We are all invited to join with others of like mind, with what is hoped to be a very large gathering, in behalf of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, that will take place at Union Square, beginning at noontime on Tuesday, February 28th, and continuing for all of the day.

At 6:00 PM on Tuesday, February 28, at the time of our Humanist Society of Metropolitan New York (HSMNY) scheduled meeting at the New York Society for Ethical Culture (NYSEC), I plan to report on the day’s activities, and hope that those who were unable to join with us earlier in the day will be able to get together for discussion in the evening.

Here is the call for action that I’m forwarding to you, in hopes that you also will be able to come to the gathering…even on your lunch hour, if possible, and to voice your concern and your determination that we Americans who “allegedly” support the creation of democracy in foreign nations, have democratic rights of our VERY OWN…right here in the middle of our greatest City, right in the middle of the day, right in plain sight, quite near to the Belly of the Beast of Wall Street………without being pepper-sprayed, clubbed into submission and retreat, and fenced-in with netting, and loaded into paddy wagons for refusing to OBEY the police, who should be protecting our Right to Protest! Seeing thousands of protestors in foreign lands being machine-gunned down in the streets makes us cringe with fear and shame, as well as sympathy and awe, at people’s continued determination to make their voices heard in spite of the murderous stifling of their Rights! What is going on?! And what might be going on in THIS country, with what we learned to be coordinated actions to suppress demonstrations across the country, in conjunction with Homeland Security, the CIA and the FBI! Already injuries here with canisters and rubber bullets! What’s next? Are WE THE PEOPLE, who are dedicated to NON-violence…such a threat?

If you’d like to learn more about the planning and the action, here’s info, and contact e-mail from Travis Morales: dontsuppressows@yahoo.com and his
special appeal to reach out to others, and all who may wish to be involved.

—– Original Message —–

From: Don’t Suppress OWS
Subject: Update F28 Mass Action v Suppression of Occupy

Friends,

In just a few days we plan to be among thousands of people — in a crowd too big to be ignored — rallying and marching against the suppression of Occupy. We’re talking to more and more people who are part of OWS who think this should happen, but we all need to make sure it does. Start now. Bring the people you occupied with; your friends who dug it, but just never got down to Zuccotti Park; everyone you know who was outraged at the middle of the night eviction and brutal police.

Check out the discussion on the Facebook Event page for F28. It’s become a place where people are sharing stories of repression against the Occupy movement, and statements of support for Mass Action on February 28. Please, if you’re on Facebook, like the page and join in the discussion. That’s one way we can spread F28 beyond NYC.

We hope to have thousands of postcards, in production now. We want also to produce stickers & posters. That’s the reason for the fund campaign on IndieGoGo. We’re a little stuck at $860, and could use some small donations to get things moving again. Or you can just go on that page and comment. We learned that someone who gave hundreds to the campaign this weekend had heard a presentation at an OWS working group, and just wants F28 to happen.

We just got a permit for the rally to open F28 at Union Square. The stage & sound company who has worked with OWS, is ready to work with us. They want to know how big a stage, and how many people will need to hear the sound. What do you think?

Outreach is going on now at 60 Wall Street. There’s a lot you can do with the hash tags #28 and #dontsuppressows on Twitter, and a message to people to sign the Call for Mass Action Against the Suppression of the Occupy Movement will help more people get committed to what needs to be done.

Travis Morales

Here’s a further organizing message and an appeal, regarding some of the thinking that is going on with the planners; this message is entitled:

F28 Mass Action v. Suppression of Occupy

Questions: People doing outreach at OWS have reported a lot of interest in F28, (February 28th of course!) even excitement that OWS may be “re-emerging.” But have we challenged people substantially with the idea that this suppression must be answered now, rather than later in the spring? The Call for Mass Action says, “if this illegitimate wave of repression is allowed to stand. if the powers-that-be succeed in suppressing or marginalizing this new movement. if people are once again ‘penned in’-both literally and symbolically-things will be much worse.”

We’ve come together to act with urgency to bring thousands to Union Square and based on the need for “massive demonstrations-soon-carried out in public spaces where they can have maximum impact and exposure and where the authorities cannot pen in, suppress, and otherwise attempt to marginalize these demonstrations.” How can we convey that message in our outreach?

Thanks to another generous donor who gave $1000 today, we will be able to print postcards, and we are at almost 20% of our fund goal for F28. We are working on posters & stickers. 100 people giving $10 each would also be a very good thing, and help spread support for #DontSuppressOWS. Please go to the fund site now and donate, forward and tweet using the tools on the page. Asking people to give is an immediate and important way of asking them to take F28 very seriously, whether or not they can be on the streets with us.

InterOccupy has set up a conference call open to anyone to discuss F28. This was suggested as a good way to reach people at many occupations. You can register the call and share the link with lots of people via e-mail and social networking.

Please forward this appeal? Here’s hoping to see you on February 28th!

