I just want to read my book. I'm reading Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time, and when I read it, I am no longer in suburban Colorado. I am beamed into the craggy, majestic, harsh mountains of Pakistan. It is quite a jolt when I am interrupted during my reading and find myself sitting in the air-conditioned waiting room of my car mechanic, the television blasting something about the most creative gift one can bring to a wedding shower.

I will blog again when I am done reading this book. It is much more interesting than this computer!

Labels: Three Cups of Tea

Labels: flowers, photography

Some of the most interesting parts of yesterday's trial had to do with the selection of the jury. Quite a few of the questions that were asked of the potential jurors had to do with finding out their political persuasions. Now, this may sound obvious to you, since this was a trial about a woman who blocked a representatives office in opposition to the war, but in the 2006 No Blood For Oil 12 trial, politics were really kept out of the equation. In that trial, the D.A. and the judge were emphatic that the Iraq war would barely be mentioned. In yesterday's trial, the war was up close and personal, not only during the questioning of the jurors, but Carolyn was allowed to speak for 15 or 20 minutes about U.S. deaths, Iraqi deaths, and the destruction to the country that we now occupy.

Some of the city attorney's questions to the 12 potential jurors (six jurors would be chosen out of this group):

Does your car have any bumper stickers on it? NOT ONE DID

Have you contacted any of your legislators about the war? ONE WOMAN HAS (and she didn't make the cut.)

Do you read websites about the war or about Bush? Only the woman above does. One woman said that she doesn't think about the war OR read the news about it!

Did you vote in the last presidential election? Thank God that all had. Er wait, maybe I wish they hadn't...

Are you familiar with Cindy Sheehan? If so, what do you think of her? This question was asked of only a couple of people. One man emphatically said that he doesn't like her beliefs or how she expresses them. GONE!

Only 3 out of the 12 KNEW THAT THEIR REPRESENTATIVE HAS AN OFFICE IN THEIR TOWN!

I was blown away by the fact that a few of these people don't really even think about the war. Mostly, it appeared that the people in that juror's box fell into the category of good Americans who vote and go about their lives while we devastate Iraq, ruin our standing in the world and bankrupt our country. The few on either end of the spectrum were dismissed by the attorneys. So the final jury was mostly made up of people who didn't express strong feelings either way.

Don't forget to visit Robert at Left of Centrist!

From 9:00 a.m today until 9:00 a.m. tomorrow (Sunday), Robert will be participating in a blogathon where he will be blogging once every half hour in order to raise funds for The Alliance for Climate Protection.

Visit Robert, donate, send him comments and questions to help keep him going.

I guarantee that you will find Robert's blog entertaining and meaningful.

Labels: blogathon

Yesterday, I attended Carolyn's trial at the Westminster City court. It lasted eleven hours.

Denver Post article here.

Carolyn was charged with trespass and illegal assembly for sitting in Representative Udall's office in March. She, along with four others, were reading the names of Coloradoans who have died in Iraq, along with the names of many Iraqis who have died. After ten minutes of doing that action, she and the others were asked to leave. They refused, so the police were called. I need to say that activists had been sitting in the office for two days before that and that about 60 people had been coming in and out of the office, on this March day, in order to deliver their letters of concern regarding the war.

To save you the suspense, I'll let you know the verdict first. This was a verdict delivered by a six-member jury.


I'll write some of my observations and thoughts about the trial later. It is time to go to the Farmer's Market to buy my first big box of organic peaches this season.

Labels: Carolyn, Iraq War

Last night I went to a class held by my friend's Rabbi. The plan was that a local Imam would join the Rabbi in leading the class in learning about the similarities and differences between Islam and Judaism. Unfortunately, the Imam was called away to something else and couldn't make it, so the Rabbi did his best at looking at the story of Abraham in the Quran and comparing it to the same story in the Torah.

I was disappointed, because without the Imam, we, of course, got a lop-sided view of the comparison between the Quran and the Torah. Still, THE RABBI IS READING THE QURAN! That's big.

In 2003, I was leading the social justice group at the local Unitarian church. We had been very invested in doing what we could do to stop the imminent war. After the war began, I figured that one helpful thing we could do would be to get to know the local Muslim community - to make a bridge by learning not only about the religion of Islam, but also about the cultures of the people who had come here from the Middle East. These people were being demonized; the government was detaining them and warring with them for no reason that I could figure out. I knew nothing about Islam and wanted to learn.

And I wanted to connect at the place where we are all the same.

So some of us visited the local Islamic Center. That is where I met the Imam who was supposed to be at the class last night. We attended prayers at the Center a number of times. We invited the members of the Islamic Center to the Unitarian Church for lunch, and we asked the Imam to speak to us so that we could learn about Islam. Since that time, the Imam, who was born and raised in Iraq, has become a bridge between Muslims and non-Muslims.

