Clear Stream Media

WAKING PLANET: Ghana Travels

2012-01-12T04:42:00.001-05:00

I have been in Ghana since Xmas so have not been posting as usual. I hope you will check out my last post to get a taste of this West African country. I will be resuming regular posting soon.

Peace

WAKING PLANET: Ghana Travels

Payroll Tax Cut About Much More

2011-12-21T11:53:00.003-05:00

Photo- Associated Press

It's laughable, really, to see the House Republicans saying they only care about the middle class and want the payroll tax cut to be extended for another year. Tea Party Republicans were united against any extension- holding to what could be their motto- "Never increase taxes on the 1%, just ask the 99% to pay more." Never mind that the 1% is paying less now than in any time in the last six decades- and everyone is being asked to make sacrifices but them.

They are parroting their talking points about the 2 month extension passed by the Senate (89-10) as being a band-aid- but the reason it was reduced to 2 months was because of the crazy demands the House GOP added to a year extension- demands like approving the Keystone XL Pipeline and making more draconian cuts to the safety net.

As Ezra Kline in the Washington Post said, "The single most important thing to understand about the ongoing debate over the payroll tax cut is that it’s not about the payroll tax cut." Democrats are right to stand firm against their shenanigans.

The Keystone Pipeline would be an ecological disaster- spewing three times the carbon emissions of producing conventional crude oil. Jim Hansen of NASA says it would mean game over in our battle to reverse climate change. According to TransCanada the company that wants to build the pipeline, it would create "hundreds" of permanent jobs, not the thousands the Republicans promise. The NRDC reports "A Cornell University study concludes the pipeline would actually kill more jobs than it would create by reducing investment in the clean energy economy that already employs 2.7 million Americans." It would put the American heartland at risk of more oil spills like the one that put 42,000 gallons of crude oil into the Yellowstone River. Keystone would cross 2,000 waterways and the Ogallala Aquifer that provides clean water to millions.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/6-reasons-america-needs-to-say-no-to-the-reckless-keystone-xl-pipeline.html#ixzz1hBRwmnyd

Update- I just read that the Senate version did contain language that the president had to make a decision about Keystone in 60 days! WTF? And the House still rejected it as not going far enough. This really is a battle between the right and the far right and the result is that 160 million Americans are looking at a tax increase heading straight at them.

And here is a video of C-span in which the sound was cut off when Republicans were being called out for their intransigence. C-span said they have no control over what is broadcast, but Speaker Boehner does.

Occupy New Paltz Rally/March and Welcome to OPK!

2011-12-12T14:57:00.005-05:00

As most know by now, Occupy Pok was evicted last week and on Saturday some of the occupiers moved their encampment to New Paltz! We welcome them and hope people will stop by, get to know them and provide whatever support you can! A rally and march through town showed solidarity for Occupy Pok, the newly formed Occupy New Paltz and Occupy Hudson Valley! You cannot evict an idea whose time has come!

New Paltz Women in Black that stands on the corner in front of the Library every Saturday from 12:30-1:30PM (for over 10 years!) joined in the celebration and welcoming.

Santa is carrying a sign that says "Compassion" in case you cannot see it!

And here is the latest on the occupation in New Paltz. Go visit, bring needed supplies, be a friend!

1. The encampment has moved from Peace Park across the street to Hasbrouck Park by the gazebo.

2. A General Assembly was held Sunday night. There will probably be a shipment of stuff coming from Occupy Poughkeepsie today. They still need additional tarps and sturdy rope. Also some supplement to food for the winter such as vitamin C.

3. There will be another General Assembly on Monday at 6 PM. We will meet at the gazebo, and possibly move indoors if village hall is available. All are welcome.

4. Occupy will probably be on the agenda at Wednesday's Village Board Meeting. Please go to support the Occupation and to voice your opinion to the board. Consider having the board pass a resolution in support of the goals of the Occupy movement.

5. Volunteers have offered:
- Bring a hot meal on Saturday nights
- Bring water three times a week
- A backup site in case they are evicted from the park

6. We need someone to coordinate this support group. So if someone cannot afford to contribute or cannot make it to the site, this is one way to contribute, by keeping track of requests and who has made what available (see item 5).

7. There is an Occupy New Paltz page on Facebook where we can communicate with each other.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-New-Paltz/275109555872678

Willie K. Yee, M.D.
Web page: http://www.willieyee.info

_____________________________________

SUPPORT OCCUPY POUGHKEEPSIE!

Thursday, December 15 4-6PM Hulme Park, Pok

Rally, Music, Prayer and more...

1199 SEIU Solidarity Rally

_________________________________________

A New Paltz Day of Action:

Holiday Gift Swapping and Creation

Sunday Dec, 18^th 12pm-5pm

Hasbrouck Park, New Paltz

Questions or Comments Contact Shanon: (914) 388-7343

Please Bring:

*gift making materials to share

*giftable items that you no longer need

It is time to empty those closets and donate:

books, clothes, toys, jewelry, art and craft supplies, random treasures, etc...

Let's build a free store accessible to all throughout the Holiday Season.

*No Money Necessary!

Join us to create and exchange holiday gifts with other members of the New Paltz community.

Brought to you by Occupy New Paltz

Building community and a better future, one action at a time
____________________________________

Our Unrecognizable Police Force

2011-12-07T13:44:00.002-05:00

Police in a wealthy county in GA have an amphibious tank, in another county in SC, they have a machine gun-equipped, armored personnel carrier that they nicknamed "The Peacemaker" and hundreds of police forces in our country have bullet proof vehicles with battering rams, gun ports, tear gas dispensers and radiation detectors.

Between the Dept of Homeland Security (that has helped coordinate the crackdown on the Occupy movement) grants, the military giving free military hardware and the brutal suppression of dissent in our country, our police are looking more and more like forces from a totalitarian regime.

London just classified occupiers as terrorists. Looks like the Dept of Homeland Security may have already done the same.

*On a local note- Occupy Poughkeepsie was evicted last night, although it appears, thankfully, nonviolently. GA 7PM tonight at Hulme Park.

**Just heard- Mayor Bloomberg called NYPD his private army and boasted it is the 7th largest in the world.

LAPD's "Finest Hour", Illegal Foreclosures, the 1% with the 99%

2011-12-03T11:22:00.009-05:00

1,400+ police in Los Angeles in riot and biohazard gear clear occupiers

I heard an officer from the LAPD boasting that they had done the eviction at Occupy Los Angeles on Wednesday without using pepper spray or tear gas. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa went so far to say it “was the finest hour in the history of the Los Angeles Police Department."

It seemed like a tiny victory, in a sea of unconstitutional police actions. I thought maybe they are finally getting it - police brutality against peaceful protesters is morally repugnant, un-Constitutional and only increases support for the occupiers- then I heard more about the eviction.

Why were there over 1,400 police in riot and hazmat gear? Then I read this article in which, Yasha Levine describes the deplorable conditions nonviolent protesters in Los Angeles experienced while in custody.

"The disgraceful truth is that a lot of the abuse was police sadism, pure and simple," says Levine.
Read more.

Scott Olsen

Scott Olsen- back to the scene of the crime Credit: indybay.org screen shot

"I liked everything about Occupy — getting the money out of politics, getting people back into their homes", says Scott Olsen, the Iraq War Vet who was critically injured by Oakland Police Oct 25. He just got out of the hospital- and although his speech is halting, he has made a remarkable recovery.

From Truthout-
When asked what he might like to say "to politicians or the Chamber of Commerce or to Occupy Oakland," Olsen responds as he flashes another smile along with a peace sign, "To all of them, I would have to say, stay peaceful, because that's what this is about. It's about working together. Working with one another. And it's about being open with each. And that's how we can solve our problems."
Read more

Banks May have Illegally Foreclosed on 5,000 Members of the Military (like we need another reason to hate the banks)
http://www.truth-out.org/banks-may-have-illegally-foreclosed-5000-members-military/1322589950

The 1% who stand with the 99% say "Raise our taxes!"
Members from Responsible Wealth (there are now a few groups of wealthy individuals advocating for higher taxes) had this to say.

"The idea that business owners and wealthy individuals will not invest unless marginal income tax rates and capital gains rates are low is a myth, and should not be used to justify further extensions of tax cuts for the wealthy. We invest when there is a profit to be made, not because tax rates on our profits are low. History shows that when marginal tax rates and capital gains rates were much higher than today, including the 1950s and 1960s and as recently as the 1990s, the economy was strong, investments were made, businesses thrived and millions of jobs were created."
http://www.truth-out.org/patriot-millionaires-let-bush-tax-cuts-expire-once-and-all/1322506362

Sorry Mitt- Corporations are NOT People- Time to Take Our Power Back!
"From the founding of America to the late 1800s, governments routinely revoked corporate charters, forcing the liquidation and the sale of assets. Banks were shut down for behaving in a "financially unsound" way in Ohio, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania. And when corporations that ran the turnpikes in New York and Massachusetts didn’t keep their roads in repair, those states gave the corporations the death sentence."
http://www.truth-out.org/if-we-end-corporate-personhood-we-can-define-terms-new-economy/1321986003

Occupy Poughkeepsie on the Night of Their Ordered Eviction

2011-12-02T11:57:00.001-05:00

Thanks to the occupiers who held their ground and to all the community supporters; people of all ages, races and all walks of life who came out to stand in solidarity with them. More are needed every night. Please join them if you can!

From Occupy Poughkeepsie-

There was no police action on the night of 12/1, morning of 12/2. Occupy Poughkeepsie is still at Hulme Park, thanks to our many supporters who came out and stood with us.

Read more.

Banks' Secret $7.7 Trillion Bonanza- Descent into Plutocracy

2011-11-29T11:40:00.003-05:00

Dave Johnson, Campaign for America's Future

It is pretty clear from these graphs that we are sliding rapidly (some would say- we are already there) into plutocracy- the antithesis of democracy- where the richest few rig the system to enrich themselves beyond imagining, while controlling and impoverishing the rest of us. It has been in the works for decades and has gone into high gear since the economic collapse of 2008. We all know about TARP- the $700 billion bail out that Bush pushed through Congress for the biggest banks- but that was the least of it.

