2007 Events in Portland, Oregon Included…
 Activism Calendar !
 “In Russia, in China, and here…    very mediocre people have the power
   to end life altogether.” Saul Bellow Â
Let Them Know What you think! Â
 Â
 Activism Calendar !
 “In Russia, in China, and here…    very mediocre people have the power
   to end life altogether.” Saul Bellow Â
Let Them Know What you think! Â
 Â

We have net job lossesÂ
after seven years ofÂ
George W. Bush.Â
The new jobs we have
pay less than the jobs we lost.
 Â
Staying on courseÂ
in a downward spiralÂ
is not rational. Â
The emperor is naked andÂ
the whole world is watching. Â
 Â
   Â
  Â
 Â
 Â
|
| Dear Friend, Â
Â
We have waited and we have been patient. We have given chance after chance for a resolution that has not come, and, more importantly, watched with horror and grief the tragic loss of thousands of brave young Americans. The time for waiting in Iraq is over. The days of our open-ended commitment must come to a close. And the need to bring this war to an end is here. That is why today, I’m introducing the Iraq War De-escalation Act of 2007. This plan would not only place a cap on the number of troops in Iraq and stop the escalation, it would begin a phased redeployment of U.S. forces with the goal of removing of all U.S. combat forces from Iraq by March 31st, 2008 – consistent with the recommendations of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group that the President ignored. The redeployment of troops to the United States , Afghanistan , and elsewhere in the region would begin no later than May 1st of this year, toward the end of the timeframe I first proposed in a speech more than two months ago. In a civil war where no military solution exists, this redeployment remains our best leverage to pressure the Iraqi government to achieve the political settlement between its warring factions that can slow the bloodshed and promote stability. The U.S. military has performed valiantly and brilliantly in Iraq . Our troops have done all we have asked them to do and more. But no amount of American soldiers can solve the political differences at the heart of somebody else’s civil war, nor settle the grievances in the hearts of the combatants. When it comes to the war in Iraq, the time for promises and assurances, for waiting and patience, is over. Too many lives have been lost and too many billions have been spent for us to trust the President on another tried and failed policy opposed by generals and experts, Democrats and Republicans, Americans and even the Iraqis themselves. It is time to change our policy. It is time to give Iraqis their country back. And it is time to refocus America ’s efforts on the challenges we face at home and the wider struggle against terror yet to be won. Sincerely, |
Call us to talk about Working Americans,
Unions, Organizing,and becoming agents
for change, reconstruction, and regeneration…
http://www.angelfire.com/blues/writing/KBOOLABORRADIO.html
www.WritingResource.org/KBOOLABORRADIO.html
Press Release    and we will soon provide an updated program guideÂ
 How can we stop these guys…?            2008 will be too late…
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                          http://www.WritingResource.org/how.html
Activism Â
Issues   www.AlternativeNewsResource.org/  Site map Â
 Peace Update
Civil Rights in America:Â 2007:
We are at a crossroads and a turning point.
After years of gains and progress,
during the past seven years we have seen civil rights abuses in America and
around the globe. Situational ethics, redefinitions of torture, suspension
of habeas corpus, and rejection of the constitution as the supreme law of the
land has put all Americans and the international community at risk.
It is time to take action:Â Â www.WritingResource.org/civilrights.htmlÂ
Â
All workers should have the freedom to choose for ourselves whether to join a union so we can bargain with our employers for better wages and benefits.
Representative Hooley has agreed to co-sponsor the Employee Free Choice Act—legislation that would restore workers’ freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life. With our new Congress, we have a real chance to pass the Employee Free Choice Act this year—IF we have strong leadership from representatives who are on our side.
Please take a moment to urge Representative Hooley to take a leadership role on the Employee Free Choice Act by recruiting other House members to co-sponsor the bill. Click here.
Big Brother, circa 2007. Can it happen here…?
http://www.writingresource.org/bigbrother.html  Â
Time and history have proven the case against the hacks and
hucksters who inhaibit the White House. They not only cannot
govern, they have no interest in governing. Their agenda isÂ
corporate hegemony, pure and simple. If the American peopleÂ
and their scrap-of-paper ”rights” get in the way,Â
that is evidently just too bad.  As freedom slips away, andÂ
conservatives and military strategists alike say Bush is mad…Â
It becomes ever more critical that our Democratic congressÂ
find the spine to remove these traitors, so we can restore
the rule of law, avoid catastrophe, and heal the nation.
Timothy Martin Flanagan
On Losing and Winningin Iraq…
and what is at stake… winning, corporate
adventurism, military-
industrial
collaboration,
fundamentalism, faith, freedom
fascism, lies,corruption, denial,deferral, insanity,
a question of balance, the rule of law, or the rule of
the jungle… Get Active.
