American Revolution Heroes

by Tyler Bejoian, 16 years old, New York, NY

At the conclusion of the 1960s, it seemed as if the world was about to erupt in a fury of revolution, war, and anger. The ongoing American occupation of Vietnam was intensifying, and millions of Vietnamese women and children were routinely slaughtered like wild dogs for no evident reason. Even though there had been much landmark legislation for blacks who had been drafted by 1969, many African Americans continued to endure the stifling burden of institutionalized American racism. The last two years of the 60’s also saw the shattered expectations and efforts of millions of activists who had attempted to work peacefully for societal and political change.

One of the most prominent non-violent protest organizations was the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) who had emerged in the early 60’s. At the annual SDS convention held in the summer of 1969, a young and fundamentally radical group was able to claim control of the crumbling SDS. Attractive and erudite young students, Bernadine Dohrn and Mike Clonsky, branded themselves as spokesmen for this organization. They called themselves the Weathermen. At the convention, delegates were handed a position paper entitled,  “You Don’t Need a Weatherman to Know Which Way the Wind Blows.”  It outlined the position of the fledgling Weathermen organization that already seemed almost fanatically committed to these radical  ideals.

The early members of the Weathermen proclaimed themselves as the real leaders of the SDS and totally claimed control of the organization. The Weathermen derived their name from one of the first electrically driven Bob Dylan songs,  Subterranean Homesick Blues . The name is found in the memorable stanza, ”You don t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” 1 This lyric is vital to understanding the ideology of the Weather Underground because it suggests that young people didn’t need their congressmen, newsman, or parents to inform them about what was happening in their world. They could determine the current state and future of their world independently, and without the aid of futile and corrupted institutions. The Weathermen also hoped they could appeal to the students who were inspired to protest by Dylan s music. (more…)

From One Person Can Make a Difference Facebook GROUP:

Dear members and friends!

I would love to add you all to my friendslist and i would if Facebook would allow me…unfortunately they dont!

Many problems in this world could be solved but they will not be solved until we realy start combining efforts!

The world has many pressing problems. Thanks to the efforts of governments, NGOs, and individual activists there is no shortage of ideas for resolving them. However, even if all governments were willing to spend more money on solving the problems, we cannot do it all at once. We have to prioritize; we all have our priorities and you are making decissions all the time for spending money or time to make the world a better place.

Did you ever hear about the Copenhagen Consensus..?

The Copenhagen Consensus exercise started as a simple but untested idea of prioritizing global opportunities.

The basic idea is the same as used in Copenhagen Consensus 2004: Imagine you had $75bn to donate to worthwhile causes. What would you do, and where should we start?

The conclusions from the roundtable are expected to be an eye-opener for policy-makers all over the world, and to act as a vehicle for improving decision-making on spending on global issues.

The Copenhagen Consensus Center is a think-tank in Denmark that publicizes the best ways for governments and philanthropists to spend aid and development money.

The ten challenges examined in Copenhagen Consensus 2008
http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/Default.aspx?ID=1143

It does not matter how the experts rank the most effective investments…its all about YOU nobody else! And i dont care how you make a difference i know that you do!

There is no limit to what a person can do or how far one can go to help - if one doesn’t mind who gets the credit”

One person can make a difference ! Lets do it!

Namasté
Hans Lak
http://tinyurl.com/oneperson invite your friends to join us!

Dear friends!

You recently signed our letter from Archbishop Desmond Tutu regarding the Dalai Lama. Did n’t you?

The Archbishop wishes to thank you. Please see his personal message below.

“Keep it up. You are the people who make freedom happen.”
“It warms my heart to see so many of my fellow Nobel Laureates, stars, leaders, and people from around the world put their signature on paper, so to speak, to stand behind our friend the Dalai Lama.

“We have just seen a shameful example of South African leaders becoming timid in the face of Chinese “might” and their own economic interests, and refusing this incredible, peaceful being entry to our county –for a peace conference!

“It’s an embarrassment that this could happen in a country that has known how dark life can be when your human rights are being smashed. And we, of all people, know what it means when someone in another part of the world stands up for your rights and freedom.
(more…)

by Ed Hale

Had this dream that I was helping an underground movement working for African American rights. Actually not sure if I was in the States or in another country. a lot of covert crawling through tunnels and jumping over barbwire fences to get to secret meetings… I was like “the white connection to the outside world” so to speak it seemed to be. All very hush hush and dangerous. The people in charge were all black from what i can remember and we were in a very impoverished environment. I was constantly sleeping amongst or jumping over homeless type people in rags or box-homes.

