Mind Vomit by the ikss ~ a journal
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Monday, Oct. 27, 2003entry #1 - Politics
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�Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead�
-Lucille Ball
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
--Theodore Roosevelt, 1918
REGISTER TO VOTE
"The time is always right to do what is right"
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
"The "seven social sins": Knowledge without character,
Science without humanity,
Wealth without work,
Commerce without morality,
Politics without principles,
Pleasure without conscience,
Worship without self-sacrifice."
--Gandhi
"We have not inherited the world from our forfathers -
We have borrowed it from our children."
--Kashmiri, proverb
Civil Liberties Are What America Is Supposed to Stand For
President Bush used Americans' fears after the September 11 terrorist attacks to quickly pass a set of laws that diminished our freedoms. Federal police were empowered to conduct secret searches, jail us without charges and snoop into what we buy, what we read at the library, and where we go. Three states and 192 cities, towns, and counties have already passed laws and resolutions critical of the Patriot Act.
A bipartisan bill, S1709, would repeal the worst provisions of the Patriot Act. You can urge your Senators to support this bill.
Also, Bush has now proposed another round of national police powers in the Patriot Act II, which would give John Ashcroft and his FBI the power to:
� Spy even more expansively on internet communications, including e-mail,
� Seize private records without judicial oversight,
� Apply the death penalty more widely, possibly to punish political advocates.
If you want your Senators to oppose the Patriot Act II and repeal the original Patriot Act, click here.
~~~
REMARKS FROM CONGRESSMAN DENNIS J. KUCINICH (phoned in to WPFW in Washington DC on Saturday, Oct. 25):
"...It was a year ago February that I gave a speech titled 'A Prayer for America' that flooded my office with Emails, letters, and phone calls asking me to run for President. In that speech I protested the Bush Administration's build-up to war, and I have continued to oppose that war unwaveringly and do so still today, because this war has been declared over but our soldiers continue to die, our occupation continues to destabilize the region, and our public resources continue to be drained by this fraudulent and unjust project.
"While I organized in communities with you against the war, I also organized in Congress. I led an effort that persuaded nearly two-thirds of the Democrats in the House to vote against the war. I also sued the President in an attempt to prevent him from going to war without a Congressional Declaration. And I led the effort to oppose the recent funding increase for this occupation to the tune of 87 billion dollars. That's more than all the states' deficits combined.
"Let me say it clearly: It is time to bring the troops home! It is time to get the UN in and the US out of Iraq! This is not a demand I make casually. I have developed a plan to make this happen and it can be found on my website at Kucinich dot US. We must go to the UN Security Council for a resolution that includes these three points:
"One) The UN must handle the collection and distribution of all oil revenues for the Iraqi people, with no privatization.
"Two) The UN must handle the awarding of all contracts - no more Halliburton sweetheart deals. No more war profiteering by Republican contributors and Bush Administration cronies.
"Third) The UN must work to create conditions for Iraqi self governance.
"It is time for the United States to rejoin the world community in the interests of international security. I am running for President to completely change the direction of US foreign and domestic policy. I plan to cut the bloated Pentagon budget by 15 percent and use the money for universal pre-school. I plan to establish a cabinet-level Department of Peace to make nonviolence an organizing principle in our foreign and domestic affairs.
"If those of you who share these goals join this campaign, help us organize door-to-door and over the phone lines, we will win the Democratic nomination and give the American people a real choice in next year's election, a reason to vote, an opportunity to make this country a leader in peace, not war. And it will be the war profiteers who have to gather in a small corner of this great space and hold a protest, because the White House will be closed to them. Thank you."
For more information: http://www.kucinich.us
~~~
WASHINGTON -- Lawyers for a group of Indians who have won court orders directing the federal government to make a full accounting of funds that should have been placed in individual Indian trust accounts today warned that some members of Congress are threatening to undo their victories in the courts.
"This is a wholly unconstitutional effort by a group of anti-Indian lawmakers to deny Indians what they have sought for more than 100 years," said Dennis M. Gingold, the lead lawyer in a class action lawsuit that has exposed the Interior Department's scandalous handling of the trust accounts.
Less than a month after U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth issued his latest ruling ordering the department to begin the long-sought accounting of trust funds, members of the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee are pressing to have language included in the Interior Appropriations bill that purports to stop the decision from being implemented. It would declare that the department has to do nothing to move toward settlement of the accounts until the department has a chance to appeal the decision and the appeals court rules.
"This is yet another example of the bad faith the government is showing toward Indians," said Keith Harper, plaintiffs' lawyer with the Native American Rights Fund. "The Interior Department told the Court they could do an accounting, and now when the Court has ordered them to do a full and fair one, government officials have run to their friends on the appropriations committee (sic) to rewrite the rules for Native people and deny them the money that was supposed to be theirs all along."
Harper noted that members of the House Interior Appropriations subcommittee have been hostile toward the lawsuit over the trust accounts, but the members of the House have rebuffed their efforts to deny Indians their day in court over the mishandling of their trust accounts.
"While there are some in Congress who have demonstrated a hostility to Indian beneficiaries' interests, fortunately, there are many others on the Hill who understand the critical importance of avoiding this type of deep interference with the judicial process and legislatively limiting the enforcement rights of beneficiaries," Harper said.
Gingold noted that this most recent attempt is not only unfair and unwise but also violative of the Constitution. "The simple fact is Congress cannot tell the Court to decide a case a particular way. It contravenes our most basic notions of justice and separation of powers," he added. "Do not attempt to undo a court judgment that was reached after a 44-day trial in which the government tried -- and failed -- to convince the trial judge that more delays were appropriate."
"We also call on the Congress to stand by the government's commitment--first made in 1887--to fairly and honestly handle the billions of dollars that it has received for what was on those Indian lands. That money belongs to the Indians -- not to the federal treasury. We resent the action of lawmakers to try to delay the Indians from getting an accounting of money that has always been theirs. This is the height of hypocracy (sic) toward Native People."
For additional information:
Bill McAllister 202-257-5385 (media calls only)
To view the latest information concerning this case, go to www.indiantrust.com
~~~
Quote A Day:
We have to create a new synthesis where the environmental movement, the spiritual movement, and the social movement come together. We need to create a new trinity--soil, soul, and society. Soil represents the natural world. Unless we take care of the earth, we cannot take care of society. We also need to take care of the soul. Unless we�re able to seek fulfillment and joy, we won�t find peace--no matter how much money we accumulate. And then there�s social justice, which includes concern for the old, the sick, the poor, and people of different races. --Satish Kumar
Word of the Day for Monday October 27, 2003:
contumacious kon-t(y)oo-MAY-shuhs; kon-tuh-, adjective: Obstinate; stubbornly disobedient; persistently, willfully, or overtly defiant of authority.
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~~~~~~~~~~~peace, love and smooches~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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