By the Bradley Manning Support Network. February 13, 2012

The US Army last week scheduled a formal arraignment hearing for PFC Bradley Manning, the accused WikiLeaks whistle-blower. The arraignment is scheduled for 1:00 PM EST, February 23, 2012 at Fort Meade, Maryland, just northeast of Washington DC. While the hearing itself is expected to be brief, PFC Manning is expected to be present, and the proceedings are open to the media and public. Washington DC area supporters of the Support Network are encouraged to attend the arraignment.

Bradley’s show trial will begin in earnest with this arraignment. This proceeding will set the dates for a series of hearings on pre-trial motions likely to occur in March and April. Finally, the arraignment will set the date for the full court-martial-which we currently expect to begin in early May.

If the Obama administration is the least bit concerned with providing even the appearance of a fair trial, they will allow Bradley’s legal defense team to explore the critical issues at the heart of this case, including: President Obama’s recorded unlawful command influence over the proceedings, the illegal and torturous conditions that Bradley was subjected to for nine months at the Quantico Marine Brig, the over-classification of all of the documents in question, and the lack of any harm to national security from the release of the documents.

So far military officials have blocked nearly every request by Bradley’s defense team, led by Iraq War veteran David Coombs, for access to evidence and witnesses that could explore these core issues. During the Article 32 pre-trial hearing held in December, the defense was denied access to over three dozen critical witnesses (while the prosecution was allowed access to every one of two dozen witnesses requested). This allowed military officials to limit the hearing to little more than a discussion of mitigating factors related to Bradley’s emotional health.

If Bradley had been a member of the US Marine squad that admitted to systematically murdering two dozen innocent Iraqi men, women, and children in Haditha, Iraq, he’d be walking free today. Instead, he faces the real prospect of life in prison for telling the truth.

Next week’s arraignment comes just after Bradley was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by members of the Icelandic Parliament. A blog post by MP Birgitta Jónsdóttir explained their rationale for the nomination:

According to journalists, his alleged actions helped motivate the democratic Arab Spring movements, shed light on secret corporate influence on our foreign policies, and most recently contributed to the Obama Administration agreeing to withdraw all U.S. troops from the occupation in Iraq.

Join us at a mass rally for Bradley at Fort Meade to coincide with the beginning of his court martial! The date(s) of the rally will be announced after the trial date is set-we’re currently anticipating early May. If you can’t make the trip to the Washington DC area, organize or take part in one of over a hundred solidarity events worldwide.

Individuals who can help organize events in your town/city: Sign our Trial Action Pledge to help organize support for Bradley!

Organizations that wish to endorse these events and potentially help publicize and organize them should check out the new Organizational Endorsement Pledge!

We have about 100 days to save Bradley from over 100 years in prison — learn more at the Bradley Manning Support Network.

Donations are accepted.

Contact: dontsuppressows@yahoo.com - Debra Sweet 646-807-3259

New York City Rally February 28 Against Suppression of Occupy Movement

• What: Rally & March
• When: 5:00 pm Tuesday February 28, 2012
• Where: Union Square, NYC (north side, 17th Street)

Support is growing for a non-violent mass action Tuesday, February 28 in NYC against the suppression and repression of the Occupy Movement, raising the demands, “Stand with the Occupy Movement! No Rubber Bullets - No Beatings - No Tear Gas - No Mass Arrests.Drop All the Charges Against Occupiers.” The General Assembly of Occupy Wall Street reached consensus February 11 in support of the Call for Mass Action Against the Suppression of the Occupy Movement, and specifically in support of the February 28 Mass Action at Union Square in New York City.

Organizer George Packard, a retired Episcopal bishop who was detained by the NYPD while bringing water to the occupiers at Zuccotti Park, and later arrested in an Occupy Wall Street action, said the action February 28 “is the absolute preface to any other actions. It’s a question of process even before we take to the streets—how is it that there is this coordinated effort to stifle our free speech?! Mayors on conference calls simultaneously rousting encampments? Renegade cops taking aggressive initiatives because it makes superiors smile? Tear gas and rubber bullets fired into the ranks of Occupy Oakland? Enough!”

Cornel West, who led Occupy Wall Street to protest the NYPD “stop and frisk” policy; Scott Olsen, the Iraq veteran who was shot in the head by the Oakland police in October, and Boots Riley of The Coup have signed the Call, as has former poet laureate of the United States and U.C. Berkeley professor Robert Hass.

Occupy Cleveland also voted unanimously to support the Call for Mass Action Against the Suppression of the Occupy Movement which says, “the state planned and unleashed naked and systematic violence and repression against people attempting to exercise rights that are supposed to be legally guaranteed. This response by those who wield power in this society is utterly shameful from a moral standpoint, and thoroughly illegitimate from a legal and political one.”