Over time, Michael and I became friends with some of the Center's members and spent time with them, sharing long talks of spirituality. Once, we hosted a dinner that brought together devout couples of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity specifically to share what their religion meant to them. I would sometimes find myself in tears at the beauty of it all. I loved those times, but unfortunately, most of my Muslim friends have moved away now.

I am not a Muslim or a Christian or any other name. I cannot call myself by any religion, yet I honor and learn from all religions. I am afflicted with an an ailment that only allows me to see beyond the doctrines, rituals, and beliefs of religions - or lack of religion - to where there is only one thing. It doesn't matter to me if you worship Jesus or Mohammed or anyone else or nothing else. We all came from one place and you can call that place whatever you want. All that matters to me is what you bring to this life.

From what I hear, the Rabbi of last night's class and the Imam have become friends. That makes me smile. I hope that their friendship and respect will be contagious and will spread around the world.

Labels: Islam, Judaism, Liel, Scorpions

This Friday, a local activist will go to trial for sitting in the office of Colorado Congressman, Mark Udall, and reading the names of those who have died in Iraq. No, she didn't leave when asked (this is a public office, correct?). No, she didn't harm anyone and she didn't damage or take any property. For her dastardly deeds, though, we was offered a plea bargain of TWO MONTHS IN JAIL.

If you find this punishment to be an outlandish way to dissuade citizens from practicing their right to free speech; if you find the idea of jailing this woman for two months to be a huge and unnecessary waste of taxpayer's money, please call Mark Udall and tell him so at (303) 650-7820.

Oh, and in this wonderful land of the free that we call Colorado, the Colorado University Board of Regents voted to fire Ward Churchill today, thus silencing a professor whose voice didn't echo the sentiments of the majority in our country. And you thought that universities were places to encourage free thought...

Back to Carolyn:

Denver Post article

From the Colorado Daily:

WESTMINSTER - About 50 people protested in front of Congressman Mark Udall's office on Monday to support a local peace activist facing two months of jail time.

Carrying signs that read "Free Carolyn" and "Mr. Udall, Jail Bush, Not Carolyn," the protestors voiced support for Carolyn Bninski, 57, a coordinator at the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center (RMPJC), who was among five people arrested March 8 after refusing to leave the reception area of Udall's office, where they were reading the names of people who have died in Iraq.

Bninski was charged with trespassing and unlawful assembly, which carries a maximum of one year of jail time. She was released on $250 bail and has been offered a plea bargain of two months' jail time. Her trial is set for Friday morning.

The other four arrestees, none of whom had prior arrests, were offered plea bargains of $100 or 15-20 hours of community service.

This is Bninski's fifth civil disobedience arrest in five years. She has been convicted of trespassing on three occasions - protesting at Sen. Wayne Allard's office in 2002, at the Denver offices of Halliburton in 2003 and in front of a military recruiting station in Lakewood in 2005. Last July she served 10 days of jail time in Jefferson County for the Lakewood conviction.

She also paid a $75 fine for demonstrating without a permit in Washington D.C. in 2006.

Udall's Chief of Staff, Alan Salazar, said he's met with RMPJC representatives many times - including participating in a two-hour meeting with them after the March arrests.

"No one has a deeper respect for the right of free speech and civil dissent than my boss," Salazar said. "He doesn't agree with this group's views on the best way to end the Iraq war, but he will always stand up for the rights of people to speak out." [Don't tell me; show me]

Monday's protest focused on the issue of free speech, which activists say is being tested with Bninski's case.

"Scooter Libby gets pardoned and Carolyn gets 60 days," said Bruce Robinson, 67, of Boulder.

Labels: Carolyn, Udall, Ward Churchill

Maybe you have already seen this video. It has been viewed more than 6 million times. Maybe I'm just a little slow, because I just found it the other day. It is a prescription for people like you and me who see the problems of this world. Like most medications, it won't make the problems go away, but it will, hopefully, bring a moment of relief.






According to the person who posted this video. The man in the middle is his father and yes, that is his real laugh.

the kindness of people rains down.

I wish that I could draw you a picture and show you what someone has to do in order to visit us Women in Black vigilers.

Sure, there are a few bus-riders that pass us unintentionally (and, it appears, unhappily) as they catch or leave the bus, but if you were to drive by us and decide that you wanted to perform some act of kindness for us, you would have to drive into the mall area and buy your wonderful gift, then drive back out our way, park in front of Chipotle or some other you-see-um-everywhere business, and WALK - hmmmmm - maybe a half a block to get to where we stand. A long way in this day and age just to do something NICE for complete strangers.