At a time when I am rethinking where to fuel my activist energies right now, a lot of prayer and meditation and observation about it… feeling the peace/anti-war movement is always going to be there but as a species we are essentially fucked in the face of these giant corporate-controlled entities that pose as governments on planet earth right now. ten million people marched to protest the United States’ invasion of the country of Iraq and it did absolutely nothing. It had no effect. There are still over one million Iraqi civilians dead at the hands of the so called “coalition forces.” Meaning what? corporate controlled/Matrix Styled robot-soldiers who do whatever “force” tells them to do. And we the people of the planet truly just have no say in it.

Inspiring that that many people came out on one single day to protest all over the planet? sure. but is it going to stop newly elected US president Obama from attempting to occupy Afghanistan? No. Won’t even be an issue. I don’t think anything is going to wake Americans up to the horrors of war and what it actually means for foreign insurgents to enter your country, boss you around, put up blockades, kill innocent people, and arrest thousands of your neighbors until it actually happens in their own country. Then we may be able to muster enough understanding to build a real coalition of a large enough group of people to actually have an effect on these “selected officials” and their war-mongering ways. Until then, anyone anywhere in the world is a target for arrest, occupation, imprisonment, or death at the drop of a hat if the United States and other large nations decides that’s what they want to do.

We not yet be living breathing batteries as suggested in the symbolic Matrix film series, but the people of earth for better or worse are clearly prisoners of powers much stronger than they are able to overcome. Only they’re not machines. (perhaps they are?) But by all accounts they appear to be living breathing human beings no different than ourselves. We live in a comfortable prison for some to be sure. Say if one lives in Kansas or New York. Not so comfortable for many others… Zimbabwe, Liberia, Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, China, on and on the list grows…. or shrinks, depending on how one views it. (more…)

Over 300 American Citizens Were Arrested in St. Paul, MN During the RNC for Peacefully Assembling.

Dear fans, friends, fellow Facebookers, and fellow Americans,

Yes you read it right. Although completely ignored by the mainstream press this week, over 300 of our fellow citizens were arrested for peacefully demonstrating outside the Republican National Convention last week. With our band releasing a new album this week, I am busy and excited about life; as I am sure each of you are about your own lives. But I still feel it is important to take this time now to share with you the letter that I have written to St. Paul, Minnesota Mayor Chris Coleman asking him to remember where we live…. Last time I checked we called it The United States of America. And from what I can remember from those grueling lessons as a young boy in elementary school U S of A meant a little something called “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” It also meant “liberty and justice for all.” Read more about the arrests of over 300 Americans at the RNC here.

The reason I am taking the time to write this evening, on the eve before the day of a very special album release for our band TRANSCENDENCE, is because I believe this matter is important. As much as I love music and art and truth and love and romance and beauty, I believe that freedom, justice, and liberty have to be the foundation which these other pleasures of our lives rest on. Our fellow citizens who are currently locked up in jail cells in St. Paul are not able to experience the basic pleasures of their lives right now… and for no other reason than they were exercising their American right to peaceably assemble.

(more…)

Hey, it’s not all bad news around the spinning globe. Don’t lose your balance… we just have to keep our feet on the ground. See the message below from Senators Tom Daschle and Bill Frist.

Dear TuneInTurnOnHelpOut.org,

I just returned from a trip to Rwanda with my friend Senator Bill Frist, MD and leaders from both political parties. Senator Frist and I went to Rwanda not as politicians, but as students, to learn about people who are rebuilding their country after the unspeakable horror of genocide.

My news from Rwanda is very encouraging. The hard work of the Rwandan people and the generosity of Americans are coming together in partnership to create a model for how we can end poverty in the most desperate countries on earth.

I came home more convinced then ever that we’re all in this together. Rwandans’ daily struggle to start anew, even as they deal with poverty and disease, is also our own struggle to build a more prosperous and safer world.

To further the progress in Rwanda and spread that hope, we need to take full advantage of this election year. That’s why Senator Frist and I will be meeting with our respective parties’ leaders in the next few weeks, as they’re writing the platforms that will be unveiled at the presidential nominating conventions in Denver and Minneapolis. These platforms contain the policies on which Barack Obama and John McCain will campaign for the presidency.

We’re going to ask these committees to make sure that their platforms take on the generational challenge of tackling global poverty, and we need your help to do it.