The action on Tuesday February 28 will begin with a rally at Union Square. New York organizers of the Ad Hoc Committee Against the Suppression of the Occupy Movement are calling on other occupations to sign the Call, bring it to General Assemblies, and organize local events on F28.

Please promote and support this Action! Please be there and be involved!

Witnessing the over-reaction to peaceful protestors by police across the nation is alarming to concerned citizens who recognize that this response is contrary to the United States’ First Amendment Rights of Free Speech and our Right to Peaceably Assemble in Redress of Grievances that are insured by Law. Our Bill of Rights cannot be repealed!

A new Federal Law is needed to assure that these rights to “Peaceably Assemble” are respected, especially against all threats, abuse, attacks with weapons and pepper spray by local law enforcement, against protest marches, and the endangerment of persons and the blatant destruction of the property of non-violent protest encampments. Here, we are reminding of the Supreme Court Decision favoring Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth whose Civil Rights group marched without a required permit. The Court reversed Shuttlesworth’s conviction because the circumstances indicated that the parade permit was denied not to control traffic, but to censor ideas.

Protection must be reinforced by a Federal “Law of the Land,” such as was necessary during the Civil Rights struggle. This Federal Law must override local options to violate the people’s Rights for any asserted reason, that will and must result in injunction, or punitive action by the Justice Department for local police blatantly violating the Constitutional Rights and the protection of peaceful protestors.

Some of the hazards to the expression of Freedom of Speech have been noted with local police asserting their authority to control crowds; to protect law and order; to presume to protect the public by acting on what often turn out to be blatantly false allegations of protestor’s wrong doings, such as: creating a sanitary hazard with waste products; the creating of a fire hazard with electrical usage and heaters; illicit sexual conduct in a public place, even charges of rape; the use of illegal substances; the blocking of traffic; the interference with normal transaction of local business; etc. Perhaps these are “good reasons” not real reasons? The obvious action here is a basic us/them power assertion over a potential unruly mob!

Upon analyzing many of these assertions and allegations it is learned that, contrary to the declaration of non-violence and non law-breaking dedication of the main constituents of a peaceful protest, there are some who chose to act as provocateurs to purposely, defiantly, or even carelessly bring such disgrace and resultant punishment to the declaredly non-offensive peaceful movement such as “Occupy Wall Street!”.

Such offensive persons or such offensive unsanitary conditions are not welcomed by the majority, and when, and if, someone calls attention to such provocative behavior, it will be dealt with effectively in a democratic, ethical and non-violent manner by consensus and by eviction by the majority. This would amount to a “self-policing policy.” To punish an entire movement for the actions or allegation against one or several offenders is more typical of a totalitarian system and is unconscionable in a democracy.

In extreme cases, where the movement’s banning or shunning or cleaning-up after such an offender or such offenders would not effectively banish them from the group, this would then be seen, paradoxically, as a reason to call upon the local authorities to remove such an offender, who has defied the wishes of the majority and thereby has assumed the position of jeopardizing the well-being of the Movement.

We need Police Departments that are sensitive to and responsive to the varieties of people that a democracy consists of. Police are trained to counter “the enemy.” Police Commissioner Ray Kelly in NYC is training Recruits to be wary of Muslims and to infiltrate Mosques. Who is the enemy? Police must be required to respect the needs of the people to engage in non-violent demonstrations, and to not restrict, yea even to protect their Constitutional Rights of Free Speech. Let’s make it a Federal Law!

Thank you, Dennis Kucinich, for your consideration and for your help.

Beth K. Lamont, Humanist Chaplain

There standing, completely oblivious of the pouring rain, was a brilliant hero of both events, then and now; Leonard Weinglass, who had been a defender, along with William Kunstler, of Daniel Ellsberg. He was quite eloquent in his recounting of the significance of the Pentagon Papers, and comparing the importance of this new revelation and this new exposure of the human rights violations in which our government is engaged, all the while asserting that we are promoting democracy.

Take To The Streets?

So, here we go again! What did the People learn previously, about the duplicity, the secrecy, especially the untrustworthiness of their own government, and of its military adventures? Of even more concern: what did we do about it then? And, what are we doing about it now? Here we have, in Bradley Manning, another instance of a very courageous person of conscience, who risks all in the interest of the People’s Right to Know, while the majority of the People themselves seem unconcerned, and are not taking comparable risks in exercising their own Rights to Know, and demanding to learn what is actually taking place in our names. In future inquiries into Human Rights violations, how can we pretend that “we didn’t know?” The people of Germany might give us some advice out of their own experience.

Even the brutalization of our military itself is getting more exposure with the proliferation of shared material via the Internet. A vivid description of the indoctrination and intimidation of soldiers who are new to combat, being queried as to their willingness to risk killing civilians in combat, was posted recently. Those ethical persons who valued human life, and who expressed a reluctancy to do so, were themselves brutalized until they agreed to comply.

Shocking footage of ruthless, even gleeful killing!