There have been a couple of people who risked their lives by stopping their car in the turn lane and getting out to deliver something to us, but anyone else has to make an EFFORT to arrive at our vigil spot. Such is the way of the pedestrian-unfriendly 'burbs.

Yesterday, we were delivered another batch of COLD bottles containing the most refreshing, life-sustaining, thirst-quenching, kindness-delivering, exhilarating


from complete strangers

who went through all of the above in order to do it



Acts of Kindness: 1

Applauds, Thumbs-ups, Peace-signs: too many to count

Flip-offs: 1

I am living in a world that saddens me in too many ways. What we are doing to this beautiful place and to the wonderful inhabitants weighs on me at all times, making it that much more important to pay attention to every moment of grace.

Cpl. Trent D. Thomas, a Marine Corporal who was convicted of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder in the execution of an unarmed Iraqi in Hamandiya last year faced 12 years in prison, but instead got only a bad conduct discharge.

He and his buddies killed a middle-aged Iraqi man, who was dragged from his home, marched 1,000 yards and shot 11 times. Prosecutors said the Marines tried to cover up the killing by planting a shovel and an AK-47 by the man's body to make it look like he was an insurgent planting a bomb.

"We failed him as a Marine Corps, because under good leadership, this Marine would not be here today," Maj. Haytham Faraj told the court. "Consider where the responsibility lies."

It may be true that, under good leadership, Thomas wouldn't have done what he did. So, is anyone going after the leadership where the responsibility lies? I haven't found out anything about that yet.

But what about anyone else who murders - or robs or rapes? Are they any different? Are they responsible for their actions or does the responsibility lie with leadership (from parents to the community to the prez)?

Just wonderin' what the difference is...

Labels: Iraq War, Murder

We've been eating a LOT of kale lately. Why? Because it's there. And it's soooo good for the body.

Tomatoes are an occasional luxury, so far, but I have high hopes.

And now it's time for the first green bean pickin'. My salivary glands are revving up, mostly for the taste of fresh, FRESH green beans. And partly for a momentary reprieve from kale (there is still plenty of that hanging around, though).

Labels: garden, photography

I had to laugh when I saw the headline: Cheney to be in Charge During Bush Colonoscopy. I couldn't figure out the point of the article. What's the difference between C in charge now and C in charge during W's butt prodding? And then to read that W was going to be anesthetized ...

well, that put me over the edge. What do you call his mental process now???

And this article didn't even come from the Onion!

Robert from Left of Centrist has just posted the video of his latest and greatest - Not One More Man. This song delivers power to the people and a great big NO! to W.

Music is a powerful way to move people. Please, if you like the song, pass it on.

"What I am asking - if you like the video, please help me out by posting it anywhere you can. Personal blogs, group blogs, forums, web sites, email the link. I want this song to go viral. It is in memory of Casey Sheehan and all the other thousands of men and women who have lost their lives for this feeble excuse of a world leader. However, it is dedicated to everyone who has a deep abiding desire for the world to learn how to resolve conflicts with discussions instead of concussions." - Robert Rouse






Lyrics

NOT ONE MORE MAN

Written by Robert Rouse

Not one more man shall die for you, not one more mother's son
Not one more man shall go to war, not one to shoot your gun
We won't let you just take their lives to do with as you will
Not one more man shall die for you, not one more shall you kill

You started your own little war to make your daddy proud
It didn't matter if your pride made mothers wear a shroud
You tried to make the US think your holy war was good
But we saw through deception and we all understood
The attacks were linked to Baghdad is the story that you sold
But this holy war has holes throughout the story that you told
It's really very easy to right this wrong you tried
Just start by telling every one in America you lied

Not one more man shall die for you, not one more mother's son
Not one more man shall go to war, not one to shoot your gun
We won't let you just take their lives to do with as you will
Not one more man shall die for you, not one more shall you kill

You try to make the people think that what we say is wrong
You'll tell them only traitors would ever sing this song
You'll talk until your face is blue but lies won't change the facts
See we have truth upon our side and truth is what you lack
You tell us God appointed you to lead us into war
But people know that war is not what our great God stands for
You need to read the Bible and perhaps your eyes will see
That it is us, the peacemakers who God says "Blessed be."