(more…)

Dear TuneInTurnOnHelpOut.org members,

On a day such as this as we settle in with our friends and families or attend the town picnic, I ask that you pause and share a message with those you encounter today.  Remind those near you that in nations around the globe it is illegal to own guns, it is illegal to speak freely, it is illegal to assemble peaceably.  Remind them that we pause our lives to celebrate freedom because our founders chose to no longer live under the oppressive boot heel of tyranny.

My brothers and sisters in freedom I will share with you what happened to my wife as she traveled yesterday.  While entering the train station on her way home she was greeted by throngs of yellow shirt clad police officers searching everyone who chose to travel by train. No warrants.  They pressured her to submit to a search by asking, “Don’t you want to be safe?”

As I type these words I well up with tears for the loss of the freedoms we once shared.  My heart is broken for this land.  Now more than ever dear brothers and sisters it is time to rise and resist this tyranny.

It is time to turn back the clock and remember why we fight. For some it is the message Ron Paul spoke of during his campaign.  For most it is the message Aaron Russo left us with.  The man who changed the lives of millions of Americans and sparked a firestorm of freedom lives on in our daily struggle to “keep our republic”.

What have you done to keep the torch of liberty burning? Have you shared
America: Freedom to Fascism with someone? Have you shared Republic Magazine? Have you forwarded emails? Have you donated to an organization?
Have you stood on a street corner in sub-zero temperatures just to hold a sign?

If you have no answer, then take that one moment today and remember why we fight. That moment may be when you hear the Star Spangled Banner or watch the sea of American flags pass you on the street.  But I ask you this, hold on to that moment and carry it with you for alone in the struggle for freedom you are not.

We the People of Restore The Republic are right there next to you.

May this Independence Day be a glorious one.

Yours forever in Freedom and Truth,

Gary S. Franchi Jr.
National Director
Successor to Aaron Russo
http://RestoreTheRepublic.com/Gary

Please support the Freedom Media Project:
http://FreedomMediaProject.com

Please forward widely.

Dear Friend of United for Peace and Justice,

STOP THE DEPORTATION OF U.S. WAR RESISTER COREY GLASS
NATIONAL CALL-IN DAY — Today, Wednesday, July 2nd

Our friends at the War Resisters Support Campaign in Canada have asked us to help build support for U.S. Iraq War resister Corey Glass. He is facing deportation to the U.S. on July 10th, even though the Canadian Parliament has passed a non-binding motion to let Corey and other U.S. war resisters stay in Canada.

It takes courage to say that you will not fight — especially if you are a soldier. As more members of the U.S. military step up to oppose the war in Iraq, the peace movement must step forward to support them. UFPJ recognizes and supports military resisters as true patriots, defending the values this country is supposed to stand for.

The Canadian government and the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration must respect the will of Parliament and enact the motion which calls on the government to “immediately implement a program to allow conscientious objectors and their immediate family members […] to apply for permanent resident status and remain in Canada; and … the government should immediately cease any removal or deportation actions … against such individuals.”

Today, July 2nd, the War Resisters Support Campaign urges supporters in the U.S. and Canada to call Minister Diane Finley and ask her to:

STOP deportation proceedings against Corey Glass and all U.S. Iraq war resisters; and
IMPLEMENT the motion adopted by Canada’s Parliament to allow U.S. Iraq war resisters to apply for permanent resident status.
Call and/or email NOW:
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Diane Finley: 613-996-4974
MP Diane Finley’s constituency office: 519-426-3400
Or email her at: minister@cic.gc.ca or finled1@parl.gc.ca

In addition, Courage to Resist (a U.S. group supporting many war resisters within the military) is calling on people in this country to:

1) Sign a new letter to Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, and Hon. Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, that urges them to “Please act immediately to implement the resolution to allow U.S. war resisters to stay in Canada. and cease deportation proceedings against Corey Glass.”

2) Join in vigils and delegations to Canadian consular offices throughout the U.S. on Wednesday, July 9th, on behalf of war resisters. Actions are currently planned at offices in Washington DC, SF, LA, Seattle, NYC, Dallas, Philadelphia, and Minneapolis. Activists are still needed to lead vigils at Canadian Consulates in Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Miami, Anchorage, Houston, Raleigh, Phoenix, and San Diego. We’re suggesting a noon to 1 pm vigil, followed by a delegation visit to the consulate. Click here for a complete list of Canadian consular offices in U.S. cities.