On our Human Values Network Web site as far back as July 2004, we had published a link to an atrocity filmed from an Apache Helicopter, in which civilians were gunned down and the vehicle from which they were trying to flee was “smoked,” I believe was the term used. All the while those excited voices in the helicopter seemed as inured to the deaths that they were dealing as if they were playing a video game. It was so shocking and disgusting. Here are the links to that footage that we feel should be preserved. The files have disappeared from several other sites on which they were hosted and we don’t want them to be gone forever, so we’re hosting copies on this server, using the original file names so that they can be more easily located.

• apachehit.mpg (MPEG-1 - 4,874,244 bytes)
• iraqiwar.wmv (Windows Media Video - 1,173,431 bytes)
• Massacre_of_Civilians.wmv (Windows Media Video - 702,732 bytes)
• r35297_87992.rm (Real Video - 1,057,142 bytes)

Any respect for Human Values and the preciousness of life itself must necessarily be suppressed in the business of killing for fun and profit, and the pursuit of power and empire! So many of our veterans who are lucky enough to come home are suffering, not just the devastation of broken bodies, but with broken spirits and damaged emotions. Some who are well enough pour their pain and frustration into public witness, as in Veterans for Peace and similar organizations. Many are not. The suicide rate among military and veterans is the highest in history. I wonder how many of them have been sacrificed upon this alter of manly machismo?

I remember reading about the military inviting children to have a grown-up adventure and get the feel of firing at a target. Someone, perhaps from public outcry, had the sense to shut down this unethical operation that equated killing with fun.

Dealing with primitive human emotions

The dehumanization that is necessary to for one to consider “other” human beings as simply enemy to be eliminated reverberates in all directions and permeates our society. The simplistic act of name-calling and using derogatory terms for those who are somehow perceived to be different, should have been outgrown in our childhood, or at least have been called into question in a basic psychology class, upon learning of the instinct to identify with one’s own kind and to shun or fear “the other.” This is the very primitive recognition of the difference between us and them, that leads, unfortunately, to simplistic thinking even on the most powerful levels, with statements like: “If you’re not for us, you’re against us!” Sadly, age or experience doesn’t always bring wisdom in these matters, when otherwise normal appearing adults can spew out hate and vengeance toward others that it deems to be the enemy, or worse, a terrorist! Painting “the other” with a broad categorical brush, assuming that all are the same, or dangerous, or have evil motives, is the same trick that causes the inability to distinguish a freedom fighter from a terrorist. Or a Tea Bagger from a true Patriot!

The shameful animosity, even outright hate, that is being vented upon the Muslim group which plans to build an educational and cultural center a few blocks from the World Trade Center Memorial Site, accusing that this Muslim Center will desecrate a “sacred site,” is an example of such ignorance. The use of the term “sacred” gives the issue religious overtones, and implies a kind of exclusivity. People of all races and religions were victims of the 9/11 attack. Many who worked there and died there were Muslims. They have as much right as you and I do, to express their religious freedom. To attribute evil motives to them, as though they as a group were perpetrators or even sympathizers of the terrorist attacks is false. It is insinuated that they are teaching hatred of Americans or Christians or Jews. This also is false; they are community oriented and ecumenical, reaching out to other faiths and actually teaching respect. The accusation is instead, a reflection in the eye of the beholder, those who are actually spewing out and teaching hatred and fear of them.

The need to speak up renouncing allegations of a religious war

I appreciate President Barak Obama’s reminding of our traditional right to religious freedom, but a stronger and more specific affirmation is desperately needed. Those who are screaming hate and fear of Muslims, as though they as a group were the perpetrators of the World Trade Center disaster, and that we are somehow engaged in a holy war, might benefit from a little refresher course in American history about our dealings with the pirates of the Barbary Coast who were creating havoc with American ships. Negotiations culminated in the 1799 Treaty of Tripoli, in which then President Adams signed statements, affirming that we had no enmity against Muslims or “Mohammedans.” Article 11 of the Treaty is as follows:

As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion,— as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility, of Mussulmen,— and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

The reiteration of this historical statement might go a long way to bring into the consciousness of this Nation the question of why we are bombing Muslims indiscriminately (or collaterally?) in our military campaign of targeted assassination of alleged Al Qaeda leaders. Please Mr. President, if there were indeed an element of revenge in our responses to the attack on the World Trade Center, and you inherited this shameful burden, in the interest of sanity and ethical behavior, and human decency, please Mr. President, let it cease with you! Stop making war! It is counter-productive. If we had in mind to create a terrorist “factory,” so that we had a constant stream of enemies on which to target our war machine, this would be the way to do it. If my village were bombed, and my family members killed, I wonder if I would have the grace to make a fine distinction between the flawed foreign policies of the U.S. and those damn Americans? Walt Kelly may have had it right when he observed that he had seen the enemy and it is us.

What’s our excuse now?