Not one more man shall die for you, not one more mother's son
Not one more man shall go to war, not one to shoot your gun
We won't let you just take their lives to do with as you will
Not one more man shall die for you, not one more shall you kill
Not one more man will die for Bush, not one more mother's son
Not one more man shall make you rich, no one to buy your guns
We won't let you just sell their lives, your coffers there to fill
Not one more man shall die for Bush, not one more shall you kill
Let's stop the killing, tell the truth, not one more shall you kill
Please Mr. Bush, for your own soul, please no more shall you kill

Labels: Left of Centrist, Not One More Man

This is for you
You know who you are
The one who has lost hope
and feels all alone in a world full of people
Don't forget to breathe in the beauty
that is all around you
It is always there
waiting
for you to turn your head away
from what pains you
See the gifts, however small
They're everywhere
but you can't hold on
to them
or the pain

It is all just
sand running through
our fingers

love

Labels: photography

Jesus, Samson Action Figures Hit Wal-Mart
Dolls Aimed At Christian Families

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Wal-Mart said 425 of its stores will sell Biblical action figures aimed at Christian parents who prefer their children play with Samson, David or Noah rather than with a comic book character or Bratz doll.

Wal-Mart Stores spokeswoman Melissa O'Brien said the world's largest retailer believes there's demand for faith-based toys.

The toy line will be in some Wal-Mart shelves starting in August, mainly in the Midwest and South, but also in California and as far northeast as Pennsylvania.

The toys include a 3-inch figure of Daniel in the lion's den, a 12-inch talking Jesus doll and a 13-inch Samson action figure.

Labels: Wal-Mart

I grabbed this off of a list I'm on (thanks, Ward):

Impeach Now

Or Face the End of Constitutional Democracy

By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

07/17/07 "ICH ' -- -- Unless Congress immediately impeaches Bush and Cheney, a year from now the US could be a dictatorial police state at war with Iran.

Bush has put in place all the necessary measures for dictatorship in the form of "executive orders" that are triggered whenever Bush declares a national emergency. Recent statements by Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff, former Republican senator Rick Santorum and others suggest that Americans might expect a series of staged, or false flag, "terrorist" events
in the near future.

Many attentive people believe that the reason the Bush administration will not bow to expert advice and public opinion and begin withdrawing US troops from Iraq is that the administration intends to rescue its unpopular position with false flag operations that can be used to expand the war to Iran.

Too much is going wrong for the Bush administration: the failure of its Middle East wars, Republican senators jumping ship, Turkish troops massed on northern Iraq's border poised for an invasion to deal with Kurds, and a majority of Americans favoring the impeachment of Cheney and a near-majority favoring Bush's impeachment. The Bush administration desperately needs dramatic events to scare the American people and the Congress back in line with the militarist-police state that Bush and Cheney have fostered.

William Norman Grigg recently wrote that the GOP is "praying for a terrorist strike" to save the party from electoral wipeout in 2008. Chertoff, Cheney, the neocon nazis, and Mossad would have no qualms about saving the bacon for the Republicans, who have enabled Bush to start two unjustified wars, with Iran waiting in the wings to be attacked in a third war.

The Bush administration has tried unsuccessfully to resurrect the terrorist fear factor by infiltrating some blowhard groups and encouraging them to talk about staging "terrorist" events. The talk, encouraged by federal agents, resulted in "terrorist" arrests hyped by the media, but even the captive media was unable to scare people with such transparent sting operations.

If the Bush administration wants to continue its wars in the Middle East and to entrench the "unitary executive" at home, it will have to conduct some false flag operations that will both frighten and anger the American people and make them accept Bush's declaration of "national emergency" and the return of the draft. Alternatively, the administration could simply allow
any real terrorist plot to proceed without hindrance.

A series of staged or permitted attacks would be spun by the captive media as a vindication of the neoconsevatives' Islamophobic policy, the intention of which is to destroy all Middle Eastern governments that are not American puppet states. Success would give the US control over oil, but the main purpose is to eliminate any resistance to Israel's complete absorption of Palestine into Greater Israel.

Think about it. If another 9/11-type "security failure" were not in the works, why would Homeland Security czar Chertoff go to the trouble of convincing the Chicago Tribune that Americans have become complacent about terrorist threats and that he has "a gut feeling" that America will soon be hit hard?

Why would Republican warmonger Rick Santorum say on the Hugh Hewitt radio show that "between now and November, a lot of things are going to happen, and I believe that by this time next year, the American public's (sic) going to have a very different view of this war."

Throughout its existence the US government has staged incidents that the government then used in behalf of purposes that it could not otherwise have pursued. According to a number of writers, false flag operations have been routinely used by the Israeli state. During the Czarist era in Russia, the secret police would set off bombs in order to arrest those the secret police
regarded as troublesome. Hitler was a dramatic orchestrator of false flag operations. False flag operations are a commonplace tool of governments.

Ask yourself: Would a government that has lied us into two wars and is working to lie us into an attack on Iran shrink from staging "terrorist" attacks in order to remove opposition to its agenda?

Only a diehard minority believes in the honesty and integrity of the Bush-Cheney administration and in the truthfulness of the corporate media.