Background
On June 3rd, organizing efforts were rewarded when the Canadian Parliament passed an historic motion to officially welcome war resisters! It now appears, however, that the Conservative minority government may disregard the democratic decision of the House of Commons, the demonstrated opinion of the Canadian citizenry, the view of the United Nations, and millions of people in this country. War resister Corey Glass is still scheduled to be deported July 10th.

——————————————————————————–

Help us continue to do this critical work: Make a donation to UFPJ today.

UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545
PO Box 607; Times Square Station; New York, NY 10108

To subscribe, visit www.unitedforpeace.org/email

Dear friends,

On Wednesday, we’ll hand our climate petition to the prime minister of Japan — the chair of the powerful G8 summit. Join the call for climate action now!

Last year, the world seemed to wake up to climate change.

This year, it’s falling back asleep.

Two weeks of global climate negotiations have just wrapped up — with no real progress. The rich nations are the culprits, refusing to take the lead and commit to emissions cuts that will bring the rest of the world onboard.[1]

Our best hope: within weeks, those rich country leaders will gather at the G8 summit chaired by Japan. If Japan’s Prime Minister offers bold leadership, the G8 summit could be a breakthrough. But, so far, he is pushing in the wrong direction.[2]

So it’s up to us. Next Wednesday, June 18, we will hand-deliver our new climate petition to Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. If we can muster 250,000 voices in a few short days, we can sound a global alarm on climate that Fukuda and the other G8 leaders cannot ignore. Sign the petition and forward this message to friends:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/g8_climate_wakeup/14.php?cl=97893269

We’ve already shown that a global public outcry on climate change can move Fukuda’s policy. Asahi Shimbun, Japan’s second-largest newspaper, told the story in a lengthy article this January. At a critical, high-level meeting on global warming after the UN negotiations in Bali, the Environment Minister reportedly held up Avaaz’s “Titanic” newspaper ad — showing Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda, with Bush, steering towards climate disaster… along with a call for tough 2020 emissions targets, signed by 90,000 Avaaz members.

“The world sees Japan as a force resisting change! Are we okay with this?” the minister reportedly asked. The Chief Cabinet Minister suggested setting a target. Days later, after having steadfastly resisted the idea at Bali, Prime Minister Fukuda announced his decision: Japan would, indeed set a 2020 emissions target.[3]

Now, five months on, Fukuda has indeed laid out a target — but it falls far short of what scientists say is necessary to avert a climate catastrophe.

This year’s G8 summit will begin on the same day as the Tanabata festival, when citizens write their wishes on pieces of paper and hang them from bamboo trees. [4] This Wednesday, let’s send the biggest-ever Tanabata wish: for a climate change treaty strong enough to save the planet.

Sign the petition here, and spread the word:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/g8_climate_wakeup/14.php?cl=97893269

People created the climate crisis. If we join together, people power can end it.

With hope,

Ben, Ricken, Iain, Graziela, Galit, Paul, Pascal, Veronique, Mark, and Milena — the Avaaz.org team

Dear TuneInTurnOnHelpOut peeps,

This just in from those expanding minds over at Rock the Vote — Great idea Heather.

Thanks for sending it!

Do you ever read any of the fine print in credit card pamphlets?

I don’t.

And that’s the point. Credit card companies are allowed to change your interest rate at any time, for any reason. They do this to increase profits at your expense, and your only recourse is to find a new company — with the exact same policies. We can take action now to stop the credit card companies’ abusive practices.

http://qvisory.org/takeaction/creditcard_rtv

Here’s the deal: the Federal Reserve has asked for public feedback on a new set of regulations that would stop the most abusive credit card lending practices. The credit card industry is pissed, and fighting back. Our friends at Qvisory have set up a way for you to email the Fed. We can’t let the credit card companies win — send a message to the Fed today.

http://qvisory.org/takeaction/creditcard_rtv

As young Americans go deeper in debt, the credit card industry rakes in billions in penalty fees, cash advances, and interest charges. Credit card companies take advantage of every opportunity to make a profit off consumers, especially young people, and keep us in debt.

• Thirty-nine percent of students with loans graduate with “unmanageable debt,”meaning loan payments that are more than 8 percent of monthly income.
• Forty-five percent of young adults use credit cards to pay for basic living expenses.
• The average young adult with credit card debt spends almost a quarter of every dollar they earn on debt payments.