This illogical tendency to lump people together as a class, an ethnic entity, a monolithic religious group or whatever, rather than understanding that they are all individuals, is a very human and simple way of dealing with the unknown. Perhaps more understandable in ancient times than now, but not in this century, when we have at hand the means to research and communicate as never before, and we have access to data that defines our common evolutionary heritage, and our exploration of the cosmos reveals that our Earth is hardly significant in the total scheme of things, much less the center of the universe as the ancients believed. We are indeed all Earth People and how lucky we are to even be here! Picturing our Earth from space was conclusive, in that it showed no artificial boundaries to separate us into numerous varieties of Earthlings. Why is it that so many of the powerful on this Earth persist in promoting a primitive, immature and divisive perspective that asserts that some of us are of more value than others? Perhaps our evolution suffers arrested development?

It’s downright painful to recall the terrible things that we have done to each other in the name of fear and greed and vengeance, and how about chauvinism? Being superior, and above the laws of human decency, is a devastating pitfall. The Nazis called Jews “vermin,” and set about to exterminate them. In our own shameful history in the U.S., slaves were considered less than human, and if they escaped, the return to their rightful owner was required by law. Worse, they were subject to lynching. And in our pioneering push Westward, there was a phrase that reverberated across the plains: “A good Indian is a dead Indian!” How insulting to Native Americans that we had desecrated their own sacred lands, and then had the “nerve” to build upon those same lands, millions of churches that promoted the very faith of the terrorists who had decimated them!

Beware of patriotic and religious zealotry

I’m fearful of the present danger to the People’s Right to Know with this wave of reactionary illogic that seems to be sweeping over the country. I’m seeing a snake-oil huckster selling a cure-all liniment for disparate ailments. Some are in pain over what they see as too much government, while other complainers want more protection and better control. This one-size-fits-all patriotic and religious zealotry will wear thin before election time, and expose itself for the sham that it is. All that it has going for it is a focal point for dissatisfaction and a powerful network mouth that scapegoats and tells outright lies! How I wish that the false allegation that the networks are left-leaning were true. But unfortunately, logic and moderation are not sensational enough; and what is more to the point, they don’t sell enough snake-oil! Ah, would that we more ethical peace persons had our own network! How else can we promote the cooperative efforts that are needed to make productive changes?

How I wish that Corliss Lamont were here to help us promote the People’s Right to Know. Corliss published and promoted needed information that might have remained relatively invisible. The Treaty of Tripoli would be good to publicize. The National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee, of which he was Director for many crucial years, became an instrument for pursuing violations of our Bill of Rights. As a champion of Civil Liberties, he would have challenged the so-called Patriot Act, and the abdication of Congress’s responsibility in handing war powers over to the President.

But, Mr. President, your war powers also give you the power to shut it down!

Corliss Lamont would have been thrilled with the potential of this amazing new technology. Imagine, writing a blog that thousands of viewers world-wide will see in a matter of minutes! Internet users, especially students, from all over the world visit his Web site, http://www.corliss-lamont.org/, and learn of his landmark court cases in behalf of civil liberties and his successful challenge of Joseph McCarthy. Corliss would have been pleased to learn that his name is remembered and invoked in behalf of The People’s Right to Know.

Sheesh! Stop goading me; can’t you see that I’m suffering from Terminal Heartbreak? Gimme a break! What can you expect with the whole world crashing in on us and around us. One year ago I wanted to believe that we Earthlings could actually create change. I wanted to believe that we could get-it-together and unite in common purpose in at least one activity…for instance, such as generating a little respect for this mind-boggling, amazing way-station in the Universe; and even embarking upon the task of actually trying to save our Mother Earth and learning to live in harmony with Nature. This is not even to mention generating some respect for the beings and creatures who live here.

I thought that our voices could be heard!

You know….I even wanted to believe that we could actually create a democracy, the very one that many of us Americans believe that we already have. But, I wonder if most of us might feel like I do: thwarted, like little urchins with our faces pressed on the window where the hither-to only dreamed-of, and tantalizing goodies are displayed….out of reach. For a short while, I could actually taste the delights of a democracy. Even believing that our voices, the voices of the workers, the parents, the teachers, the students, the small farmers, the shop keepers, the small business owners, the retired, the unemployed, the homeless and the hungry, and whoever else is not represented… might be heard over the beguiling and demanding din of corporate interests.

Efforts seem futile!

Now, I’m back to the old routine of alternate bouts of frustration, disillusionment, sprinkled with tiny rays of hope that truly inspire me. I scramble to call Congress; click here to add my name to a petition; write to the editor, try harder to promote the Humanist philosophy; try to get publicity for the books of Corliss Lamont, etc. but seeing the Bill fail, and the petition ignored, and my letter not published, little interest in these ideas, my hopes again get dashed. Then the whole cycle of depression sets in again. The Corporate Networks pundits keep spewing out sound-bites of garbage and lies, and yeegods! some of my apparently normal friends fall for this stuff and repeat it!