"The Federal Reserve and the big banks fought for more than two years to keep details of the biggest bailout in US history a secret. Now the rest of the world can see what was missing," says Bloomberg News (of all sources) in an article- "Secret Fed Loans Helped Banks Net $13 Billion". The actual amount the Fed loaned to the banks, with virtually no strings attached, was $7.77 TRILLION ($7.77 thousand billion)! Congress and even top Bush administration officials were kept in the dark about it which shows how out of control the Federal Reserve is. Senator Dorgan (D-ND) said recently that if they had had knowledge of the loans they would have pushed to reinstate Glass Steagall (the Act that kept banks relatively honest for over six decades). Well, Senator Dorgan and all the rest of you Democrats- what is stopping you now?

The banks have made more profit in the last 30 months than in the 8 years preceding the economic meltdown that they created. The secret nature of these massive loans helped Wall St to "preserve a broken status quo and enabled the biggest banks to grow even bigger."

Thousands of billions have been showered on banks that bankrupted and looted our economy, while everyday Americans suffer on a massive scale. A recent report says that food insecurity is up 30% during this Great Recession. Almost 49 million people in our country lived in food insecure households last year- that is one in seven households. There have been millions of home foreclosures (many occurring because of mortgage fraud to people who have not missed one payment!). There are record numbers of families living in their cars, medical expenses bankrupting people who have worked their whole lives and one in four very young children now lives in poverty in our country.

We need to rise up to demand a reversal of this dangerous descent into plutocracy. If you live in the Hudson Valley come to the first Regional Assembly for Occupy Hudson Valley this Saturday, Dec 3 at 6:30PM at Hulme Park in Poughkeepsie (right after the bridge on the right). Occupy Poughkeepsie is reaching out to the broader community so that "greater resources can be focused on a commitment to direct actions that promote freedom, community and awareness" in the Hudson Valley. For more information go to occupypoughkeepsie.org.

Police Surrounding Peaceful Occupiers in Phoenix

If you live outside the Hudson Valley go to occupytogether.org to find an occupation near you!

Our strength is in our numbers and our unity!

The Police Are the 99%

2011-11-23T00:36:00.002-05:00

Millions have been horrified watching the video of cops hosing peaceful students point blank with military grade pepper spray. You watch in disbelief. How could this be happening? What was their crime? They were sitting on the ground with arms linked protesting a recent incident of police brutality towards students. The police said they felt threatened by them. Really? They must agree with UC Berkely's Chancellor who declared "linking arms is not non-violent". (Watch a powerful demonstration against the Chancellor- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8775ZmNGFY8&feature=player_embedde)

How did those policemen come to dehumanize young students to the point where they were able to inflict serious pain so nonchalantly? How were they trained? Why are our police in full riot gear, battle-ready against our own civilians? What does it take to get a violent cop fired?

We were in Foley last Thursday in solidarity with OWS which had been forced out of Zuccotti Park two days before. The energy was electric, (NYPD estimated 32,500) the chants impassioned, the creativity overflowing and spirits high. (video) The police were keeping a low profile, but when we began the march to the Brooklyn Bridge, there were suddenly many more, including a whole batallion of mounted police.

Mounted police seemed like overkill for people who have vowed to remain nonviolent. During the anti-war protests pf the 60's, I was chased by police on horses and many of my friends were too. One woman, now in her late 80's, remembers a horse rearing up in front of her and she said she feared for her life. When you hear them galloping toward you, it makes quite an impression.

philly.com

So as we walked in front of this display of force meant to intimidate, we began the chant, "The police are the 99%" Some of them smiled, some smirked and some looked grim, but I think on a deep level, they know they are the 99% and that like us, they are getting screwed too.

In fact, some police officers are wonderfully supportive of the Occupy movement- like Ray Kelly, the former police chief of Philadelphia. He joined OWS to warn about the corporate control of our country and the exploitation of the 99%. The other side of this sign read "Watch Inside Job and join us.

photo via Lauren Thorp

He was arrested and this picture of him speaks volumes. His courage, truth telling and principles are a galaxy away from the Anthony Bolognas and John Pikes of this world. And there are more like him than you might think.

I absolutely love the scene in the video below in which a young man speaks earnestly about injustice to a row of cops in riot gear. God bless him! I hope many of them were listening (and don't know about you, but I'm putting Inside Job on the top of my to see list).

"Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man." Ghandi

Keep Faith!

OWS Day of Mass Action- The Fight Continues!

2011-11-19T10:59:00.005-05:00

It was great being in Foley Square Thursday night. The energy was more intense than ever. Read about the historic day of mass action here. As OWS has said "You can't evict an idea whose time has come!"

Bloomberg, who ordered the forcible eviction of OWS two days before the mass action, is on the wrong side of history, but what can you expect from the 12th richest person in the country?

It is nice to see though that some of the wealthiest in our country are begging Congress to raise their taxes! The Patriotic Millionaires are joining with more than 2/3 of Americans who favor increasing taxes on those making $250,000+ a year. Warren Buffet, who pointed out that he pays less taxes than his secretary, is only one Patriotic Billionaire I can think of. For most obscenely rich people, like the Koch brothers, greed knows no bounds- even if it means destroying the earth and our country in the process.

Because of people like that and the politicians they own, the Occupy movement will only grow over time. People are fed up with the gross inequalities, crony capitalism, and rampant corruption. OWS is a true populist movement, that is not about left and right, but top and bottom. It has the staying power to create massive structural change that restores democracy and fairness to the American people.

OWS is already influencing legislators. From the Seattle Times-

"Florida state Rep. Dwight Bullard, a Miami Democrat who has met with organizers in Florida, said he and other lawmakers are listening to the protesters and taking up their cause on such issues as debit card fees.

"I would definitely say that Occupy has encouraged or helped ignite, I guess, a more aggressive fervor in the bellies of my colleagues," Bullard said. "Sometimes you don't want to jump out of the plane without a parachute," and it is nice to know "there are people not only around the state but around the country and around the globe that are tired of being beat down and taken advantage of by corporate interests."

And some Occupy Working Groups are coming up with very specific proposals to bring back fairness and equality to our nation. This one is a little long and wonky- but they have the numbers right! Read about Occupy Washington's 99% Deficit Proposal and sign their petition .

Lastly, some good news about Scott Olsen, the Iraq War veteran who was seriously injured by the police at Occupy Oakland.

"I'm feeling a lot better, [but there's] a long road in front of me. After my freedom of speech was quite literally taken from me, my speech is slowly coming back, but I've got a lot of work to do with rehab. Thank you for all your support, it has meant the world to me. You'll be hearing more from me in the near future and soon enough we'll see you in the streets." - Scott Olsen

Keep Faith!

Join an Action Tomorrow in Solidarity with OWS!

2011-11-16T21:55:00.007-05:00

The 84 year old woman who was pepper sprayed at the Occupy Seattle.

I feel like we are reaching a turning point with the Occupy movement- Bloomberg's cowardly, violent raid on the peaceful, sleeping occupiers in Zuccotti Park has already infused the movement with fresh passion and energy. Tomorrow, in 500 cities and towns across our country, people will be taking to the streets to show their solidarity with OWS! Go here to find an action near you- http://civic.moveon.org/event/events/index.html?rc=homepage&action_id=260

Many of us are also heading for NYC for a day of mass action that will culminate in Foley Square at 5PM. As the American Dream movement says "November 17th will be unstoppable".

"On November 15th, Mayor Bloomberg and the NYPD made a cowardly attempt to stomp out the spirited movement that sparked in Zuccotti Park two months ago, only to find the flame has spread too far and wide to be stifled. Hundreds have been arrested in New York City defending the birthplace of the Occupy movement, but what Bloomberg fails to understand is that the movement extends beyond the perimeters of Zuccotti Park. As the Occupy alert from last night reads, “You can’t evict an idea whose time has come.” "

The country has woken up – we will no longer tolerate a political system ruled by the interests of the 1% at the expense of the rest of us.

____________________________

Posted by Allan Goldhammer on FB- reprinted with permission. I invite others to share their experiences of the Occupy movement!

I visited Zuccotti Park in October and have helped Occupy Poughkeepsie, NY and just came back from visiting Occupy Philadelphia when the OWS contingent walking to DC was there. The experience of visiting an Occupation provided me with experiences that educated me and inspired me well beyond what is available in online discourse or on other venues. In my visits, I spoke with people I would never get a chance to meet in other ways. We shared views, saw people of similar intent and had my own heart raised in hope in ways that have not happened in way too long.

I was interviewed five times on my OWS visit, speaking to people making documentaries and Youtube videos. I spoke to a CNN reporter, watched a cop throw away signs and then people picking them up and placing them back in use. I picked up a support "Medicare, not Billionaires" sign, and asked people who in their family has been helped by Medicare. I saw people of all ages and walks of life. I helped make "Support the Wall St. Occupation - economic justice" buttons with a man who had made 1500 of them in three days. He was giving them away for free, as long as you promised to wear them everywhere. People promised and still stuffed the box in front of him with money. There was beautiful art being made, and theater, and people being very, very alive.

In Philly I spoke with homeless people, who are legitimate members of the disenfranchised and belong in the Occupy movement. Some were articulate, some less so, some just had a place to camp where the cops weren't harassing them. We all brought our human weaknesses, but Occupy is in some ways a place apart, where our common interests let us speak across social gulfs. A homeless woman with health issues and a college professor were running the free book tent. I stood close to a press conference with major news venues, listening to the OP legal team describe in detail the City's lack of communication regarding their possibly imminent eviction. The construction project necessitating this move was not due to begin until February. This appeared to be a poor excuse.

The General Assembly I joined in was led by a smart energetic young woman who made sure the process was followed and had good words for people who managed to violate the process accidentally. She has been here since the beginning, she told me. She would be living there herself, but she is wheelchair bound and needs her home. I participated in my first labor action, marching with union members to the Aramark Tower one of the Forbes 500 companies who is being tightfisted in their contract negotiations.

In Poughkeepsie, as in Philadelphia, I spoke with young people, some who had found purpose and kinship in ways they have not before. I saw a support group form who brings them food every day, and a visit from an OWS person bringing a pizza. The support group was organized by a new friend who has much organizing history, and who is at least as enthused as I am by the process.

There are huge differences between watching from afar and putting your body there, and participating in some way. Support Occupation, go there.