We are losing in Iraq, because we do not know what it is we areÂ
supposed to ”win.”   It is good that Powell has weighed in.Â
It was also useful for the George Herbert Walker Bush Iraq Study GroupÂ
to weigh in. Even Senator Gordon Smith’s belated ”conversion” was aÂ
useful wake-up call. But in the midst of these studies, assessments,Â
and attempts at revisionism… we need to pay closer attention to the factsÂ
on the ground. We are ”winning”  according to the Bush agenda.  Â
But is it worth the price?
1. Why did we invade Iraq?
a. George hears voices in his head.
b. George’s father’s friends wanted to control oil resources withÂ
   military bases in Iraq.
c. The Bush family and their friends want to make money.Â
2. Why are we occupying Iraq?
a. Because God told George to do it.
b. To enforce no-bid, cost-plus contracts.Â
c. So the Bush family and their friends (Bin Ladens and Saudi royalty)
   can make money.  Â
 3. When and how can we leave?
a. When God tells George it is OK.
b. When we are sure that the no-bid, cost-plus contracts areÂ
    enforceable, and that ”privatized” Iraqi oil rights are securedÂ
    by transnational cartels.
c. When we are certain that Bush, Cheney, and their ilk (Bechtel,Â
    Halliburton et al…)  have effectively established
    dominance and control of Iraqi natural resources.4. Are these goals achievable? Hmmm…
a. It depends on what voices George hears next.
b. Unending corporate occupation of Iraq will be expensive, lethal,Â
     and counterproductive.   But as long as some remain willing toÂ
    sacrifice ethics and lives for corporate profits… Â
    the short answer is Yes.  We can continue to exploit our position.
c. Everything so far is going according to plan:Â
    Long-term bases are under construction, Saudi Arabia has signed onto the Bush agenda,
   and so far, the American people are willing to sacrifice fiscal responsibility, national
   security, our reputation, international credibility, and American lives so that Bush and his
   “base” can make money at our expense.
Grim reminders of where we stand today….
Timothy Martin Flanagan
Winning in Iraq and losing faith in America http://activeresource.org/wordpress/archives/56
And how we turn up the heat… accountability,
and holding their feet to the fire… Invasion,Occupation,Failure, Studied
Ignorance, Conflagration,Surrender, Reconciliation,
Political Organization
Hubris, Religious
fundamentalism,Corporate
ambitions, Vietnam
Betrayal
FaithDisasterCarnage
What is
success?
Rebid
redeploy
reconcile
rebuild
and
renew
So the game plan is to replace the ”Axis of Evil” (Iran, Iraq, and North Korea)Â
with governments imposed on those nations and Syria….by a “Troika of Terror”Â
(United States, Britain, and Israel) Â
This is beginning to sound more and more like a retro-colonial corporate-sponsoredÂ
fundamentalist crusade…  And a recipe for disaster.Iraq, before we invaded was functioning in spite of ten years of sanctions, had not
invaded her neighbors in ten years, and posed no threat to the United States.
Iran was marginalized due to her over-the-top leader, and did not have the capacityÂ
to produce nuclear weapons, thanks to engagement by the west, and oversightÂ
by inspectors.  North Korea was already a nuclear power who we needed to engage
in serious discussion.Now, after six years of efforts by the Troika, Iraq is in chaos… a breeding ground for terrorÂ
and a failed state.  Iran has become more powerful, due to our feckless invasion of Iraq.
And North Korea is stronger, has more weapons, and eludes our damaged intelligenceÂ
apparatus.   And the middle classes in Iraq, Iran, and Korea, have fled from the onslaughtÂ
of shock, awe, & fear-mongering… leaving those nations further at risk-more vulnerable.If Bush ignores the American people, his advisors, and the Pentagon, and Blair ignoresÂ
the British public, his advisors, and his intelligence services, and Olmert ignores majorityÂ
voices of moderation in Israel, we will then be plunged into the devastation of a conflict
which could easily become World War Three. Â
What can prevent such surrender?  In the USA, our no-longer silent majority will have to
bypass the corporate press and take it to the streets to wake up the halls of congress andÂ
remind the justice system of their constitutional obligations.  In Britain, Israel, and acrossÂ
Europe and the rest of the globe, grassroots organizers will help people take control
of their nations so we can end this mindless corporate push for an un-winnable war.The most potent enemy we face is not the straw man of Islamic fundamentalism. Nor
do any nations pose serious military threats to our country.  The enemies we face are
corporate seizures of government. This undermines democracy and threatens to
globally disinherit hard-working, good-hearted citizens.  Â
We cannot allow Bush to ”surge” more troops into a Vietnamization of Iraq. Such studied
ignorance can only deliver surging body counts and disastrous deficits…. It is time we
demand that our leaders stop the madness.