Illogic prevails!

Someone in my world, who shall remain nameless, was gloating over what he alleged was Obama’s neglect in “allowing” the BP oil spill to take place. This was a shocker, but I queried rather calmly…what do you mean? The answer was surprisingly logical…he should have had more people in place to do inspections. Well, that was good news, I said; you approve of more regulatory agencies and governmental control in behalf of the best interests of the people and the environment? Hell no, was the answer…we’ve got to get the damn government off our backs and stop wasting our hard earned tax money with all that baloney! Oi! What can I say? There was no point in pursuing the issue any further with this non-thinking person who couldn’t connect the two ideas. I sort-of mused to myself, though, about nature’s interesting design of our species, particularly the ratio of ears to mouth. Doesn’t it actually seem like an admonition from nature for us to listen twice as much as we speak?

But, unfortunately, the fatal flaw in nature’s interesting design might ultimately become the death knell of our Species: the amazing cerebral circuitry between the ears and the mouth can be totally by-passed!

Hope in cyberspace?

Despite the permeation of our airwaves with Limbaugh-like illogic, a little voice in the back of my head keeps saying “don’t give up…good things are happening…more young folks are becoming aware…the Internet makes the sharing of ideas possible like never before. Maybe this could create an information stream that might eventually render irrelevant the vested interests of the television networks, and completely out-do them in meeting the People’s hunger for truth. I’m always quick to cite The Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace by John Perry Barlow, former lyricist for the Grateful Dead, and co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who says, in essence, but in eloquent prose, you governments and you corporations, keep your hands off of Cyberspace; it belongs to the people, who will communicate with each other, and we will do a better job than you have.

Give the Guy a break!

No matter how discouraged I get, there is an undying hope that underlies it all, as evidenced by my angry response when I hear any criticism of Barak Obama! I just fly into a tizzy! Give the guy a break…I’ll retort. He inherited a mess! What do you expect him to do? He’s trying (overlong, in my opinion!) to be conciliatory and he listens to all sides of the various appeals…after all, he’s supposed to be the President of ALL the People, not just the President of us Raging Grannies and Peace Persons and the ecologically astute and the alternative energy advocates, and insisters on more access to better education, and those of us who are screaming for change! I have to admit grudgingly that he must hear advice from Generals and Wall Streeters, BUT! Alrightalready! Enough!! We need the cabinet level Department of Peace advocated by Dennis Kucinich and dozens of Congresspersons. (1) We need jobs! How about putting people back to work, but with efforts to convert to a peace economy, and to transform our dependency on oil and gas toward solar, wind, geothermal and tidal energies. We could even use something akin to Roosevelt’s WPA and the Civilian Conservation Corps for service to the community.

(1) For additional information about the Department of Peace, please visit The Peace Alliance Web site.

Captaining the Titanic!

If I can get Obama critics to hold still and listen to my Grannyrant…here’s what I tell them: Imagine you’re on the Titanic in its last moments, but this scene is playing out in agonizing slow-motion.. Our trajectory is set! We are headed for disaster….there’s no denying it! Those persons who made the decision to throw caution to the wind, disregarding the danger surrounding us, in favor of gaining speed to set a record, or with this metaphor, in favor of an exercise of “shock and awe” power, aren’t even at the helm in charge, or even owning any responsibility for the devastation that they set in motion. Are you with me on this? Got the picture?

Now, airlift Obama onto the bridge! Please, Mr. President, now let’s see you turn around the Ship of State!

Be a real help to the cause of change:

Go to Organizing for America and please let’s don’t just sit there: please pledge your support in some manner, phone banking, voter registration, flyer distribution, etc. You know what they say: it ain’t over ‘til it’s over. We have a long way to go. Millions of Folks who had long felt disenfranchised and felt no incentive to engage in even political discussion, let alone vote, came out to register their faith in change. Their hopes were short lived, alas. We truly understand this great disappointment. But in our conversations, we can try to rekindle in others some hope that we together can ultimately achieve the needed change. We can try to explain and emphasize the truth that democracy is messy. The voice of the People might even prevail over the noise of corporate power. Please, come out and help?

The Anti-Empire Report

Here’s a brilliant essay that caused me to rededicate my resolve to keep hope alive. Bless you Bill Blum!

The Anti-Empire Report, July 5th, 2010, by William Blum
http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer83.html

Some thoughts on “patriotism” written on July 4
Most important thought: I’m sick and tired of this thing called “patriotism”.

The Japanese pilots who bombed Pearl Harbor were being patriotic. The German people who supported Hitler and his conquests were being patriotic, fighting for the Fatherland. All the Latin American military dictators who overthrew democratically-elected governments and routinely tortured people were being patriotic — saving their beloved country from “communism”.

That’s just the start of his essay. Go there. Read the rest of it for yourself. Then sign up for his messages.