OWS- Will Be Stronger than Ever

2011-11-15T09:26:00.008-05:00

OWS reaction from being forcibly evicted from Zucotti Park last night

New York, NY — We are a global movement that is reclaiming our humanity and our future. We have stepped into a revitalizing civic process, realizing that we cannot fix our crises isolated from one another. We need collective action, and we need civic space. We are creating that civic space. To occupy is to embody the spirit of liberation that we wish to manifest in our society. It is to exercise our freedom to assemble. We are creating space for community, values, ideas, and a level of meaningful dialogue that is absent in the present discourse.

Liberated space is breaking free of isolation, breaking down the walls that literally and figuratively separate us from one another. It is a new focus on community, trust, love and hope. We occupy to create a vision of equality, liberty and social justice onto the blank paving stones of public parks, in the silent hallways of abandoned schools, banks, and beyond. Public space plays a crucial role in this civic process and encourages open, transparent organizing in our movement. As we have seen in Liberty Square, outdoor space invites people to listen, speak, share, learn, and act. Last night, billionaire Michael Bloomberg sent a massive police force to evict members of the public from Liberty Square—home of Occupy Wall Street for the past two months. People who were part of a dynamic civic process were beaten and pepper-sprayed, their personal property destroyed.Supporters of this rapidly growing movement were mobilized in the middle of the night, making phone calls, taking the streets en masse, and planning next steps.

Americans and people around the world are appalled at Bloomberg's treatment of people who peacefully assemble. We are appalled, but not deterred. Liberty Square was dispersed, but its spirit not defeated. Today we are stronger than we were yesterday. Tomorrow we will be stronger still. We are breaking free of the fear that constricts and confines us. We occupy to liberate.We move forward in the grand tradition of the transformative social movements that have defined American history. We stand on the shoulders of those who have struggled before us, and we pick up where others have left off. We are creating a better society for us all.Occupy Wall Street has renewed a sense of hope. It has revived a belief in community and awakened a revolutionary spirit too long silenced.

Join us as we liberate space and build a movement. 9 a.m. Tuesday morning at Sixth Avenue and Canal we continue.

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

MSNBC said the eviction was peaceful "with protesters and police behaving themselves" Really?

The beatings, pulling people by their hair from tents and pepper spray were not mentioned.

Livestream
-&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;

The aftermath of 1,000 police in riot gear shutting down the right of the people to peaceably assemble.

What a contrast to my post yesterday. Things are moving so fast- but I have faith- in the occupiers, in the justness of their cause and in the American people who are collectively waking up!

Occupy Poughkeepsie Rally and March Videos and Pictures!

2011-11-14T21:46:00.002-05:00

What a great day! Almost 300 folks showed up to show their solidarity with the occupiers of Poughkeepsie on Saturday! We had amazing performers and speakers and a beautifully diverse audience; all colors, all ages, from all walks of life! The energy was high and the feeling of oneness strong.

Thanks to Jodiah Jacobs for these photos!

It is getting colder and the mostly, young occupiers need all of our ongoing support. Join them on facebook, join Occupy Poughkeepsie Moms and Dads (who provide a hot meal every night) and go down and visit. General Assemblies are everyday at noon and 7PM. Go to their website OccupyPoughkeepsie.org to see what supplies they need.

And here is a great video of New Paltz Mayor Jason West talking about what the occupiers have in common with the Sermon on the Mount! As I said in my last hard copy of Clear Stream,

"I believe the spirit of the New Earth we are creating can best be seen in the Occupy movement. Occupiers model equality, inclusiveness, peace and compassion- the values needed to create a saner, more just and loving world."

We are the 99% and we have just begun.

WAKING PLANET: 11-11-11 Portal to the New Earth

2011-11-10T23:05:00.000-05:00

WAKING PLANET: 11-11-11 Portal to the New Earth

Occupy Poughkeepsie Rally and March- Sat, Nov 12!

2011-11-04T23:59:00.009-04:00

For Our Veterans, for Our People, for Our Future

OCCUPY POUGHKEEPSIE

In Solidarity with

Occupy Wall St and Occupy Together

Rally and March

Saturday, Nov 12th

-12 noon-

-Hulme Park-

(Corner of Church (rt 55) and Market, right near the bridge)

Come to discuss, Come to listen, Come to support

Stand in defiance

STAY INFORMED

occupypoughkeepsie.org

media@occupypoughkeepsie.org

facebook: Occupy Poughkeepsie

twitter: occupypk

All out November 12 to show community support for the young people who are occupying a site in Poughkeepsie 24/7! When they began Oct 15, police made them leave the park at curfew. They set up their sleeping bags across the street on the sidewalk and slept there for two nights. On the third it was raining- they didn't want to break up camp once again and move to the street- so they decided to stay and the police have left them alone since (even some nights yelling out to stay warm)!

Their dedication, organization and good energy are impressive, but it can't be easy being in the cold, never knowing what the next day will bring. Can we show them that we have their backs? That we appreciate their passion and respect them and all making these courageous stands all over our country?

Please come Saturday Nov 12. The rally beginning at 12 will be great with speakers: members of Occupy Pok, Veteran's for Peace, Alliance for Quality Education, African Roots Library, New Paltz Women in Black and others. Performers will include:Tom Pacheco, Reggie Harris, the Redwing Blackbird Puppet Theater, "Billionaires for Boehner", the Women's Drum Circle and Bill Vanaver.

Following the rally, there will be a march through the city. Signs will be provided and there will be material there to make your own. After the march, people are invited to take part in the group's General Assembly to join in the discussion about how to change the system so that it works for the 99% of us.

The event is open to the public. let's have a large turnout to show support for the Pok occupiers and for the Occupy Movement spreading across this nation and around the world!

Please visit them on their FB page and website and see what they need to keep going!

The 99% Visit Gov Walker from occupywallst.org. This is great!

Second Veteran Injured by Oakland Cops- In Intensive Care with a Lacerated Spleen after Being Beaten with Baton by Oakland Cops

Sign the letter the ACLU is sending to Mayors across the country saying there should not be police crackdowns on peaceful potesters exercising their First Amendment rights!

Occupy the Future "I've never seen anything quite like the Occupy movement in scale and character, here and worldwide. The Occupy outposts are trying to create cooperative communities that just might be the basis for the kinds of lasting organizations necessary to overcome the barriers ahead and the backlash that's already coming." Noam Chomsky

WAKING PLANET: A Merging of the Worlds

2011-10-27T23:00:00.000-04:00

WAKING PLANET: A Merging of the Worlds

Bad News, Good News on the Occupy Movement

2011-10-27T09:32:00.005-04:00

Police brutality at Occupy Oakland has left Scott Olsen, a Marine Corps veteran twice deployed to Iraq, in critical condition with a skull fracture. NBC failed to mention this casualty on the evening news last night. He was hit with a police projectile. As protesters went to his aid a flash grenade was hurled by a policeman into the middle of the crowd. The police, in riot gear, also used tear gas and rubber bullets against the peaceful protesters, that included children, the elderly and people with disabilities.

At the end of this video you hear a woman's voice rising above the din, "We are still here. We are the 99%". I have to admit when I heard that lone, courageous voice speaking for the 99% of us, I cried. I cried for Scott Olson, for a country that can turn on its own, for the fact that we have a militarized police force and for the vulnerability of all the brave young people making such inspirational stands in occupations all across this land.

Write to the Oakland Police Dept today- ocop@oaklandnet.com to demand an end to violent tactics against peaceful protesters. It appears that OPD barred the media from covering these deplorable actions. But the good news is that today, we are all the media! The whole world is watching all the time.

You may also want to remind the police that the occupiers in Oakland were standing for their jobs, benefits and ability to collectively bargain, for their children's ability to go to college without lifelong debt, for their rights (something the protesters tried to communicate over the barricades). There needs to be an outpouring of outrage from people across the country. Many other young occupiers are at risk and we need to look out for them!! Sign the petition demanding that the Mayor of Oakland put and end to these violent, repressive measures, sign another at Faithful America And there is more you can do, including support for Scott, at Iraq Veterans against War.
.

Other Occupy news

In Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel had volunteer nurses arrested!

Today, Occupy Wall St Took on the Health Insurance Industry

Check this out- The Occupied Wall Street Journal

Tell Bloomberg to let OWS have tents to protect them at least a little bit from the cold!

***UPDATE- Oakland Mayor Now Says She Is with the Occupiers!

Some Good News, Thankfully


Albany General Assembly

Occupy Albany is going strong and despite Gov Cuomo's directive to arrest them. State troopers and the Albany Police Department defied his orders and refused to arrest the 700 occupiers! Albany County District Attorney David Soares also refused to prosecute the nonviolent protestors. Cuomo probably isn't too happy having hundreds of protestors in front of his office calling for the continuation of the Millionaire's Tax that he wants to end. Yes, our governor wants to give more tax breaks to millionaires, while cutting education and health care for the rest of us!

And I have saved the best for last! Two nights ago, a group of us went over to the Occupy Poughkeepsie site in Eastman Park, on the corner of the Arterial and Market Street. We were all very impressed with the young occupiers. They are intelligent, informed, caring and committed! We are planning an event with them to show that they have the support of our community. It will be on Saturday November 12 at noon- so hold that date! As it is the day after Veteran's Day, there will be an emphasis on ending war and rebuilding America. Veterans will be some of the key speakers, as well as the occupiers of Poughkeepsie, OWS and hopefully, Occupy Albany. There will also be musicians, puppets, a march and a chance to participate in a General Assembly so all can join in the important conversation of restoring economic justice for the 99%. People are welcome to stop by before then to show solidarity. Their latest email says they need the following- Whiteboard+Markers, Utensils, Tape, Rope, Lighting Equipment, Bedding and Tables.

We send them our love and best wishes to stay united, stay strong and stay safe.

Eye Popping Charts that Show How Our Richest 1% Is Out of Control!

2011-10-21T21:23:00.004-04:00

Click to enlarge

Since 1980, 4/5 of all the increased income in our country went to the top 1%. Many like to point to the Reagan years as being so prosperous- yeah if you were part of the richest 1%. Wages for the rest of us have pretty much stagnated for the last three decades. There is class warfare in this country and as Warren Buffet has said, his class is waging it and they are winning.