Hitler, who never achieved majority support in a German election, used the Reichstag fire to fan hysteria and push through the Enabling Act, which made him dictator. Determined tyrants never require majority support in order to overthrow constitutional orders.

The American constitutional system is near to being overthrown. Are coming "terrorist" events of which Chertoff warns and Santorum promises the means for overthrowing our constitutional democracy?

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review. He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions. He can be reached at PaulCraigRoberts@yahoo.com

Labels: Impeach, Iraq War

We forget how food is supposed to taste, its true texture, and where it comes from (not in a plastic container at the grocery store). When we plant it, love it, nurture it, pick it to eat, then allow what's left of it to go back to the soil so it can love and nurture more, THEN we get more from our food than just a full belly and happy taste buds. We get LIFE.



A garden is evidence of faith. It links us with all the misty figures of the past who also planted and were nourished by the fruits of their planting. - Gladys Taber

Labels: garden, photography

If you didn't see it last night, watch Bill Moyers on Impeachment. Constitutional scholar, Bruce Fine, talks with Bill about the sad state of our government. Bruce is not some "left-wing nut-job". He wrote the first article of impeachment against Clinton. He believes that NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.

BRUCE FEIN: Well, this is an unusual affair of president/vice-president, where the vice-president is de facto president most of the time. And that's why most of people recognize that these decisions, especially when it comes to overreaching with executive power, are the product of Dick Cheney and his aide, David Addington, not George Bush and Alberto Gonzalez or Harriet Miers, who don't have the cerebral capacity to think of these devilish ideas. And for that reason, they equate the administration more with Dick Cheney than with George Bush.

BILL MOYERS: Bruce, you talk about overreaching. What, in practical terms, do you mean by that?

BRUCE FEIN: It means asserting powers and claiming that there are no other branches that have the authority to question it.

You've gotta watch that show! And if you haven't already done so, click here and sign the impeachment petition (and if you're a blogger, copy and paste my whole July 5th post into your blog and add your name).

Labels: Bill Moyers, impeachment

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Beth Hammer's HOA did not back down because they realized that Beth has a constitutional freedom of speech. They didn't back down, because W signed a bill last year barring HOA's from restricting how a flag can be displayed. They say that they backed down, because the financial cost of pursuing this woman and her errant flag flying ways would cost more money than would be warranted by the impact of her actions. I think that's a good reason, but the HOA could've educated the public about our legal rights by citing the most important and real reasons for not pursuing this.

Way to go, Beth!

Labels: 1st Amendment, flag

Update on Another Flag Story

W says this...



...is alright with him. Read below.

Update: Silent flag protest raises outcry

Beth Hammer's HOA delivered a letter on 4/24/07 ,threatening fines of $25 to $500 if she didn't right her upside down flag within a week. After meeting this past Tuesday, members of the HOA stated that they will decide within 10 days whether or not to fine this true patriot - and the fines could be retroactive to the date the flag was hung! Beth is willing to take her case to the Supreme Court, if necessary.


So, unless there is something I don't understand (which is highly likely), the HOA doesn't have a chance to win - but they do have the chance of making Beth's life miserable so she'll want to move.

Labels: environment, flag, Left of Centrist, photography

My video of Operation First Casualty - Denver is finally up on YouTube! Thank you to Lisa, who worked with me to get it uploaded.

I just sat and watched it, and for some reason, I heard words I had never heard during all of my work on the video. For the first time, I heard one of the soldiers yell, "Do you want to die in front of your son?".

And I sat and bawled.

Labels: 4th of July, IVAW, Operation First Casualty

This story reminds me that I'd better check to see how my friend in Michigan is doing with her version of the flag.

A woman who lives in the burb next door will be facing a hearing tomorrow night because she is...

HANGING HER FLAG UPSIDE DOWN!!!

It doesn't get much worse than that!

The board of her homeowner's association is very distressed with her, saying the way the flag is being flown violates Cambridge Park's patriotic and political expression policy.

It's a pretty scary time when we have policies dictating how we express our political views at our own home.

Labels: flag

(If I could only erase my hair here! This photo was taken as I was on my way to get my hair cut. Now, post-new-do, I am a new woman! ha!)

Today I got to meet Otowi for the first time. She is my #1 commenter on this blog. And, even though I had never met her, throughout the past few months, she has been a great emotional support for me as I've traveled through my interesting shoulder adventures.

Otowi lives a little over an hour away from here and happened to be in Denver for the day. You can visit her blogger digs at her Masooma blog.

Labels: Otowi

If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you may have read about my friend Jo's journey. She has been sick for a very long time, diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 2 1/2 years ago. She is now on her way out. I haven't heard yet this morning whether she left the planet last night or not.