Young voters have shown their power this year, turning out in record numbers to choose our candidates for president. We also have the power to stop credit card companies from getting away with truly egregious activities. Please join us in making reform happen by signing our petition to the Federal Reserve.

http://qvisory.org/takeaction/creditcard_rtv

Best,

Heather Smith
Rock the Vote

Dear Friends,

Doing a little Spring cleaning in the old inbox and I came across this partial portion of a message thread that had originally been started by one Arlan Feiles, singer/songwriter extraordinaire, a week or two prior during the holy week of Yom Kippur. Arlan, who as most people know is also a very passionate humanist and activist for peace and human rights. At one point last fall he sent out a scourging letter to his entire fanbase to get more actively involved in fighting the American Government’s illegal occupation of Iraq. One could tell from reading Arlan’s email that he just hit “that wall” that many of us have hit over and over again in the last five years and was really grieving by the thought of another year, another month, another day of people over there killing each other in an invasion that at current academic statistics took an estimated 950 separate and direct lies told by the American White House Administration to the six billion of the world in order to justify.

Mad? Sure Arlan was mad. Any living, breathing, thinking person on planet earth right now is mad. Beyond mad probably. One cannot put into words the loathing that the world feels for the current United States White House Administration. These are people so ugly with evil and deceit that it is truly hard to look at their pictures let alone say their names. So let’s not. We all know who they are. History will forever haunt humanity with the names of these wretched decrepit monsters and maniacs who somehow got away with disguising themselves as human and were responsible for the cruel useless and indecent death of so many hundreds of thousands of innocent lives.

(more…)

ECPAT-USA was fortunate enough to send a representative to the US Government’s meeting with the UN Committee on the Rights of a Child that took place in Geneva this May. Although the committee commended the US government on its progress, they noted that addition progress was needed to ensure the protection of children’s rights, noted in their recommendations.

On June 18 we are holding a public information session about the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography featuring our representative Jonathan Todres, of Georgia State University, Carol Smolenski, Executive Director of ECPAT-USA and Padma Seemangal from ECPAT-USA’s youth committee.  This discussion will be from 1:30 to 3:00pm at the Bahá’í Offices, 866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 120 (1st Avenue and 48th Street).

We hope that you will be able to make it.
ECPAT-USA
157 Montague St.
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Ph: 718-935-9192
Join the ECPAT-USA Facebook Cause: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/85297

Dear Friend of United for Peace and Justice

We know we’ve been asking you to make a lot of phone calls to Congress lately. Tomorrow, as part of a “Time to Talk with Iran” event, UFPJ will be asking members of Congress to come out of their offices to make a phone call to Iran to talk directly with ordinary Iranian citizens.

But we need you to call too — while we’re on Capitol Hill talking to members of Congress in person, we ask that you flood their offices with phone calls demanding diplomacy.

The same people who called for attacking Iraq now are raising the drumbeat for military action against Iran. The Bush administration is labeling Iran as one of the greatest threats to U.S. security, despite the November 2007 U.S. National Intelligence Estimate which concluded that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons program.

Tell your congressional leaders that you want dialogue not war! 1-800-788-9372

The call-in day is sponsored by the
Campaign for a New American Policy on Iran.

Yours, for peace and justice,

Judith Le Blanc
UFPJ National Organizing Coordinator

Hey Kids, The ambassador here. Now i must admit. I used to use Working Assets as my telephone service provider back when we had things like “telephones.” But since i made the switch to “cell phone only world,” i haven’t seen a Working Assets bill, and that’s been years. But i too LOVE Working Assets as Heather down below does as she goes gaga for them. Truth is, if what she says is for real, let’s ALL make the switch. tres tres cool. Read below. Yours, E

And now a word from Heather Smith of Rock the Vote:

As you may have noticed, I sometimes forward on e-mails from CREDO Mobile. That’s because CREDO Mobile is Rock the Vote’s online voter registration partner and organizes around incredibly important progressive issues. Already this year, 600,000 young people have used Rock the Vote and CREDO Mobile’s online registration tool. Rather than just explaining what CREDO does, CREDO suggested that we pass on this (real!) blog post:

Posted by benwyskida April 25, 2008 on the PinkoMag Blog In 1999 I joined Working Assets long distance. I did it almost entirely because they sent you two free coupons for Ben & Jerry’s with each bill, and who wouldn’t like that? In 2002 I switched to their cell phone service. In the early Wild West days of socially-responsible living, Working Assets was a gamble. It was expensive; service would fade in and out, and once an operator told me nicely that my phone might have problems working in downtown Philly because there were lots of “obstacles,” also known as buildings. BUT I loved the fact that they gave piles of money to progressive nonprofits; that they sent action alerts in my cell phone bill and I could order lefty books; and the fact that my cash WASN’T going to a major media cell phone company. And I waited, patiently, for the point where the service was good enough and it was a safe enough bet that I could say to all my friends: There is no reason NOT to have them as your mobile provider, especially if you want a nice easy way (and who doesn’t) to do a little something for the left. Last week, I notified them that I had moved. And my phone company—my freakin’ phone company—emailed me a link to a voter registration form, so that I didn’t forget to change my registration info. Two days later they emailed again to ask if I’d changed the registration yet. Two days after that I got a letter, triple checking that I was registered. I thought, okay, that’s awesome. It’s time. Everyone should take the plunge. I realize that this is pretty shameless and pretty pushy a plug. Anticipating that, I’m ready to answer questions I’m sure you’ll have that are preventing you from giving your $60 a month to a good company and instead paying $60 a month for the salary of the can you hear me now guy. 1. Is it a real phone company? Yes. It’s like Sprint. Or T-Mobile. Or Verizon. You pick a plan, they send you a phone, you call people. 2. Are the phones made of hemp and cashew nut cheese? I wish! But they’re not. They have real actual phones with cameras and text messages. 3. Can I keep my number, and what about the contract? Gotcha on this! Yes, you can keep your number. And … wait for it … Working Assets will pay off your contract. There is literally no risk or reason. (Oh: the one debbie downer is that if you have an iPhone, Apple struck a deal and you can’t use a different service provider. It sucks, and maybe it will change.) 4. Is the service good? Is it more expensive? The service, I’m glad to say, is now just as good as any other phone. Totally comparable. As for more expensive, it may be slightly more depending on the plan. But even if it is, those couple more dollars are going to prison reform organizations, media justice groups, nifty indie media outlets, and women’s rights. You help all those people and don’t have to do anything, you just talk talk blah blah like usual and pay your bill and then awesome groups get money. 5. How do I join CREDO Mobile, ditch my corporate cell phone and do good things? Click here. Go!

Click here to find out more.

Together with CREDO, we’re going to register two million young voters this year. Thanks for making a difference. Thanks for rocking the vote,

Heather Smith
Executive Director | Rock the Vote

Tonight RTR brings you a story soon to be on the front pages of every newspaper and news network across the country.

Our guest, accompanied by his attorney will share with you his personal story of torture, loss, and betrayal by our own Government and cover up by the Canadian authorities to preserve their agenda for a North American Union.

Not only will you hear his story but we will be putting out a call to action to put pressure on those who are tasked with protecting Americans abroad to fully address those Canadians whom violated international treaties with the help of members of the US Government.

THIS CALL IS NOT TO BE MISSED.
TONIGHT (Thursday) 9pm EST / 8pm CST / 6pm PST
There are 2 ways to join this **Special Conference**:
By Phone (200 max listeners): Dial (218)486-3695  Guest Pin: 733552#
By Internet (2000 max listeners): Visit http://www.restoretherepublic.com and click on the play button (top front page)
If you have trouble accessing the RTR front page or have a dial-up connection please connect using http://RestoreTheRepublic.com/call.html
At Approximately 10:00 pm EST we will open up for Q/A using the question submission form that will appear on the RTR front page at that time. The question form is currently up at: http://RestoreTheRepublic.com/call.html

PLEASE MUTE YOURSELF WHEN ENTERING THE CALL.
Mute/Unmute Yourself: *6 *7
***
WARNING: The torture details of this story are graphic and may not be suitable for younger audiences.
***
Tomorrow the FED Banker interview video will be released.
***
If you missed last nights call about “Surviving the Next Great Depression” and getting paid for activism, it can be downloaded with this link: http://www.restoretherepublic.com/component/option,com_docman/task,doc_download/gid,123/Itemid,59/

Sent from your friends at:
RestoreTheRepublic.com, 3149 Dundee Rd #176, Northbrook, Illinois 60062, USA

“Yes,” he answered to no one in particular when the question appeared in the room; staring off into the open space that connects us all, “it is a challenge. But it is also extremely entertaining. Perhaps because it is just so damn interesting.”