There is more income inequality in our country than in Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Yemen, Uzbekistan Tunisia, Morocco and dozens of other countri es

Yesterday, Senate Republicans voted NO on a bill that would have created or saved 400,000 teacher and first responder jobs.. It was going to be paid for by increasing taxes a half of a percent on salaries over $1million a year- So if you made $1.1million you would have paid an extra $500. But for the GOP that was too much of a sacrifice to ask of millionaires, even if it put 400,000 Americans to work.

The GOP says we cannot tax the mega wealthy any more at all, in fact they want to increase cuts to the richest 1%, because they say they are the "job creators". Really? Well, they do bankroll and therefore create their own jobs.

So here is just one example of what the uber-rich do when their profits go up- they cut jobs- to amass yet even more outrageous profits! We have had reduced taxes for the richest among us for 10 years- what has that done for job creation?

There has been a massive transfer of wealth from the poor and middle class for three decades. Many members of the Boards of Directors of major banks and corporations in our country serve on multiple boards. "Interlocking directorate" refers to the practice of corporations sharing directors. From Wikipedeia- "Interlocks allow for upper class cohesion, coordinated action, and unified political-economic power. They allow corporations to increase their influence by exerting power as a group, and to work together towards common goals.They help the upper class maintain a class advantage, and gain more power over workers and consumers, by reducing intra-class competition and increasing cooperation." This allows the upper class to raise executive compensation to obscene levels, even if thousands have to be laid off to do it.

The bottom 90% have less of a share of the pie today than we did leading up to the Great Depression!

These numbers have very real and tragic consequences for the 99% of us. This is why we are rising up- to reverse this dangerous and undemocratic inequity and to demand economic and social justice for all Americans! Occupy Everywhere!

Thousands Occupy Times Square! & Towns, Like New Paltz, Everywhere!

2011-10-14T16:39:00.036-04:00

Global Day of Protest Saturday, Oct 15 in Nearly 100 Countries! (date above should read Oct 16)

A great moment yesterday in Times Square is when the news ticker read "Occupy Wall Street Goes Worldwide" and thousands cheered! The Occupy movement is now in 1,500 cities globally! "From Ashland, Kentucky to Dallas,Texas to Ketchum, Idaho" and "from Berlin to Athens, Aukland to Mumbai, Tokyo to Seoul. In the UK, 3,000 people attempted to occupy the London Stock Exchange." Read more from Occupy Wall Street.

We can add New Paltz, NY to that growing list too! Here are some photos from yesterday's action in solidarity with OWS in front of Chase Bank on Main Street. Thanks to Billiam Von Roestenberg for organizing. Join Occupy Wall Street, Hudson Valley on facebook.

Occupy Wall Street, Kingston, NY!

2011-10-14T08:15:00.003-04:00

About 200 Hudson Valley residents came out for a great rally yesterday in front of Congressman Hinchey's office in Kingston. Multiple speakers shared stories of unemployment, losing homes and other hardships and our hearts go out to all of them. Many also spoke about the need to dethrone corporations as the de facto rulers of our land and for government to listen to the people- who need jobs, not cuts and who want the richest among us to pay their fair share!

Lori DuBord, the congressman's assistant read a letter he wrote for the group in which he applauded the participants' efforts to raise awareness of corporate greed and thanked them "for giving a voice to the millions of Americans who have lost a job, lost a home, or lost hope in a country where the top 400 wealthiest Americans have more wealth than the bottom 50%." We thank Congressman Hinchey for his ongoing support for the people over special interests and we thank Lori too!

"Billionaires for Boehner" (thanks to John Grant and Jo Salas, aka Bette Van Yoo) livened the rally up by interrupting speakers- saying they had more of a right to speak- as they had more money and the Supreme Court has ruled that money=speech! Look for this group to expand and appear at future events! They were met with a resounding chorus of "Tax the Rich!"

We were happy that YNN, the Kingston Freeman, the Kingston Times and the Times Herald Record were there to cover us. More video and photos at the Freeman. The rally was organized by the Ulster County MoveOn Council and you are invited to join us to help plan future events (one for Nov 12 in the works), help with tabling, canvassing, organizing forums and more. Write to ulstercmoveon@gmail.com.

There will be another "occupation" hosted by Occupy Wall Street, Hudson Valley this Saturday in front of Chase Bank in New Paltz (corner of Main and Plattekill) from 2-4 PM and at 4 there will be a forum in Village Hall to discuss alternatives to fracking among other things. Be there!

It was hard to sleep this morning as Bloomberg had announced they were going to clear Zucotti Park. I was so upset to awaken to this video -

But I can find nothing else about it- and although it is dated Oct 13- now I am thinking it may have been from Oct 5. In any event it shows what the protestors are sometimes up against!

NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS!
Thousands showed up this morning to stand in solidarity with OWS, including many union members and the Mayor backed down! The occupation continues and will only grow stronger in the days and weeks ahead. Score a victory for OWS! Sending light, love, strength and protection to all.

Thousands at Occupy Wall St in Foley Square!

2011-10-07T12:55:00.004-04:00

What an amazing day! Thousands of everyday Americans went to NYC to support the young people of Occupy Wall Street. The energy was electric, the passions were high and the feeling of solidarity was strong.

This is a nationwide movement with occupations happening in over 100 cities. There is no turning back. The American people are demanding fairness, the restoration of the American Dream and that the uber-rich of our country pay their fair share!

Join us Thursday, October 13th for Occupy Wall Street in Kingston from 12-1PM in front of Congressman Hinchey's office on 291 Wall St. We will only be there for an hour, but we will make a big impact! Bring signs, musical instruments and your passion for economic justice! Sign up here. More TK.

Thousands to Join Occupy Wall St Wednesday!

2011-10-03T13:26:00.016-04:00

Seven hundred protestors (including a child) were arrested Saturday on the Brooklyn Bridge. This video clearly shows people marching on the pedestrian walkway, until police appear to lead people onto the road and right into a trap. But it doesn't matter, there is no way they can stop this movement. It has only grown stronger and bigger in response to NYPD deceptive practices and brutality (but important to note that occupywallst.org says when approached individually, many police officers express support for what the protestors are doing).

The numbers are really going to swell this Wednesday, October 5. Peace and justice activists, labor unions, environmentalists, more students and all Americans fed up with the greed of the 1%, will be joining Occupy Wall St with a march from City Hall (map) beginning at 4:30 and going to Zucotti Park- the base camp for the protestors who have occupied Wall Street since September 17. If you are looking for transportation and live in the Hudson Valley, email Dan from MoveOn at dvollweiler@gmail.com. Just heard a bus will be leaving New Paltz midday. Contact Dan for more info or use this link- https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=282473051782707 Let's show the young people of Occupy Wall St that we have their backs! Together we demand an end to corporate rule, a fair shake for students and workers and for all to pay their fair share.

Everyday more unions, representing tens of thousands of working Americans, are joining and expressing solidarity with Occupy Wall St! The United Federation of Teachers, NYC Transit Workers, United Steelworkers, Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) two sections of the SEIU and more are on board!

Over 700 union pilots swelled the ranks of Wall Street Occupiers last Tuesday. They held signs that showed the Hudson River crash and that asked "What's a Pilot Worth" and "Management is Destroying Our Airline". First year pilots make as little as $21,600 a year.

Follow up:
The officer who had young girls penned in and then maced them is Anthony Bologna. He has a history of assaulting peaceful protestors. And it appears he is a serial pepper sprayer- here he is in action again- spraying and then slinking away.

And lest we forget what this is really all about-

We Are the other 99% shows pictures and stories of people in our country who are desperately hurting. Many young people hold up signs talking about their terrible student loan debt, often in 6 figures and no prospects of work.

For livestream of the global revolution! Watch the other 99% from LA , Canada, Spain and more!
To find an action in solidarity with Occupy Wall St- go to occupytogether.org.
And donate to Occupy Wall Street here!

Day 10 on Wall Street- Undeterred despite Police Brutality

2011-09-27T15:10:00.002-04:00

If you are as outraged by this video as I am, I ask that you share it and raise your voice to condemn the use of excessive force by the NYPD on nonviolent Wall Street protestors. I called the Mayor's office (212 788-2958) and was immediately forwarded to NYPD. After talking to a few people, I was given this email to register my complaint- dcpi@nypd.org. I hope many are calling and writing!

In spite of the police brutality, something momentous is happening on Wall Street and around our country. OccupyWallSt.org reports that "52 cities in America are occupied or organizing" in solidarity, but the media still is hardly covering it. Join FAIR's action to tell the major news networks to report on what is happening there!

It is the beginning of a massive protest movement in this country against a financial system that unfairly benefits corporations and the rich at the expense of the other 99% of us. Today is day 10 of the Wall Street occupation. The protestors have had Michael Moore, Chris Hedges, Immortal Technique and others stopping by to offer encouragement.

Chris Hedges said it all-

This is a defining moment and these, mostly young, protestors deserve our support and gratitude. Let's not forget what happened at the 2008 GOP political convention when activists were charged with "conspiracy to riot in furtherance of terrorism." Watch the trailer from the documentary "Terrorizing Dissent." Without a means to expose and fight a corrupt, closed and grossly unequal system, we lose our democracy and a chance for a better future. Support the Wall Street occupiers and join them if you can!

Protester arrested by NYPD. Via @NYCRevMedia on Twitter.

A movement is being born, Go to occupytogether.org
The people united will never be defeated!

"The State of Georgia Killed an Innocent Man"

2011-09-22T08:48:00.001-04:00

Troy Davis CBS News

"Tonight the state of Georgia killed and innocent man," said Ben Jealous of the NAACP. Despite 7 out of 9 eye witnesses recanting their story (5 claiming police coercion) another man telling others he did it, (the 8th eye witness) but threatening them if they told, unreliable forensic evidence, jurors saying they would never have given the death sentence if they had known all the facts and over a million signatures on petitions calling for clemency- the Georgia Dept of Pardons and Paroles denied it and Troy Davis was put to death by lethal injection at 11:08 last night, September 21.

Troy told the family of the slain police officer that he was innocent, asked his family and friends to keep up the fight for justice and told his executioners, "God have mercy on your souls" and "God bless your souls."