Yesterday evening, for five hours, about 17 of us sat bedside while Jo did what she needed to do to work free of her body. We partied some. Jo LOVES a party - and eats attention like I eat chocolate, savoring every moment. We also silently prayed, loved her, and supported her in her labor to give birth to who she was before she was born.

The room was filled with so much love that it healed us all in some way. For those few hours at least, family members let go of painful old stories, and held on to the hand of the person beside them instead.


What can be done in the micro can be done in the macro.

Does war stop with more war, whether it's a war of bombs or a war in our mind and heart? Could we sit bedside with someone we don't like, say a "prez" or a "terrorist" or an "illegal immigrant" as they let go of their body and not send them off with this much love? I never want to be so callous. Giving love to a person does not mean condoning their actions. It just means letting go of OUR ignorance, judgment and hatred, emptying our hands, so that we can take the hand of another. That's where the war stops.

(And it's cheating if we think we'll just wait until someone is on their deathbed before we'll do this!)


It's funny how much we live in denial about death, thinking that we, and the people we love, will be around forever. Jo denied she could die from this through her entire illness. Anyone that brought up the "d" word around her was fired. Gone. Dead to her. Ooops!

It all could be gone in a moment.

Love

I stole quiz off of Robert's Left of Centrist blog. He and I are both Peace Patrollers. What are you?

From the AP:

CRAWFORD, Texas - Cindy Sheehan, the soldier's mother who galvanized the anti-war movement, said Sunday that she plans to seek House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's congressional seat unless she introduces articles of impeachment against President Bush in the next two weeks.

...Sheehan said she will run against the San Francisco Democrat in 2008 as an independent if Pelosi does not seek by July 23 to impeach Bush.

"I'm doing it to encourage other people to run against Congress members who aren't doing their jobs, who are beholden to special interests," Sheehan said. "She (Pelosi) let the people down who worked hard to put Democrats back in power, who we thought were our hope for change."

Labels: Cindy Sheehan

My friend just sent me the photo of the flag that she and her boyfriend put up at their home.

I told her that she needs to move to a home by a highway so more people could view her patriotism.

Nice job, though, eh?


And speaking of impeachment, if you just scroll on down to my July 5th post, you'll find an impeachment petition to sign. You'll also find links to all kinds of bloggers who support impeachment. Go visit their sites. It's way better than watching t.v. You'll find humor, info, drama, and more. You'll learn a lot and connect with what REAL Americans are thinking.

Labels: Impeach

After seeing Michael Moore's Sicko, I thought I might just move to France where everyone has health-care, a minimum of five weeks vacation, and not only free daycare for their kids, but also free college. But as Otowi reminded me, the French aren't hijab-friendly. I'm not Muslim and I don't wear hijab (but you can see me in one, by clicking here). Since I have a problem with a country that has a problem with hijabs, I decided to check out the Scandinavian countries by emailing my friend who has been there for the last month. I haven't yet heard of any issues with scarves in that part of the world. Here are some of my friend's observations:

All of Scandinavia is very expensive as the dollar is not worth much. The taxes are very high in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. I know the most about Denmark where taxes are 40 to 50% and with all the other taxes is about 83%. However people are taking care of from cradle to grave - health care, education, 5 weeks vacation, both parents get generous time off when a child is born - 48 weeks for an adoption and day care is paid for beginning at 6 months. However if people have money they pay for maybe better health care. It's hard to make much money but very few fall thru the cracks. There is just no homelessness in Denmark - as they say no reason for it. Very clean country. These countries belong to the EU but have their own currency and it is different in each country. In Denmark one sees many people all ages esp. females riding their bikes as they have great bike paths everywhere. Gas is about $5 a gallon - there are cars, all small, but not lots of traffic. In Norway and Sweden any liquor is very highly taxed - so much is bought in Denmark and brought over. Drunk driving is NOT tolerated .

The first night in Sweden we each had a hamburger and fries - $25 apiece. A beer in a small glass is $10.

In Stockholm most of the elderly are taken care of in their own homes - not nursing homes- food, cleaning, dressing them etc is provided - sounds good - don't know how it works in reality. Gays are very accepted and Denmark was the first country to recognize same sex marriages.

What do you think? Time to form a hamburger/french fry-free hippy commune in Denmark???

Labels: Otowi, Sicko

A young man carrying a couple of Target bags walked over to us today while we were standing vigil (Women in Black). Saying that he felt hot just looking at us, he handed us the bags - filled with cold bottles of water.

That was the best water I've ever tasted!

Labels: Women in Black

Labels: Iraq War

... if you are tired of hearing about the street theater (Operation First Casualty) that occurred in Denver on the 4th. (In case you missed my other posts on the subject, you can see them here, here, and here.)