“Duty, honor, and country” do not mean you turn a blind eye to the corruption and depravity
of an un-winnable war with no defined goals.  Waiting until you retire to speak the truth
is abdication of responsibility unbecoming an officer, a gentleman, or any honest man ofÂ
good faith. Â
We cannot continue to watch the spiraling disaster of Iraq’s unraveling, deeper divisions in
an uncontainable civil war, and rampant lawlessness in the chaos which is now Iraq. Â
Responsible military officers must not wait until retirement to be truthful with our civilianÂ
leadership and the American people.  The day of reckoning will not wait until Mr. BushÂ
wakes up.  There is a glaring truth beyond the horizon. The neo-colonialists have no intention of turning back.Â
Seven hours of electricity per day in Baghdad is not “success.”  Rudderless response to
events is not leadership.  And it is time to stand up to these pretenders before theyÂ
take us the rest of the way down a path of no return.This is not about winning or victory.
This is about accountability, democracy, and the rule of law.  We can re-bid the no-bid, cost- plus contracts which are an affront to the American and Iraqi people.  We can engage the Iraqi people and their neighbors in rebuilding their own nation, by ending the over-reaching corporate ambitions of “privatizing their oil” and selling off their natural resources to the best-connected corporate cartel.  The elephant of corporate hegemony is trampling freedom, democracy, self-determination, peace, and security.  Not just in Iraq and America, but around the globe.Studied ignorance is no solution. Civic-engagement is the only answer. We voted, and now it is time to turn up the heat.
best regards, Timothy Martin Flanagan
http://www.angelfire.com/blues/writing/criticalissues.html Â
Universal Health Care Issues & Options
Universal health care gains traction
Baker City Herald - Baker City,OR,USA
In an early coup, the Bates and Westlund plan has won support from a diverse group that includes small business leaders, labor unions and public health …
See all stories on this topic
Dennis Kucinich on Universal Health Care| FACT: We already spend enough to have universal health care. “The truth is, we cannot afford to not reform the health system.” www.kucinich.us/issues/universalhealth.php |
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 |
Labor Rights Are Not Optional |
America’s founding fathers recognized that democracy and good governance could not flourish if the public did not participate in decision making. In the long run, good governance, like democracy, can’t be exported. But the U.S. can use trade policy to help workers abroad influence and monitor labor rights in their home countries.
Tagged as: workplace, rights, labor
Susan Ariel Aaronson teaches at George Washington University and is the author (with Jamie Zimmerman) of Righting Trade: Public Policies at the Intersection of Trade and Human Rights (Cambridge: 2007).
around the world, but it’s almost certainly far too low.
![]() |
 | Iraqi Death Toll: Why the UN Can’t Count The UN has drastically underreported the number of Iraqis killed in 2006.“The first problem with the UN count is that refers only to civilians — and thus almost certainly omitted deaths of Iraqi policemen, soldiers, insurgent fighters, and members of private militias like the Badr brigade.” |
Plan?  Mr. Bush and his ilk are sophisticated  criminals, pure andÂ
simple.  They ”ignore” the advice of the experts, because itÂ
contradicts their agenda and interferes with the bottom line.Â
That agenda is to provide cover for no-bid, cost-plus, contracts. Â
           When the military disagrees, they are replaced, demoted,Â
swift-boated, or die in action. As long as the military bases andÂ
“embassy” continue to be built (while unmetered oil is extracted)
the cost in lives means nothing to these organized criminals.
           When ”the people” disagree they are ignored. George andÂ
company keep bobbing and weaving with various talking-headsÂ
pontificating  about so-called ”military” tactics, in order to provideÂ
cover for the base economic reality:  As long as George remains inÂ
office, and regardless of what happens in Iraq, his sponsors willÂ
continue to suck money from the US treasury and exploit the resourcesÂ
and people of Iraq.  It was never about anything else. (Except
perhaps a larger agenda for war, occupation, exploitation, and
corporate corruption at the highest levels of the US government.
            It is wake-up time.  I will be happy when we get down toÂ
the business of impeaching, removing, and prosecuting.  This dog-
and-pony show of neo-colonialism is tragic. It is a cowardly surrender.
A retreat to a failed past.  For as long as we allow it, these thugs willÂ
continue to dig us into a bigger hole.  It is time to stop digging.