Yesterday was a tragic and very sad day for his loved ones and for fairness and justice in our country. But as his attorney said "This case struck a chord in the world, and as a result the legacy of Troy Davis doesn't die tonight," adding that his death could lead to systematic reform of our criminal justice system, "so we will never again witness, with inevitable regret, the execution of an innocent man as we did here tonight."

A friend who couldn't sleep the night before he was to be killed, told me his words (below) helped bring her some peace. May they do that for you too and may we all continue the fight for justice.

A Message from Troy Anthony Davis
September 10, 2011

To All:
I want to thank all of you for your efforts and dedication to Human Rights and Human Kindness, in the past year I have experienced such emotion, joy, sadness and never ending faith. It is because of all of you that I am alive today, as I look at my sister Martina I am marveled by the love she has for me and of course I worry about her and her health, but as she tells me, she is the eldest and she will not back down from this fight to save my life and prove to the world that I am innocent of this terrible crime.

As I look at my mail from across the globe, from places I have never ever dreamed I would know about, and people speaking languages and expressing cultures and religions I could only hope to one day see first hand, I am humbled by the emotion that fills my heart with overwhelming, overflowing Joy. I can’t even explain the insurgence of emotion I feel when I try to express the strength I draw from you all, it compounds my faith and it shows me yet again that this is not a case about the death penalty, this is not a case about Troy Davis, this is a case about Justice and the Human Spirit to see Justice prevail.

I cannot answer all of your letters but I do read them all, I cannot see you all but I can imagine your faces, I cannot hear you speak but your letters take me to the far reaches of the world, I cannot touch you physically but I feel your warmth everyday I exist.
So Thank you and remember I am in a place where execution can only destroy your physical form but because of my faith in God, my family and all of you I have been spiritually free for some time and no matter what happens in the days, weeks to come, this Movement to end the death penalty, to seek true justice, to expose a system that fails to protect the innocent must be accelerated.

There are so many more Troy Davis’. This fight to end the death penalty is not won or lost through me but through our strength to move forward and save every innocent person in captivity around the globe. We need to dismantle this Unjust system city by city, state by state and country by country.

I can’t wait to Stand with you, no matter if that is in physical or spiritual form, I will one day be announcing,

“I AM TROY DAVIS, and I AM FREE!”

Never Stop Fighting for Justice and We will Win!

"

Wall Street Occupation and Taxing the Rich

2011-09-20T15:32:00.013-04:00

Surprised to see such a fired up protest taking place on Wall Street? There is a mainstream media blackout on this. MSM has covered Tea Parties numbering in the dozens, so you would think that thousands of Americans taking to the streets would be newsworthy. But no, they are censoring the voice of the people which shows how corrupt and worthless they are. We should boycott them and support alternative media. *Update- Yahoo admitted to blocking emails referring to "Occupy Wall Street" They have censored emails about protest in China in the past. Although they say this has been corrected (with residual delays) they should be boycotted too.

ANOTHER UPDATE- PEACEFUL PROTESTORS ARRESTED- SOME HURT

This video is hard to watch.These people are exercising their First Amendment rights! The media is ignoring this, but we shouldn't be! I hear a protest is starting in San Fransisco too. And of course there is the planned Oct 6 sustained protest in Freedom Square in DC. Their slogan, "Human needs, not corporate greed!" They too are committed to nonviolent resistance.

Thousands are mobilizing across the nation in a nonviolent, but direct way to say "Enough is enough!" We are sick of millionaire politicians protecting the richest among us, while allowing more in the middle class to lose their jobs, their homes, their pensions, their dignity and their hope.

Life is even more devastating for those in poverty, that now claims more than one out of every five American children. At the same time, some hedge fund managers make over one billion dollars a year. A billion is hard to imagine- especially as an annual salary. A salary of a billion translates to almost a half million dollars an hour! No one is worth $1 billion dollars a year. That salary and the fact that hedge fund managers pay at the same tax rate as someone who makes $10,000 is obscene.

The richest 1% have more wealth than half of all Americans combined. We have not seen such gross inequality since the 1920's. We are living in a new gilded age and the masses are suffering as they always do when the mega-rich greedily hog endless riches and power. Republicans want these inequities to be even larger. Some good democrats are reflecting the will of the people who demand a new course- shared sacrifice, jobs, quality education and health care, a preservation of the safety net and a restoration of the American Dream.

Internal Revenue Service data show that the tax burden on the US’s wealthy has fallen for the past two decades.

Thank goodness Obama finally is saying the rich should pay their fair share! It is ludicrous to hear the Republicans describing this as class warfare on the "job creators". Huge tax breaks for the wealthiest have been in place since 2001- how has that worked out for us in terms of new jobs?

“There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” Warren Buffett

Obama's new found moxy may be coming a bit late, but like Michael Moore, who sounded fairly ecstatic last night on Rachel Maddow, I'll take it! And tonight the White House pretty much said the phase of "compromise by necessity" is over. Keep going!

I was encouraged seeing so many young people at the Wall Street protests. Click here for a livestream of what is happening on Wall Street now. They began the occupation Saturday, Sept 17th and they plan to stay! Check out the young man who came from California for this action.

It is also encouraging that in addition to multi-billionaire Warren Buffett, a growing number of millionaires are asking that their taxes be raised to fairer levels as a matter of patriotic duty. Add your name to the petition at Patriotic Millionaires, (you don't have to be a millionaire!) who did the video below.

&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Keep Faith&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;
&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;nbsp;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;

Keep faith!

Remembering 9/11- A Call for Peace

2011-09-09T11:54:00.002-04:00

"The lesson of 9/11 is that we live in a connected world. We rise or fall together. As Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” On this 10^th anniversary, let us honor those we lost by recognizing our kinship with people all over the world, and affirming the values and principles that will guarantee peaceful tomorrows for everyone."

September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows

The tenth anniversary of 9/11 should be a time of remembrance and mourning for all who were lost on that tragic day and I agree with the 9/11 families who are also calling for it to be a time of reflection for the terrible price we have paid for the "War on Terror". After the tragedy of 9/11, we had the world on our side. Al Qaeda was beatable using the resources and policing efforts of a world united against such horrific violence, but we squandered that opportunity by engaging in wars that have created untold suffering that continue to this day.

I hope that as we remember the dead of 9/11, we also think of the hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians who have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq and the millions wounded, displaced, sickened, widowed and orphaned by these wars. I hope more make the connection between militarism and the dire condition of our present economy. I hope more reach out to help returning veterans, get the health care, jobs and services they need. I hope people will talk about the true costs of war and realize that hatred, death and destruction have never and will never make us safer. I hope they will ponder these statistics and be less gullible the next time the military/industrial/media complex tries to beat the drums for another war of aggression.

As of today, September 9- 6,552 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. 45,170 have been wounded, many grievously.

In addition, the Pentagon estimates that 360,000 US veterans have suffered brain injuries.

340,000 suffer PTSD or major depression.

For the second year, more active duty troops have killed themselves than died in combat.

We have spent $7.6 trillion on defense and homeland security since 9/11 ($1.36 trillion for the 2 wars and counting, Pentagon up 43%, Homeland Security up 301%, nuclear weapons up 21%)

Just 1% of the Pentagon's $685 billion budget would allow states to pay for 100,000 K-12 teachers' salaries with benefits.

The PATRIOT Act and the Military Commissions Act are still on the books. The later says the President can declare anyone an enemy combatant and he or she can be locked up for life with no ability to challenge the detention in the courts.
70% of our brave first responders have chronic lung ailments and many are coming down with cancer.

Muslim Americans have faced growing hatred and bias in our country

Our wars of aggression have been used as recruiting tools by terrorist organizations. Our economy is in shambles and campaigns of violence and torture have seriously undermined our moral standing in the world. It is time for people to wake up to the disastrous impact of war and militarism on our nation and how corporate media sells us war with fear and hatred of "the other".

"War is a Racket" by General Smedley Butler is as relevant today as when it was written in 1935!

"War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small 'inside' group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes."

He goes on to say he was a "gangster for capitalism" waging wars in Mexico to make it safe for oil interests, in the Dominican Republic for the sugar industry, in Honduras for United Fruit and that he "helped in the raping of a half dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street".

Wars destroy the very fabric of life, with women and children suffering the most, while a very few get very rich. For the sake of future generations, we have to rise up to say No More War, because as John Kennedy once said,"Either we end war, or war will end us."

Join us any Saturday from 12:30 to 1:30PM in front of the Elting Library in New Paltz to make a stand for peace with New Paltz Women in Black. We have been there every week for 10 years.

post script
We also may be nearing a tipping point in discovering the truth of 9/11 itself.

Remember in 2000, the Project for a New American Century (many signatories were high level Bush administration officials) put out a report, "Rebuilding America's Defenses" that called for American hegemony, "full spectrum" dominance and "the ability to fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars". It also stated that a "catastrophic and cataclysmic event- like a new Pear Harbor" would speed their goals.

We should not forget "Operation Northwoods" which was a plan put to Kennedy by his military chiefs that called for bombings, hijackings, plane crashes and dead Americans- to justify invading Cuba. Kennedy said no and was assassinated a few months later.

To commemorate the tenth anniversary a new documentary, 9/11: Explosive Evidence – Experts Speak Out, features the testimonies of controlled demolition contractors, high rise architects, structural engineers and world-renowned scientists, all of whom are taking a courageous stand for the truth." The film is by Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth. It is playing Friday, 9/9 at the Elting Library in New Paltz at 8:15PM.

Hundreds of American Arrested, Endless War and The Coddled Rich

2011-08-26T13:49:00.002-04:00

Up to 1,000 Americans may be arrested to protest the Tar Sands Pipeline

As we anxiously await Hurricane Irene all along the east coast, we are reminded that storms have grown much more violent in recent years. Hurricanes draw their strength from the warming waters of the ocean and this has resulted in wind speeds of storms increasing 50% since the 1970's when sea surface temperatures began to rise. They are also growing in size. Irene spans 600 miles!

To fight against global warming, many are focusing on the proposed 1,700 mile Tar Sands Pipeline that would bring oil from Canada to Texas. This project could mean "game over" in our struggle to curb global warming emissions according to James Hansen of NASA. Tar sands oil is the dirtiest of the dirty fossil fuels and would create 400 gigatons (400 billion tons) of new carbon pollution into our atmosphere.