Who on earth ever heard of herding donkeys?

Come to think of it, I’ve never ever seen a circus act with donkeys following each other like those silly elephants with tails and trunks entwined. Donkeys must truly be mavericks, and maybe that’s why they can’t cooperate long enough to out-do the elephants. Maybe Chimps will do a better job? I’d vote for them over elephants or donkeys if they could get themselves on the ballot. But, back to herding donkeys: What do you say? Let’s try to find out? Please bring friends and come to the following Program:

Herding Donkeys: Howard Dean and Ari Berman on the Future of the Democratic Party
at the 92YTribeca, 200 Hudson Street, New York, NY, on Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 7pm. Hope to see you there!

Click here for additional information.

WHERE:

Bluestockings Books, 172 Allen Street, New York, NY

Hello to Friends and lovers of promoting real change in behalf of the people!

You are invited to a presentation at Bluestockings on Wednesday evening at 7:00 PM to hear a bit of history about how the original ideals of creating, within the democratic framework, a system more responsive to the real needs of the people, has been thwarted, maligned, corrupted and distorted, especially by the vested interests of the “powers that be.”

Corliss Lamont’s book called: You Might Like Socialism, describing its benefits and even its detractors, originally published in 1939, has been re-issued with a current update written by his wife, Beth K. Lamont. It is now named: Lefties Are In Their Right Minds.

This is a very timely topic, partly of public indignance, with the bailout of banks that are deemed to be “too big to fail.” Yet the idea of controlling the banking system in the best interests of the people is feared by Congress. And the public is barraged with gross misinformation by the media. Here’s a matter that needs more open discussion: advocacy of Democratic Socialism!

The book is currently available and is being featured at a Bluestockings reading. Please come to the meeting, prepared to discuss the issues, especially those of how we might make beneficial changes in behalf of the people. Hope to see you there!

It was published by Half-Moon Foundation, Inc. on May 18, 2009 and is ISBN 978-0-578-00782-3.

This is a re-introduction of Corliss Lamont’s You might Like Socialism that was written in 1939. Many of you, friends and cohorts of Corliss Lamont, may wish to have your own copy. You will find it at Amazon.com if you wish to purchase it.

Folks seem to enjoy the little play on words of the title. The use of the word “Lefties,” of course, is not in the least anatomical; it is strictly political. And how timely is this re-introduction of Corliss’s compilation of historical information describing the ideals and the ordeals of the Socialist Movement in the earliest years of the Twentieth Century, now that the almost forbidden word is on many lips with the election of Barack Obama.

The Rush Limbaugh types speak the word in accusatory tones, citing tax-and-spend tactics of a welfare state, and predicting the end of democracy. Others, in almost prayerful whispers, are daring to say those long discredited and maligned words, “Socialism” or “Democratic Socialism,” believing that now at last we might begin to build a real democracy that includes all of the people, and enjoy a more equitable distribution of this country’s assets, and turn away from counterproductive foreign policies and entrenched warmongering.

I keep reminding that Corliss Lamont had an inside view of the flaws of the Capitalist economic system, having benefited from Wall Street wealth, yet siding with the plight of the working class. His vision for improving the conditions of those who were exploited and abused by the callous indifference of Capitalism developed in the early days of the Bolshevic Revolution. The ideals of this new philosophy that might have taken off like wildfire in this country were inspiring to the working classes; there was respect for the workers; women were equal partners; education for all would be a value; and many of the assets of wealth would belong to the community for all to enjoy.

Corliss tells the story of how the powers of the Church and Wall Street, each fearful of having their own powers eroded, fueled the fears that became a rabid anti-communist hysteria that raged for all of the Twentieth Century and is still a dominant and counterproductive factor that determines U.S. domestic and foreign policy. He was witness to these fitful violations of civil liberties. He saw violence against labor protestors. He saw concerted efforts to rid the educational institutions of “those damn Reds!” He saw J. Edgar Hoover and Joseph McCarthy in full swing, wielding their fearful powers to destroy, to terrify, to intimidate. And all of this. . . .to root out the evil vestiges of ugh, Communism and Socialism!

There’s so much more to tell, but Corliss Lamont tells it so very well. Please check out this exploration of the ideals of Socialism, which he so innocently and optimistically called: You Might Like Socialism. I promise that for its historical value alone, it is a worthwhile read. Advice from another “Leftie” who loved him, Beth.

For additional information on Lefties Are In Their Right Minds, please visit the following Web page.

http://www.corliss-lamont.org/lefties/

Our discussion covered current events and historical Humanism and just about everything in between. If you enjoy this Podcast version of the interview, available below, you might wish to hear an unedited, longer version that’s available at the following URL.

http://www.corliss-lamont.org/lefties/

Thanks for your interest.