He was referring to the question, more of a statement it was really, regarding how difficult and challenging it must be to handle the constant influx of comments and mail both good and bad, both slobberlingly gracious and downright nasty, that one receives or reads online about oneself when one places himself out THERE in the public domain. Especially in such a personal and potentially vulnerable manner in which our hero has made a habit of over the last fifteen years. The internet has made it all the more overwhelming now of course because to give an interview in the Times is one thing. To post your latest rant on the internet as fair bait for everyone and anyone takes a brave soul, or perhaps just an insane one. But truly, and this just might be the greatest benefit of it, it eventually reaches a point where there is no conceivable way to actually read all of it, let alone personally answer it.

But every now and then I do. Truth is, for better or worse, thoughtfully complimentary or insanely rude and hateful, I enjoy scanning through Youtube comments especially. Real human dialogue is almost always instantly and immediately created. And again it is not a practice for the faint of heart. Not only am I just as addicted to the revolution we call YouTube as the next guy, I see it as a very exciting harbinger of what’s to come. In essence, that which we now call YouTube is the future, our future.

When I can find the time, which is becoming less and less available and more and more valuable these days, I will sit down and shoot off as many replies as I can when a community has cropped up around a particular video. It always amazes me how regardless of what the actual video is about people will still find a way to turn the dialogue that begins to mushroom around a particular video into these little bickering arguments amongst themselves. How quickly one or more will jump to ad hominem attacks of perfect strangers right there online for all the world to read - rather than simply staying on point or on message. When the video in question is one of my own I will on occasion attempt to jump in and add my own two cents in order to quench a few fires and get people back on track… (more…)

Dear fellow TuneInTurnOnHelpOut peeps,

United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) is an organization which gets a lot of support from us around here. For many reasons. One of its principles, Bill Dobbs, had a good hand in turning me on to what activism was really all about. I had some opportunity to watch him in action during an organized Free Trade protest event that lasted days and days a few years back and the man was just tireless. Absolutely persistent, relentless, and committed to the goal of helping to get the word out to the mass media and to the world at large about the potential dangers and pitfalls of Free Trade. I learned much from watching him work. It taught me a lot about what it means to be “an activist.”

Since that time, I have been a UFPJ member and supporter when i could be, and at the very least always try to get the word out on what they are up to. Because what they are up to is always about “us” — their main concern is helping us even during times when we may not be aware of a potential problem yet. Such as right this very minute congress is about to vote on another bill to give the “white house” more money to continue to illegally occupy another country. Now this is some tricky stuff of course. Because Iraq really is no longer another country since we took it over. It now essentially belongs to us if we’re all going to just be honest here. And yes there is also the fact that if we leave, though what the US White House Administration did was illegal and immoral and grossly barbaric, we take the risk of this new Nation falling into the hands of some who may not have our best interest at heart. This argument may be where I and UFPJ differ. I am against the invasion of Iraq. Read the statement above again. But I also understand that we just blew a hole in that part of the world the size of, well, a small country, and we don’t want to leave a gaping wound for just anyone to come and fix up. This poses a huge security risk for us and other EU nations. Unfortunately it was us who started this war, and now we are going to have to be the ones who resolve things over there until the job is done.

But at the same time, I recognize that UFPJ has been very supportive of this group of Iraq Veterans Against the War — these are the actual soldiers who have been serving over there on our behalf. If you go to YouTube, you can spend a good number of hours watching them speak right into the camera about what it is like over there. I highly recomened it. Both veterans still there, and veterans now home. Both veterans for the invasion and veterans against it. It is a good idea to get THEIR side of the story since after all they are the ones over their risking their lives, getting killed, and getting hurt, injured, deformed, and maimed for life. (more…)

Hey team, as always some great stuff here from those wild women at CodePink. Read on and lend a hand if you can. E

 

May 9, 2008

Dear Friend,

Outside Speaker Pelosi’s DC office on Thursday, we found a disconcerting site: the Congresswoman in bed with George Bush! It seems the two of them, behind closed doors, have been colluding to guarantee $162 billion more of our tax dollars for war!

With Mother’s Days approaching, we appealed to the Speaker as a mother. We asked her to please stop funding war and destruction, and instead support our family needs here at home and the Iraqi refugees who are struggling to survive. Click here to tell Speaker Pelosi to get out of bed with Bush, to stop funding this disastrous war, and to help the refugees instead!

You, too, can do something for Mother’s Day to help the Iraqi women whose lives have been shattered by the US occupation.