So far, 322 Americans (including 350.org leader Bill McGibbon) have been arrested demonstrating in front of the White House demanding that President Obama say no to this dangerous pipeline. The police tried to make an example of the first 50 arrested, by detaining them for two days under harsh conditions, but the next wave proceeded as planned. Another 700 have signed up to also risk arrest, making this the largest environmental civil disobedience this country has seen! Unfortunately, not many are actually seeing the drama play out, as the media is ignoring it.

This begs the question: If 1,000 Tea Partiers were being arrested to make a statement would the media fail to cover that?

It is so obvious that our future resides with green, clean energy! Consider this- The Maryland governor proposed a bill to construct about 100 wind turbines,10 miles off the coast. They could run a half million electric cars at the low price of $1.50 a gallon and create 2,500 new jobs! It is estimated that it would also save $4 billion in health costs by replacing polluting energy.

This could be Obama's shining moment to stand up to the dirty fossil fuel industry and to re-motivate a demoralized base, as he has the sole power to deny this pipeline. Call 202 456-1414 and tell our President to be strong and do the right thing.

Other News
The Scourge of DU
Our Depleted Uranium munitions have left an epidemic of childhood leukemia and major birth defects in Iraq. In Fallujah, the site of two intense battles in 2004, they have 11 times the world average of major birth defects. In Basra, which was hit hard in the Gulf War, childhood leukemia more than doubled from 1993 to 2007.Read about it and sign a petition to ban DU weapons now!

Endless War?
In a little noticed report, it was said that US forces, including special forces and air power, could stay in Afghanistan until 2024! There is also talk of extending the deadline for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq past Obama's promise of December of 2012. The very few continue to get very rich on death and destruction, while our country sinks into a deepening economic crisis. Bring the troops home now and invest that money in creating jobs and rebuilding America!

The Coddled Rich
Some hedge fund managers in the US make $1 billion a year and they are taxed at a lower rate than you and I are! The median income in our country is $29,000 (half make more, half make less) It would take 34,482 years to make $1 billion! The 400 richest make more than 150 million Americans combined and most of them don't want to pay an extra nickle to help us in our time of greatest need.

Thank goodness for some voices of reason like Warren Buffet who wrote an op-ed in the NY Times called "Stop Coddling the Super Rich", but most of the mega rich in this country, like the Koch brothers, want even more at the expense of everyone else. They should learn something from Buffet and from the millionaires and billionaires in France, who have asked for a tax increase to help save their country!

All the Presidents Say It- Will Obama Do It and Say No to Tar Sands Oil?

Women in Black in the Hudson Valley and Beyond- new video!

2011-08-22T13:55:00.000-04:00

About 100 people attended the screening of "We Are Still Standing: The Stories of Women in Black" at Upstate Films in Woodstock, NY, yesterday. Kudos to producer and director Ellie Bernstein for this informative, moving and inspirational account of Women in Black; the largest mobilization for peace in the world!

Jane Toby, who brought Women in Black to the Hudson Valley from Verona, Italy spoke briefly and gave a loving tribute to Jane VanDeBogart, a leader in the Women in Black movement in Woodstock.

I also spoke and shared the actions of Women in Black in New Paltz over the years. In over 500 vigils we have protested war, militarism and violence in all its forms. Additionally, we have organized rallies to support workers' rights, protect the environment, for health care for all, for election reform, to make Wall Street accountable, to protest torture, the loss of our civil liberties, illegal wiretapping and the rise of corporatocracy. New Paltz Women in Black has also organized photography shows to expose the scourge of depleted uranium, and art shows to show visions of peace from adults and one that focused on the children of the world. We raised money for Iraq Veterans against War and for Iraqi refugees. We were also the main organizer of "We, the People" a forum at SUNY New Paltz to educate and mobilize on how to overturn the terrible ruling of the Supreme Court in Citizens United. We believe that action is the antidote to despair and we have hardly stopped these last ten years!

After the film and video showing we invited all the Women in Black to the stage. We sang the Women in Black anthem, by composer Shirley Warren, who is also a member of New Paltz Women in Black and gave each woman a rose for her dedication to creating a more just, peaceful and loving world.

New Women in Black Film- Sunday, Woodstock!

2011-08-16T14:52:00.001-04:00

Don’t miss this fascinating documentary on the 20 year struggle of the largest women’s peace movement in the world.

Award-winning filmmaker, Ellie Bernstein, traveled the world to interview women who have taken to the streets to protest war and violence in all its forms. Archival footage and photos bring the Women in Black story to life.

Local women have been standing in vigils for peace every week for 10 years and they will be honored. There will be a short "slide show" featuring them. Jane Toby, of Woodstock Women in Black, who brought the movement to the Hudson Valley from Verona, Italy and I, from New Paltz Women in Black, will give brief talks. Ellie Bernstein will be available to answer questions.

We are planning some fun surprises too. We will be singing the Women in Black anthem, by composer Shirley Warren of New Paltz Women in Black and everyone will leave with an affirmation citing a gift they have that will contribute to world peace!

Please join us for this celebration of women’s dedication to creating a more just and peaceful world. Go to www.wearestillstanding.com, or write to me at clearstreammedia@gmail.com. You can also sign up here.

"We Are Still Standing: The Stories of Women in Black", Sunday August 21 at 1PM, Upstate Films, 132 Tinker Street, Woodstock, NY. See you there!

"Where Are the Jobs?" Rally in KIngston

2011-08-11T09:28:00.004-04:00

We had a spirited rally Wednesday in front of Congressman Hinchey's office as part of the national launch of the American Dream Movement. Although some of the personal stories were sad, there was an abundance of impassioned energy as folks chanted "Jobs, Not Cuts", "Tax the Rich" and "Jobs Not War". Thanks so much to all who came!

Linda Abbott, Core Coordinator of the Ulster County MoveOn Council began by talking about the Contract for the American Dream that serves as the blueprint for this new, peoples' movement. It calls for investing in America's crumbling infrastructure, a new clean energy economy, education and Medicare for all. It also is about protecting workers' rights and Social Security, returning to fairer tax rates so the wealthy pay their share and ending the wars (that cost $3 billion a week). Lastly, it is about strengthening democracy by publicly financing elections to end the corrosive influence of money in politics.

We want to thank our wonderful speakers; Nancy Mathisen, Cameron Williams, Susan Ganzer and Darlene Hargrove. We heard about the "new poor"- folks over 50 with decades of experience who cannot find jobs, kids on food stamps, worry about retirement, and just how much people are suffering in our own community. Our hearts go out to them and their families and we wish them all the best in the days ahead. Thanks too to Lori DuBord, Congressional Representative who did an excellent job in outlining the Contract for the American Dream and all the ways Congressman Hinchey has been a leader in promoting those policies.

We even were treated to a brief, surprise visit as Congressman Hinchey drove by. We were able to present him with a bouquet of flowers to thank him for consistently being on the side of the people and to wish him well on his recovery from surgery. You may be wondering why he is not in the above video. Well, I goofed. I thought I was recording it all, but had actually turned the camera off for that great moment (sorry)!

I co-coordinated the event and spoke about my own son who is struggling to find a job in Phoenix. He told me he went for a manager's position for Taco Bell and there were 300 applying, some even traveling from Las Vegas and Los Angeles! I also talked about the "rich man's coup" that has been in the works for 30 years. Our salaries, adjusted for inflation, are less today than they were in 1971! Yet there has been a huge increase in income in America; it is just going to fewer and fewer people. Since 1980, 4/5 of all the increase went to the richest 1%.

We need a public jobs program like the WPA to turn this country around. If we depend on the private sector alone this recession could last a decade and get much worse. Slashing programs at a time of economic crisis is precisely the wrong thing to do. Of course, we have to deal with our deficit long-term, but right now we need an infusion of dollars to ensure our recovery.

We need to continue to rally around the policies set forth in the Contract for the American Dream. Over 130,000 Americans helped to write it. Kudos to MoveOn.org for going through such a painstaking process to ensure all our voices were heard.

Our strength is in our numbers and in the fact that we are standing for the American ideal, that all who are willing to work can find a good job and give their families a better life. We are also standing for fairness- that those who do well IN America, do well BY America! To stay in the loop, please join our Council by writing to ulstercmoveon@gmail.com and please Sign the Contract and ask all your friends and family to too!

Onward!

Immoral Deal, How We Fight Back and More

2011-08-02T16:26:00.001-04:00

Photo from Bernie Sander's site

"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That in its essence is fascism- ownership of government by an individual or by a group. " Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Code Pink calls it "the rich man's coup". It has been in the works for 30 years and now we see it reaching its culmination in the dreadful, deficit ceiling deal. The poor and middle class are being asked to bear all the burden for reducing our deficit as trillions are slashed from critically needed programs, but the super rich and corporations making record breaking profits are not asked to contribute one cent. Is it clear now who "owns" the Tea Party, the Republicans and yes, many of the Democrats too?

Last night we had a great MoveOn meeting to begin fighting back to Rebuild the American Dream. First we all said one word to summarize how we were feeling about the deficit deal. About 30 people had a very similar response- disgusted, angered and frustrated, but one person, Mike Compain, said "motivated". That's the spirit we need now. We know we are up against huge power with limitless money, but we have millions of impassioned Americans and right on our side. We are not going to sit back and let corporate America and the moneyed elite continue to steal from us and not pay their share. We are rising up all over this nation!

Please join us Wednesday, August 10 at noon in front of Congressman Hinchey's office at 291 Wall Street in Kingston. Because we have an unemployment crisis, not a debt crisis, this will be a day of nationwide action to ask Congress "Where Are the Jobs?" We will be demanding job creation, that the rich pay their share and that the safety net not be shredded. Lucky for us, Congressman Hinchey is with us, so we are also there to thank him. We hope to have a huge turn out so the media and politicians in DC see how serious we are. Check MoveOn.org for more information. If you have lost your job and would like to say a few words write to me at clearstreammedia@gmail.com or you can wear a sign, ie "unemployed teacher". Bring a pair of binoculars if you can- so we can all be looking for where the jobs are- a great visual the media will like. It will be a great rally and we hope to see you there!