That experience was profound for me, and I feel that I would be doing a disservice to the members of Iraq Veterans Against the War - and the Iraqi people - if I just said "That was nice." and moved on.

We comfortable Americans just don't get what it would be like to have foreign soldiers patrolling our streets, aiming guns at the heads of our family members, taking away our husbands, and killing our neighbors who just want to protect their land. Not today, anyway. Well, on second thought, many immigrants know what I'm talking about, but that's a story for another day.




As of today, 3592 of their buddies have died in Iraq. Tens of thousands of their fellow soldiers have mental and physical problems.

And hundreds of thousands Iraqis are dead.

Support Iraq Veterans Against the War. They've been there. They know.

Labels: 4th of July, IVAW, Operation First Casualty

We the people want impeachment NOW

Yesterday, George Bush decided to let Scooter Libby, the one man who was convicted for the lies around the Iraq war, avoid serving out his prison sentence. Even Paris Hilton served more jail time than he will. And letting Libby off the hook is only the most recent example of a consistent Bush administration pattern of obstruction of justice. Warrantless wiretaps, Alberto Gonzalez, the original outing of Valerie Plame; we're all familiar with the numerous past transgressions by these criminals.

As they say in civics class, America is a country of laws, not of men. It's time for Congress to stand up and use those laws to rid our country of the men who are systematically dismantling our constitution and ignoring the checks and balances that have always protected our democracy. Bush and Cheney think their administration is above the law. That's un-American, and this July 4th it's time for Congress to re-assert its constitutional authority and stop the administration's obstruction of justice.

Congress can start by demanding answers from the Bush administration about the Iraq war and their illegal spying program, and not backing down until they get them. Cheney won't testify? Subpoena him. He won't come? Hold him in contempt of Congress and send over the police. And if that doesn't work, impeach the guy. We just can't let President Bush and his administration continue to wipe their feet on our Constitution.

Let's celebrate Independence Day by reaffirming the basic, founding idea of our government: No one, not even the president of the United States, is above the law. Sign this petition to urge Congress to act NOW! If enough of us make enough noise, and for long enough, and from all corners of our country, then perhaps this Congress will stiffen it's spine and move to remedy the poison that has seeped into our land for far too long now.

After you've signed the petition and pestered your own Congress critter, join me by copying this post to your own blog, and adding your blog to the list below. Let's take this message of unity and support to every corner of America, and show just how many of us are ready to take back America!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Instructions:

1.- Copy and paste this message as a new post on your own blog.

2. - Replace one of the "Impeach NOW" tags in the matrix below with your anchor text (Blog name) of choice with your blog's URL (Don't hesitate to e-mail me if you have questions about this!). Please keep anchor text to a max of 3 words to keep the matrix size manageable.

3. - Encourage and invite your readers to do the same and soon this can grow virally.

4.- The above steps will not only add your voice to the chorus for impeachment, but will also increase your Technorati stats as an added bonus.

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We, the undersigned bloggers of America, agreeing that dissent is the truest form of patriotism, hereby publicly voice our unanimous discontent with the Bush administration and beseech the Congress of the United States of America to provide redress by immediately initiating impeachment proceedings against George W. Bush and Richard Cheney.

Please note that I will also add your link to THIS post as I get "pings" back from you via Technorati. Let's spread this thing like wildfire!!

Labels: Impeach

Yesterday during Operation First Casualty, the "civilians" would gather at some point along the outdoor mall, and when they saw the soldiers approaching, shouts of "Go home" and "Leave us alone" would ring out. Then it was chaos with the soldiers pointing their "guns" at the civilians and yelling orders to "Shut up or I'll blow your head off", etc., etc. I think this young boy was having some fun playing his role as a young civilian. In a real situation, I think his expression would be slightly different. But look at how beautiful he is. I want to protect him from harm so that he can grow up and live his dreams. I would never wish upon him the fear that would come in a real war situation.

And today, hundreds of beautiful Iraqi children will live the real thing.





Members of Iraq Veterans Against the War have participated in Operation First Casualty in N.Y., Chicago, and Santa Monica also.

YouTube has a great (and short) video of the Manhattan, N.Y. Operation First Casualty action.

And DenverDirect has already posted video of the Denver Operation First Casualty action.

Labels: 4th of July, IVAW, Operation First Casualty, photography

When people in Denver see something like this:



Another difference - in Baghdad the guns are real.



We were told that this is how the U.S. is winning the hearts and minds of Iraqis:





"The first casualty of war is the truth. The second is innocence - that of the soldiers and the Iraqis."



Paying respects at the Veteran's Memorial, which is engraved with the words:

DEDICATED BY THE PEOPLE OF COLORADO IN GRATITUDE AND RESPECT FOR THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE PROUDLY SERVED AND SACRIFICED IN OUR NATION'S ARMED FORCES.

