human happiness involved the movement of small green pieces of paper….he finds this odd because it was not the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.  

Feb 24 2008

Apology or the Willingness to be Unwilling?

If link is still down see here

The Consolidated Indigenous Shadow Report mentions “Racially Discriminatory Constitutional Foundations” and  “The Denial of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in the Political, Economic, Social, Cultural, or any Other Field of Public Life.” I have found a couple videos that I think will clarify those two things in order. The first is from a clip from a movie entitled “Broken Treaties,” and the second is a movie trailer entitled “Broken Promises: Indian Trust.”

Feb 24 2008

Weekend News Digest

Weekend News Digest is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Iraq bomber targeting Shiites kills 40

By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press Writer

37 minutes ago

BAGHDAD – A suicide bomber struck Shiite pilgrims as they were resting Sunday during a days-long walk to a Shiite shrine, killing at least 40 people and wounding 60.

The attack in Iskandariyah, south of Baghdad, was the second of the day against pilgrims traveling to the holy city of Karbala. The pilgrimage marks Arbaeen, the 40th day following the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, one of two revered Shiite figures buried there.

The suicide bomber detonated at a tent where pilgrims stop to eat and drink, police said.

Feb 24 2008

Wondering

I’ve never been able to separate my spiritual quest from the political. And I expect that both will be journeys that will take up my lifetime.

I often find myself at odds with those who seek only a political solution. That usually means playing the same old game in the same old way when I’d rather be learning to fly.

On the other hand, those involved in a spiritual quest can be so inwardly focused that their journey doesn’t seem to have any real impact on the world around them. I once heard someone describe his wife’s experience at a spiritual retreat this way, “She’s fallen in love with humanity, but she doesn’t like anyone in particular.”

In their book, The Great Cosmic Mother, Monica Sjoo and Barbara Mor sum it up this way:

In this world, at this point, no political revolution is sustainable if it is not also a spiritual revolution – a complete ontological birth of new beings out of old. Equally, no spiritual activity deserves respect if it is not at the same time a politically responsible, ie, responsive, activity.

Feb 24 2008

Pony Party: Sunday music retrospective

Cream I



I Feel Free

Feb 24 2008

An Interesting Take on the Kosovo Situation. w/poll

Washington Gets a New Colony in the Balkans: Kosovo’s “independence.” by by Sara Flounders

Feb 24 2008

Congressional races round 2: Florida

Here’s part four of the second round of congressional races.  Earlier parts are here

Florida has 25 representatives: 16 Republicans and 9 Democrats

Filing deadline is May 2, primary is Aug 26

Of the 22 districts with more than 17% veterans, 12 are in Florida; I think this makes Florida an excellent pickup ground – the veterans, traditionally a very solidly Republican group – are tired of the war and tired of being abused by the powers that be.  Remember – Democrats support the troops, Republicans support the war

Feb 24 2008

The Candidates and the Occupation of Iraq

One of the least reported issues in the continuing war and occupation of Iraq is that of plans for permanent military bases and a long term occupation of Iraq by the US Military. John McCain has made the statement that the US should stay in Iraq for the next 100 years.

As per CNN last month, at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire, a crowd member asked McCain about a Bush statement that troops could stay in Iraq for 50 years. “Maybe 100,” McCain replied.

Let’s look at the responses from Hillary and Obama.

The two following quotes are from the CNN link noted above in the introduction.

“He said recently he could see having troops in Iraq for 100 years,” Clinton said at an Arlington, Virginia, rally last week in a line she’s repeated on the campaign trail. “Well, I want them home within 60 days of my becoming president of the United States.”

Obama took a similar tack.

“Sen. McCain said the other day that we might be mired for 100 years in Iraq — which is reason enough not to give him four years in the White House,” Obama has said on several occasions.

and the come-back from McCain…

Feb 24 2008

Docudharma Times Sunday February 24

This is an Open Thread:

Then I’ll fly

Look to the sun

See me in psychic pollution

Walking on the moon

Sunday’s Headlines: Fear of Insurance Trouble Leads Many to Shun or Hide DNA Tests: Exxon Oil Spill Case May Get Closure: Oil giants are poised to move into Basra: One Japanese suicide every 15 minutes: Pakistan Taliban warn new government to keep clear: In Cuba, Hopes for a New Capitalist Season: Sarkozy Jr in bid to capture his father’s old seat: Putin’s Iron Grip on Russia Suffocates His Opponents: Zimbabwe: Over 1200 in Anti Mugabe Protests At Beitbridge: South Africa’s elite crime fighters endangered


Somber Clinton Soldiers On as the Horizon Darkens

To her longtime friends, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton sounds unusually philosophical on the phone these days. She rarely uses phrases like “when I’m president” anymore. Somber at times, determined at others, she talks to aides and confidants about the importance of focusing on a good day’s work. No drapes are being measured in her mind’s eye, they say.

And Mrs. Clinton has begun thanking some of her major supporters for helping her run for the Democratic presidential nomination.

“When this is all over, I’m really looking forward to seeing you,” she told one of those supporters by phone the other day.

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