1. We Could Have Eliminated the Deficit with This

A recent first time audit shows that the Fed secretly gave banks and corporations $16 trillion, not $800 billion. TARP was just the start. "As a result of this audit, we now know that the Federal Reserve provided more than $16 trillion in total financial assistance to some of the largest financial institutions and corporations in the United States and throughout the world," said Sanders. "This is a clear case of socialism for the rich and rugged, you're-on-your-own individualism for everyone else."

2. Right-wing Policies Spreading Like Wildfire

Forty seven states have introduced legislation that will disenfranchise millions of Americans in 2012. Using the nonexistent threat of "voter fraud" (which only occurs in a tiny, tiny fraction of 1%) legislatures are making it harder for the elderly, people of color and students (read Democrats for the most part) to vote. In Texas for instance, you can use your gun registration as ID, but not your student ID card. Thirty states have introduced anti-immigration legislation (to help fill up profit-making prisons), 42 states are considering legislation to declare the national health program unconstitutional and 24 states have introduced anti-worker provisions. Read about the front group for the Kochs and right wing lobbying groups- called ALEC- that is the driving force for this extreme agenda.

3. Air Force Cites Jesus and a Nazi to Justify Nuclear War

Information released under the FOIA, shows that nuclear missile officers (those who would push the button if the command came) in the Air Force were given a training that used the Bible and a Nazi scientist to justify launching nukes. One officer said the training could have been called "Jesus Loves Nukes". Since Truthout exposed it, the Air Force has shut that training down.

4. Desperate for Democracy in Iraq

"The U.S.-based women’s rights group MADRE (6/10/11) reported that members of the Organization of Women’s Freedom in Iraq—its partner organization in Baghdad—and other protesters were brutally beaten and sexually assaulted in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square on June 10 by government-sponsored mobs. What were they demonstrating for that so threatened Iraq’s government...Democracy."

5. Mother Earth Protests Fracking in Arkansas

"A moratorium on well activity had been in place for months as geologists investigated a possible link between fracking activity and the outbreak of more than 1,200 earthquakes that measured lower than 4.7 in magnitude."

Tea Party Madness

2011-07-29T14:37:00.000-04:00

John Sherffius

Tribune Media Serivces

"A good chunk of the Republican caucus is either stupid, crazy, ignorant, or craven cowards afraid of the Tea Party people." Bruce Bartlett, former Reagan Policy Advisor

Yes, even former Reagan officials are denouncing House Republicans for their intransigence in addressing raising the debt ceiling to stave off economic calamity that will once again hit America's middle class and poor the hardest. The Tea Party radical ideologues in the House would rather see our country humiliated by losing its triple A credit rating, see markets crash (already down a whopping 4%) and allow a deep global depression rather than compromise one iota. They are an embarrassment and disgrace. Are some voters finally having voters' remorse? Maybe they will if they do not get their Social Security check in August.

Any serious, rational attempt to deal with our nation's deficit will have to include increased revenue- there is almost unanimous agreement on that- except for the Teapublicans. They are more concerned with protecting the 400 richest families in our country that make on average $270 million a year and pay at a tax rate similar to the poor- about 18% (armed with the best tax lawyers money can buy- they often pay far less than that). They say we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem- but they are lying. Tax revenue is the lowest it has been since the 1950's! We are still in a painful recession and to not ask the very rich to pay their fair share, as we are all being asked to sacrifice so much, is an abomination. A recent Washington Post poll showed that the vast majority (72%) of Americans, Democrat and Republican think that taxes should be raised on all making $250,000 and more a year. Yet, that provision is missing from any of the proposals on the table.

If you are feeling as frustrated as I am, please join us Monday night at the Rosendale Community Center at 7PM to work on building the movement to Reclaim the American Dream and letting Washington know

"Enough is enough. Make the rich pay their share. Protect the social safety net that has made American strong for decades. End the wars, create jobs, invest in infrastructure and a new clean energy economy!"

We have to come together to be effective in protecting our rights, because there is an extremely well-funded, organized corporate-led movment to eviscerate them. Write to me at clearstreammedia@gmail.com for more information about the MoveOn-led peoples' movment to fight back.

The American Dream Revolution Has Just Begun!

2011-07-19T11:47:00.003-04:00

New Paltz House Party- one of 2,000!

About 25,000 Americans attended house parties this past Sunday to launch a new movement to reclaim the American Dream for the everyday working people in our country. We gathered to protest the growing plutocracy; government of. by and for the rich and to restore economic fairness and democracy to America.

At the New Paltz gathering, that Linda Abbott and I co-hosted, here are some of the priorities for the American Dream agenda we agreed upon-

Good Jobs Now!

Move toward a clean, green independent energy future

End the huge waste of wars and invest in job-creation

Put Americans back to work through a public jobs program (relying only on the private sector would take at least a decade for us to reach full employment)

Make Them pay!

Return to fairer tax rates

End all Bush-era tax cuts

Make corporations pay their taxes

Make Democracy Work!

Put elections back in the hands of the people with clean elections

Eliminate corporate personhood (roll back the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, by constitutional amendment if necessary)

Stop the assault on unions and workers' rights

Build Strong Communities!

Medicare for all

Invest in public education

Substantially reduce military spending

MoveOn is busy calculating results from about 2,000 gatherings and we will all get behind the top rated priorities. There will be rallies before every congressional district's representative on August 10 at noon, including Rep Hinchey's office on Wall St in Kingston. More info to come.

There is also a meeting planned for Monday, August 1 at 7:00PM at the Rosendale Community Center. Sign up to be a part of really taking our country back by writing to me at clearstreammedia@gmail.com, or Linda at linabbott@gmail.com. You can also rate ideas for the American Dream agenda here.

Thank you to Mike Compain, Saugerties; Jodiah Jacobs, Red Hook; Judith Simon,Woodstock; Helen Harkasti, Kerhonkson; and others for also hosting gatherings Sunday! What is powerful about this movement is that the major unions and progressive groups are lining up behind it! We are united in our efforts to make the American Dream of equality, liberty and justice for all a reality once again.

Watch this video and you get a sense of what we are fighting and how important this movement by the people is. Please join us and be a part of history.

Weekly News- Some Good!

2011-07-11T12:57:00.007-04:00

1. Good news!

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced a strong new clean air rule that will slash air pollution from power plants, save lives, and make the air healthier to breathe for 240 million people across the eastern U.S.

Activists Won! Thanks to Roots Action and other groups the Senate has removed language from a bill that would have given the president unchecked power to authorize war. Back to the Constitution Sen McCain, who wanted to have Congress abdicate its authority to be the only body that can declare war.

Limbaugh Loses Third of His Audience in 6 months!

2. From The Other 98%

We're writing because we face an emergency. There are reports that Obama is considering cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits as a giveaway to Republicans on the debt ceiling - and the White House has yet to convincingly respond.

This is simply not acceptable. This President needs to know that he was not elected to threaten the New Deal - he was elected to help us craft a Better Deal. If we can't expect him to stand up for the most basic progressive achievements of the last 100 years, then it's going to be tougher and tougher to stand up for him.

Sign our emergency letter to President Obama today: Protect Social Security and Medicare benefits - or don't ask for grassroots help.

Also, please sign up for a Rebuild the American Dream house party near you for next weekend. It is time for the Other 98% of Americans- those of us without lobbyists and oodles of cash stand up to the growing plutocracy in this country. Save working families and the middle class!

Van Jones is leading this movement and has an article on it here.

3. The Assault on Women's Health
Republican governors.and legislators across the land are waging a wholesale assault on women's reproductive health. In Indiana, Gov Mitch Daniels and Indiana Republicans are excluding all Medicaid patients from seeking any care at Planned Parenthood facilities; including cancer screenings, HIV tests and physical exams. NO federal funds are used for abortion services. Eight Planned Parenthood clinics have been forced to close in the last month. Stand up for poor women's health!

4. Emergency Labor Network RATS Tax Program

While the nonsense in DC continues- with the Republicans threatening economic Armageddon unless Dems cave to draconian cuts to vital services and keep their hands off tax loopholes and subsidies that benefit the super rich- it's good to see some common sense remedies to our economic woes from the Emergency Labor Network, a new group in the American labor movement.

For example, in 1980 corporate income tax made up 20% of federal tax revenues- today it accounts for only 10%. Many corporations with billions in profits pay little or NO taxes! In the meantime over the same period, individual income tax has doubled (representing 40% of federal tax revenue, instead of the 20% of 1980).

Also, according to the IRS, the rich in this country have $4 trillion in offshore tax havens! Repatriate that money and make them pay their fair share.

Tax burdens have shifted dramatically to the middle class, but Republicans and the moneyed elite they represent, want even more tax cuts for themselves! It is time to stand up for hard working American families- join a house party to Rebuild the American Dream today!

5. Rupert Murdoch's scandal widened even more today- as "as new reports emerged that papers beyond the News of the World were also involved in criminal behavior." Murdoch is head of News Corp the parent company of Fox News. There were also allegations that News of the World journalists tried to hack into the phones of victims of the 9/11 attacks.

Rebuild the Dream, Supremes Strike Public Financing Law, Thomas Must Go and Private Prisons Lobby for Longer Sentences

2011-06-28T14:50:00.005-04:00

The Birth of a New Movement!

If corporations paid their taxes, the wealthiest 2% paid just a little more and we ended the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan- we would not be in an economic crisis and the American dream for ALL our citizens would be viable again. Let's Rebuild the American Dream!

Fight back! Be a part of history. Sign up to attend a house party near you!

Supreme's Assault on Middle Class America Continues

The notorious Supreme Court Five have done it again- They just struck down Arizona's Clean Elections Law. This is huge and terrible for democracy- they are intent on enthroning corporations as the rulers in our country- the people be damned.

"Progressives must realize that the democratic process is under attack from institutions and interests that do not want majority participation and majority rule."

Clarence Thomas Must GO!

He has accepted expensive gifts, failed to report his wife's income for 20 years, spoken at ultra right-wing fundraisers organized by the Koch brothers and has refused to recuse himself from cases, like Citizens United, where he had a significant conflict of interest. His wife's Tea Party group- Liberty Central will benefit directly from the unlimited corporate donations to influence elections that the ruling allows. Harlan Crow, a real estate magnate from Texas, gave $500,000 to start Liberty Central. Eleven cases of Crow-affiliated groups have come before the Supreme Court, but Thomas did not recuse himself from one of them, and voted in a way that benefited Crow and his cronies in all cases but one.