(photos by Michael)

Labels: 4th of July, Operation First Casualty, photography

We're off to Operation First Casualty (as in TRUTH is the first casualty of this war). I borrowed a video camera and I'm going to film the action. This should be interesting...

After I film it, I want to get it on YouTube. I have NO CLUE how to do that! If anyone can give me any help on that, please contact me using that "contact" link up on the left.

Labels: 4th of July, Operation First Casualty, photography

Two Sumatran tiger cubs sleep with two baby orangutans in the nursery room at Taman Safari zoo, Bogor, Indonesia, February 2007. (AP)

I've got to quit blogging. The dog is drooling, because it's past his dinnertime, no one is cooking dinner, and it's time to open up the house and try to lower the temps in here.

But one last thing... The Denver Post reported on the street theater that will be happening in Denver on the 4th - Operation First Casualty.

Once again, Diane Carman did a great job.

Labels: 4th of July, Operation First Casualty

First it's W, now it's the rangers at Rocky Mountain National Park. Participants in the March 4 Peace walk across the U.S. were detained for wearing March 4 Peace signs on their shirts. IT'S A PARK!!! You should be able to wear what you want!

Oy! Oy! Oy!

I wasn't going to connect with the marchers, because their route doesn't come near me, but ya know what??? I just might travel on up now and support them for awhile.

Peace walkers stopped at Rocky Mountain park
By Kieran Nicholson
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 07/02/2007 05:28:08 PM MDT

Two young peace activists said they were stopped at an entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park on Sunday and ordered to remove peace placards on their chests before entering the park.

Mike Israel, 18, and Ashley Casale, 19, are on a "March for Peace" from San Francisco to Washington, D.C.

The pair said they were stopped by a park ranger at a gate beyond Grand Lake and told they couldn't go inside the park wearing the placards, which read: "March 4 Peace."

"They stopped us and said our signs are too political," said Casale, a student a Wesleyan University in Connecticut.

The peace activists were detained for several hours, Casale said.

Eventually, the pair agreed not to wear the placards but wrote the same message on their T-shirts and continued their journey.

Park officials could not be reached for comment this morning.

Labels: oy, Rocky Mountain National Park

I just saw the headline saying that W commuted Libby's Prison sentence. The people in our government think they are above the law.

I can't f***ing believe it.

W says:

"I have made my own evaluation.... I respect the jury's verdict. But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby's sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison."

And what evaluations have you made before this that make me trust your judgment???

I've been thinking about the 4th of July. We never "celebrate" the 4th. It has been a meaningless holiday to me for most of my life (ever since I woke up and realized that it is B.S. to think that the U.S. is better than anyone else; ever since I got over the idealized stories they taught me in school and realized that genocide bought us this country.) We are a powerful country and we have lots of great people, but we need to be honest about what this government is doing around the globe.

Howard Zinn says it well in his article, Put Away the Flags:

Is not nationalism - that devotion to a flag, an anthem, a boundary so fierce it engenders mass murder - one of the great evils of our time, along with racism, along with religious hatred?

These ways of thinking - cultivated, nurtured, indoctrinated from childhood on - have been useful to those in power, and deadly for those out of power.

National spirit can be benign in a country that is small and lacking both in military power and a hunger for expansion (Switzerland, Norway, Costa Rica and many more). But in a nation like ours - huge, possessing thousands of weapons of mass destruction - what might have been harmless pride becomes an arrogant nationalism dangerous to others and to ourselves.

Our citizenry has been brought up to see our nation as different from others, an exception in the world, uniquely moral, expanding into other lands in order to bring civilization, liberty, democracy.

... We need to refute the idea that our nation is different from, morally superior to, the other imperial powers of world history.

We need to assert our allegiance to the human race, and not to any one nation.

Last year, for the first time, I did something meaningful for the holiday by participating in a Troops Home Fast. A group of us not only fasted as a way of protesting our country's occupation of Iraq, but we gave away food to those that our government and culture leave behind - the invisible people of our city.

This 4th, the local Iraq Veterans Against the War members will do street theater. In Operation First Casualty, "actual veterans of the conflict in Iraq will play the part of American service members - with reenactments that will highlight various aspects of life in combat in Iraq. The event will be treated like a military operation with participants in full military uniform however, there will be no weapons used at any time.

"Participants hope that by giving the American public a sense of the ugly reality of the war they will then be inspired to act to end the war now."

If you live in Colorado, please come support these veterans. If you are not able to do that, please let me know how you choose to spend your day.

Labels: 4th of July, Howard Zinn, IVAW, Operation First Casualty