When you donate today, 100% of the proceeds will go toward the Collateral Repair Project, a grassroots movement working with CODEPINK to address the catastrophic displacement of the five million Iraqis who had to leave their homes and communities because of violence and instability. CRP offers food, education, job training and other vital services to refugees.

• $25 will feed one internally displaced person in Iraq for one month
• $100 will feed a family of five living in Iraq for one month
• $250-500 will support small women-based microprojects to promote economic self-sufficiency for women in Jordan
• $1,500 will launch the Najaf sewing training project, training 50+ women sewing/embroidery. They will be able to make a small living and clothe their families.

CODEPINK Co-founder Medea Benjamin recently returned from Jordan and Syria where she witnessed firsthand the urgent needs of Iraqi women.

Layla Atiya is a 50-year-old woman from Baghdad whom I met outside the UN food distribution center in Damascus. She was a Shia who married a Sunni, something very common pre-invasion. They had a large family-eight children-but Layla’s husband worked hard as a mechanic and managed to provide a decent life for his family.

In March 2005, he was kidnapped by Shia militias trying to rid the neighborhood of Sunnis. Ten days later, his body was found dumped in a ditch, riddled with drill holes from torture. A week later, masked men came and took away her oldest son. Hysterical, she packed up the seven remaining children-ages 2-16-and fled to Syria.

Layla receives $120 a month from the UN, but it doesn’t even cover her rent. She can’t afford to send her children to school. “I can barely feed my children, much less provide them with a decent future,” she cried. “What will become of us?“

This Mother’s Day, please join CODEPINK in helping Iraqi mothers. If you donate in your mother’s name or the name of a mother you love, we will send her a beautiful E-card to acknowledge your generous gift.

With love for the mothers all over the world,
Alicia, Dana, Desiree, Farida, Gael, Gayle, Jodie, Liz, Medea, Nancy, Rae, and Tighe

p.s. To learn more about Medea’s experiences in Jordan and Syria, read her blogs here.

Dear friends,

Burma has been devastated by a cyclone–and by the military junta’s failure to help its people cope. Help raise relief funds for distribution by Burma’s monks networks:

In the wake of a massive cyclone, at least 22,000 Burmese are dead. More than 40,000 are missing. A million are homeless.

But what’s happening in Burma is not just a natural disaster–it’s also a catastrophe of bad leadership.

Burma’s brutal and corrupt military junta failed to warn the people, failed to evacuate any areas, and suppressed freedom of communication so that Burmese people didn’t know the storm was coming when the rest of the world did. Now the government is failing to respond to the disaster and obstructing international aid organizations.

Humanitarian relief is urgently needed, but Burma’s government could easily delay, divert or misuse any aid. Today the International Burmese Monks Organization, including many leaders of the democracy protests last fall, launched a new effort to provide relief through Burma’s powerful grass roots network of monasteries–the most trusted institutions in the country and currently the only source of housing and support in many devastated communities. Click below to help the Burmese people with a donation and see a video appeal to Avaaz from a leader of the monks:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/burma_cyclone/6.php?cl=86576834

Giving to the monks is a smart, fast way to get aid directly to Burma’s people. Governments and international aid organizations are important, but face cahllenges–they may not be allowed into Burma, or they may be forced to provide aid according to the junta’s rules. And most will have to spend large amounts of money just setting up operations in the country. The monks are already on the front lines of the aid effort–housing, feeding, and supporting the victims of the cyclone since the day it struck. The International Burmese Monks Organization will send money directly to each monastery through their own networks, bypassing regime controls.

Last year, more than 800,000 of us around the world stood with the Burmese people as they rose up against the military dictatorship. The government lost no time then in dispatching its armies to ruthlessly crush the nonviolent democracy movement–but now, as tens of thousands die, the junta’s response is slow and threatens to divert precious aid into the corrupt regime’s pockets.

The monks are unlikely to receive aid from governments or large humanitarian organizations, but they have a stronger presence and trust among the Burmese people than both. If we all chip in a little bit, we can help them to make a big difference.

Click here to donate:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/burma_cyclone/6.php?cl=86576834

With hope,

Ricken, Ben, Graziela, Paul, Iain, Veronique, Pascal, Galit and the whole Avaaz team

PS: Here are some links to more information:

For more information about Avaaz’s work to support the Burmese people, click here: http://www.avaaz.org/en/burma_report_back/
_________

ABOUT AVAAZ
Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means “voice” in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Washington DC, and Geneva.