tim
The iconolclasts at the right extreme, after having devastated thisÂ
country with needless war, corruption, depravity, wiretapping, aÂ
dismissal of the constitution, suspension of the rule of law,Â
abrogation of treaties, casual abuse of the environment, redefinitionsÂ
of torture, and irresponsible and cavalier use of our troops asÂ
mercenaries…
…seem all too ready and willing to ignore the options which areÂ
clearly before us and which have been examined, discussed, andÂ
recommended.  We must rebid the disasterous no-bid, cost-plus contractsÂ
on America which make our troops into targets and our people intoÂ
victims.  Those who win the more honestly dispatched contracts, canÂ
supply the funds and troops to protect their investments as theyÂ
rebuild the infrastructure of Iraq.  Some of these winning firms willÂ
be Iraqi firms, and they can gainfully employ the people which Bechtal,Â
Halliburton, Titan, and others have abused and ignored. Â
As these sources of investments and troops from within, around, andÂ
beyond Iraq… establish themselves in the reconstruction efforts, ourÂ
troops can be redeployed in a more useful, equitable, and strategicÂ
fashion. In conjunction with this repair of the colossal corruptionÂ
with which this administration has been engaged, our congress canÂ
demand accountability and reparations from the war-profiteers who soÂ
blithely betrayed this nation.  There are some dues which must be paidÂ
by the guilty.
The right wing extreme may not like it, but this is the plan.  TheÂ
neo-colonialists had better get on board, get out of the way, or find aÂ
good attorney.  Their insipid refusal to face facts is at end.  TheÂ
American people will no longer stand for such treason.
tim
It’s outrageous: after the voters, the generals, and the Iraq Study Group all told the President to lead us out of Iraq, he is planning an escalation and will send more troops as soon as this month.
Congress can block an escalation but it is uncertain if they will. They need to hear from us immediately and loudly. We owe it to our troops—and the Iraqis—whose lives are on the line.
Can you sign the petition opposing an escalation in Iraq? We’ll deliver your comments to your representatives by the end of the day—there’s no time to waste. Click below.
http://pol.moveon.org/noescalation/one_click_sign.pl?0=1&id=9668-4288452-DqILsojPwKLkRYj.5LQ0Yw&t=1
After you sign, please forward this petition to friends, family and colleagues—
we all need to speak up together.
 and then Call Your Senators Today
Can you call your senators and urge them to support Senator Kennedy’s legislation to stop the escalation in Iraq?
Senator Ron Wyden
Phone: 202-224-5244
Senator Gordon Smith
Phone: 202-224-3753
New Jersey could take the lead among states in abolishing the death penalty if it follows the recommendation that a legislative commission made this week. It is the right thing to do, and not just because capital punishment is barbaric and a poor deterrent. It has become increasingly clear as the use of DNA evidence has grown that there is simply too great a risk of making an irreversible mistake.Â
When innocents die, this diminishes our nation…
The execution of Saddam by a lynch mob
provides solid evidence that Bush and
his handlers have failed in Iraq. Â
          “Why was there little talk of delivering Saddam Hussein or, say, Manuel Noriega to The Hague? Why was the only trial against Mr. Noriega for drug trafficking, rather than for his murderous abuses as a dictator? Was it because he would have disclosed his past ties with the C.I.A.? A Convenient Execution
Bush calls for Saddam execution (2003)
 The Democratic leadership is starting off with a plan for strong first-step reforms during the first 100 hours. Corporate lobbyists are already working hard to defeat it, and we need to show where the people stand. Can you add your name to our petition calling on Congress to pass the 100 Hours Agenda?
Â
Diagrams from The New York Times supporting the findings that a full
 state-wide recount under every scenario would have gone to Gore.
“A victory for the world public would have been a judgment requiringÂ
Saddam to reveal all the details of his career, during the course of aÂ
lifetime imprisonment. Historians and prosecutors in many countriesÂ
would work from this record to winnow the truth from the lies, and toÂ
then enable the many agencies making up our international system ofÂ
justice to pursue other perpetrators implicated in the tale.”
http://www.angelfire.com/blues/writing/execution.html
The right-wing radio hype about “self-hating” Democrats is neo-colonialist jargon used to obscure the issues.  Criticism of Mr. BushÂ
and his ilk has nothing to do with criticism of America.  This conflationÂ
is inappropriate, counterproductive, and unAmerican.    It is both patriotic and positive to recognize the error inherentÂ
in arming and supporting totalitarian dictatorships.  Various forcesÂ
in the US government and the CIA, most often without the knowledge orÂ
consent of the American people, armed and supported the Taliban, SaddamÂ
Hussein, and Osama Bin Laden.  (The short list) These policies were notÂ
in our best interests. Self-awareness is useful. Studied ignorance is not. Â
Our current policy of simply replacing dictators with imperial occupation,Â
corporate exploitation, and military dominance is certainly not a viable option.Â
Our nation should neither support nor create dictatorial regimes.   Â
Those who claims otherwise are deulsional.  History speaks volumes. Â
Facing facts and learning from them has nothing to do with ”self-hate,” and everything to do with responsible and intelligent leadership.    Â
Timothy Flanagan
writer, editor, publisher…
  Â
  We have reason for hope.Â
 The thumpin’ November 7th,
  means we may find redemption and renewal,
  instead of deficits, destruction, and dishonor.Â
  But we must insist that George do the right thing.
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