Beth K. Lamont

HumanValuesWeblog20090126-Post38.mp3   29 minutes 26 seconds - 14,140,978 bytes

How is it that the system that is “too large to fail,” got that large? And without proper oversight? How is it that this faulty system must be saved by the hard-earned tax money of its victims? We, who are small, are allowed to fail, to loose our homes, our jobs, and who gives a damn? The People should be served by the market, not the other way around. We are not here to serve the market! It should be working in our behalf!

This Nation was conceived in Liberty, and this ideal of personal freedom was not designed for the freedom of its market system that would become so powerful as to allow its People to be ground-up in its machinery. This is another case of the tail wagging the dog!

Lefties Are In Their Right Minds

The book that I’m introducing is called Lefties Are In Their Right Minds. I’m going to say that again: Lefties Are In Their Right Minds! Do you like that title? No? You are shocked by that assertion? You recently heard our Democratic Candidate accused of being a Socialist, and denying it vehemently. Those gathered around him also were expressing their own disdain of such a possibility. But, ladies and Gentlemen, guess what we’ve got? Not only do we have Socialized Militarism, but now we have Socialized Capitalism! The exploitive Capitalist Free Market can’t stand on its own but has to be propped up by the Government and the tax-payer’s money! What a surprising development this is! Maybe if there had been a little Socialized Government regulation in behalf of the people, we wouldn’t have been left to be doubly victimized by the so-called Free Market.

I want to tell you who I am and why I’ve written Lefties Are In Their Right Minds. The story starts more than a hundred years ago, way back in 1902. A young man born of Wall Street wealth grew up learning of the flaws of this Democracy right at the Family dining table. He heard of plant closings that put people out of work; he heard of the thwarting of labor unions. Being an ethical person, he began to champion the underdog, the victims. He believed in worker’s Rights and even went to jail for supporting strikers. That young man was Corliss Lamont, you may have heard of him? I was honored to have been his wife. I’m sad to be his widow. He would be making some fiery speeches in support of a Democracy that would not betray its own people.

When he learned of the Bolshevik Revolution he identified with the workers, the soldiers, the sailors, the farmers who were throwing off the Czar, like we, in the U.S. threw off the King and declared our own independence. He proceeded to study and write and visit the new Socialist Democracy and he believed that we in the U.S. might be inspired and that the same ideas could take root in this country as well, and the people would benefit thereby. He wrote and published in 1939 the book entitled You Might Like Socialism: A Way of Life for Modern Man. I quip the following: Sorry, Corliss. They didn’t like it then and they don’t like it now, but who the hell are the theys? It turns out to be the Fat Cats who profit by uncontrolled Capitalism. And, hold your hats for this comment: you might not believe it, but I’ll say it anyway! It’s the American People themselves who don’t even understand that they are getting screwed! We have been totally brainwashed!

We have been conditioned to fear and be repulsed by the dreaded S-word, or worse, the C-word, and even the L-word is a no-no. We have been brainwashed for over a century. And do you know where it all started? No? Well, it started on Wall Street. Capitalism was scared spitless with the idea that workers would have a right to demand a share of the profits and to have a voice in the management of their own industries or factories. The church was terrified of those godless Atheists who were throwing off the blood-sucking Russian church, and refusing to be docile and obedient anymore! So here you have a collusion of church and state to stop the spread of dangerous ideas…which could possibly spread like wildfire.

President Woodrow Wilson was persuaded to invade the new Soviet Union. So, there we were in 1918 sending troops to Vladavastok and Archangel in Siberia to protect the White Russians from these Bolsheviks. The rationale was, and I quote: “To strangle the dangerous infant of Socialism in its cradle.” I’ll just bet that you’ve never heard of that before! The ideal of Socialism started out just that way…as an ideal…the same way that our ideal of Democracy started out as an ideal. But we all know what happens when power runs rampant and tramples those ideals. We end up with a totalitarian system that thwarts the will of the people and simply perpetuates its own power. So, this is what the book is all about: urging the people to regain their power.

If you unite in your purpose you can create a true Revolution at the Ballot Box. Throw out the perpetual warmongers, put some Democrats in office who will actually respond to your needs and your wishes. We can have good schools, real health care, secure jobs that don’t migrate overseas; we will rebuild our infrastructure; we will create new industries for non-toxic renewable energy. We will create a peaceful relationship with other nations and provide ethical leadership. Afghanis and Iraqis will actually applaud us when we leave.

I say that Socialists are called Lefties because on the left is where the heart is located.

We need heartfelt compassion and concern for all of Humankind. This is the only way that Americans can be safe and become the truly great nation that we like to believe we already are. We can work together and make changes. Please visit the Web site and read the whole book if you like. Later there’ll be paperback copies sponsored by Half-Moon Foundation. The Web page is located at http://www.corliss-lamont.org/lefties/.

P.S. You might notice that this is my first blog post for many months. I’ve been blogging for the book. And here it is!

HumanValuesWeblog20081025-Post37.mp3   8 minutes 22 seconds - 8,041,673 bytes