Kudos to Congressman Chris Murphy who is calling for an investigation into Thomas's ethical lapses. Murphy would also like Supreme Court Justices held to the same Ethical Standard of Conduct as federal judges. And while they are at it they should look into why Liberty Central is tied to organizations that call for the overthrow of the US government and one whose director called the Spanish Inquisition "a beautiful thing".

Sign the petition to demand Thomas stand down. And here's another asking for him to be impeached.

Private Prisons Lobby for Longer Sentences and for More to Be Imprisoned!

A new report shows that making profit from incarcerating citizens is a very bad idea. Remember what happened in PA when two judges sent five thousands kids to harsh juvenile detention facilities for minor offenses? The judges, now in prison, were getting kick-backs from the private facilities for the added "business". This report shows how the for-profit prisons are lobbying and making campaign contributions in return for policies that hurt our communities, reduce public safety and increase costs.

There should be NO profit in human suffering- in war, illness or imprisonment!

Man Robs Bank for Health Care, Gore Takes on Obama, US Mayors Say No More War!

2011-06-22T11:12:00.002-04:00

1. Man Chooses Prison for Health Care
He is a regular Joe- having worked hard all his life- but he lost his job three years ago and his new job in a convenience store did not offer any health benefits. He had a protrusion in his chest, arthritis and other problems. When the pain got too great, he went to a bank teller, handed a note demanding $1.00 and sat quietly waiting for the police.

We are the only industrialized country in the world where a citizen would have to take such a desperate measure. He should be the poster child for the sickness of our profit-driven medical-industrial complex.

2. Gov Walker Grants His Office New Powers to Slash Medicaid
Legislators won't have to take steps to cut the popular Badger Care health care program in Wisconsin that serves about a million people and the public will have no opportunity to weigh in on the issue. King Walker is intent on slashing help for Wisconsin's neediest.

3. Five GOP States Shut Down Planned Parenthood
Indiana has led the charge to defund Planned Parenthood . The organization provides contraception, STD testing and treatment and cancer screenings and prevention (abortion makes up just 3% of their budget) to over 5 million nationwide (seventy-five percent earn below 150 percent of the poverty line). Planned Parenthood “estimates it prevents more than 620,00 unintended pregnancies each year, and 220,000 abortions.”

Over 9,300 Medicaid patients in Indiana will be denied reproductive health care from today on.

4. Al Gore Admonishes Obama for Not Doing Enough on Climate Change
In an article in Rolling Stone, Al Gore takes on climate change and Obama's ineffectiveness in rallying the public to fight it.

"According to NASA, 2010 was tied with 2005 as the hottest year measured since instruments were first used systematically in the 1880s. Nineteen countries set all-time high temperature records. One city in Pakistan, Mohenjo-Daro, reached 128.3 degrees Fahrenheit, the hottest temperature ever measured in an Asian city. Nine of the 10 hottest years in history have occurred in the last 13 years. The past decade was the hottest ever measured."

Gore goes on to say that despite some green initiatives in the stimulus package, "President Obama has thus far failed to use the bully pulpit to make the case for bold action on climate change." Gore concludes with five things we can all do to meet the crisis.

5.Some Good News, Finally!
The US Conference of Mayors voted to pass a resolution calling for and end to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, saying the $126 billion spent there annually should be used for urgent domestic needs. It is the first time they have taken such an action since the Vietnam War.

Climate Change Video, Roundup Disaster, WI Gov Feingold?

2011-06-18T00:00:00.001-04:00

Just returned from vacation- so sorry for the hiatus in posting. Luckily, I didn't seem to miss much in the mainstream media- as it was Wiener, wiener all the time. Now I'm getting back to sharing news that the corporate media ignores and censors and have lots more to share- so come by often!

1. Climate Change! This video was taken from an op ed by Bill McGibbon, head of 350.org. Over 40 million people have already been displaced by climate change, the North Pole is melting, the severe weather is breaking all records- yet the deniers persist in their obdurate refusal to acknowledge the painfully obvious.

"The intensity and frequency of extreme weather events is increasing, and this trend is only set to continue. With all probability, the number of those affected and displaced will rise as human-induced climate change comes into full force." Elisabeth Rasmusson, the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council

2. Monsanto's Round Up Causes Birth Defects
A new paper co-authored by international scientists at Earth Open Source, Roundup and Birth Defects- Is the Public Being Kept in the Dark? cites a 2010 study that shows that the glyphosate based herbicide, Roundup causes birth defects as well as "endocrine disruption, damage to DNA, reproductive and developmental toxicity, neurotoxicity, and cancer". The big news of this paper is that the industry was aware of this fact in the 1980s, and regulators knew in the 1990s, but it was kept from the public. Independent scientists who spoke of the dangers were "ignored, denigrated or dismissed".

Institute for Responsible Technology

About 70% of Monsanto's genetically modified crops are designed to be Roundup Ready- that is they can be dowsed with large quantities of glyphoste without dying, but killing surrounding weeds. The genetically altered crops don't die but contain reservoirs of potentially high levels of glyphosate, that transfer to animals and consequently to humans. After repeated use- even the weeds don't die- but become superweeds that are nearly impossible to kill. Farmers have had to abandon farmland to superweeds. More toxic herbicides like 2,4 D (a component of Agent Orange) have had to be used and Monsanto is now talking about a 2,4 D resistant GM variety of soy and corn. Sign the petition to stop this madness.

Argentina has been described as "a massive experiment" in huge plantings of Roundup Ready (RR) crops. Over half of their cultivated land is GM RR soy. Over 200 million liters of glyphosate is sprayed annually. There have been high rates of birth defects in that country. In a small town bordering soy farms in the province of Cordoba, the Mothers of Ituzaingo mobilized in response to the sudden increase in the local cancer rate, which is 41 times the national average.

You might want to check out another post I did on why you should never eat GMO's and join us on facebook- GMOs? OMG! Hudson Valley for No GMOs. We are all part of a "massive experiment" and we need to put an end to it.

3. The Next Governor of Wisconsin!

Gov Walker continues his assault on the middle class and is now pushing to repeal child labor laws. Seriously. Seems like there is nothing the GOP stooges won't do for their corporate pay masters. Similar laws to take us back to the good old days of the 19th century are being pushed by Republicans in other states as well.

The good news- people have big time voters' remorse and the recall effort is going strong. And there are good people like former Sen Russ Feingold in the wings. Keep faith!

New Video- Mothers and Others United to Shut Down Indian Point!

2011-05-25T17:23:00.003-04:00

There was a beautiful spirit at the rally to shut down Indian Point! People brought flowers and formed a daisy chain to represent nature, life, simplicity and beauty- all that is endangered by nuclear plants.

There were a few facts that didn't fit in the video but that are important to know. If you think nuclear power is safe because it is regulated, think again. A former Nuclear Regulatory Commission chief said that the NRC has "left it to the nuclear industry to regulate itself." A 1993 NRC Inspector General report said that inspectors are penalized (no rewards or promotions) if they find violations at nuclear plants. More on the history of the NRC's collusion with the nuclear industry.

And according to the NY Times today- company officials are belatedly acknowledging that three reactors melted down at Fukushima. There is still a threat of massive radiation poisoning the environment. In light of this disaster, the third and fourth largest economies in the world, Japan and Germany have both recently announced they are moving away from nuclear power. They are scraping plans for any new reactors, believing that renewables and efficiency can fill the gap. Tell Congress- NO subsides for nuclear power today!

Thanks again to Alice Andrews, and all who helped organize Mothers and Others to Shut Down Indian Point. A special thanks to all who participated! Thank you for taking time out on Mother's Day to take to the streets- to remind us of what is really important- respecting and protecting our earth and all life on it.

WAKING PLANET: Rare Sights and Sounds of Our Mysterious Universe!...

2011-05-19T20:35:00.000-04:00

WAKING PLANET: Rare Sights and Sounds of Our Mysterious Universe!...: "Mountains on Saturn's Moon Iapetus NASA Saturn's Rings with Its Moon Enceladus ..."

New Videos- from Guerrilla Theater to Patriotic Millionaires!

2011-05-18T12:14:00.001-04:00

Geurrilla theater- got to love it! And here is a great new song about the Kochs.

And here is a good one on Monsanto. Please join our new face book page- Gmo? omg! Hudson Valley for NO GMO

Wall Street is NOT too big to jail! New York's attorney general is investigating- Go Schneiderman!

Citizens literally crossing the moat and storming the castle of JP Morgan Chase!

And I'll leave you with some good news. I love these guys!

Mothers and Others- Close Indian Point!

2011-05-08T18:00:00.005-04:00

Thanks to Alice Andrews. all who helped organize and to the over 100 people who came out today in New Paltz, NY to demand that the most dangerous nuclear power plant in the country be shut down. Organizers asked folks to bring a flower to celebrate nature, life, simplicity, and beauty; all that is endangered by nuclear power and nuclear weapons.

Many cars honked in solidarity, but one man yelled, "If we close it, we will be in the dark!" which is the myth Entergy, the owner of Indian Point would have you believe. The truth is the plant only supplies downstate New York with 12.5% of their energy and that could be replaced with strong conservation measures.
Click here for more information on why Indian Point needs to go.

This photo says it all- This is why we need to close Indian Point Now!

A few nights ago, NBC News gave an update on Japan without reporting on what is happening at the Fukushima nuclear disaster! All we know is that the situation there is critical. This video shows the growing anger at the government. They recently increased the level of radiation that children could be exposed to twenty times higher than previously recommended! The radioactive playground dirt at the end is chilling.

Please sign the petition to close Indian Point!!

All photos by B Upton- Video of "Mothers and Others United to Shut Down Indian Point" to come out soon- the last part with all holding hands is very moving!

GMO? OMG! Ten Reasons to Never Eat Genetically Modified Foods

2011-04-27T16:11:00.023-04:00

responsibletechnology.org

by Barbara Upton

Never in human history have we taken the DNA from one species and artificially forced it into the DNA of a different species. Arctic fish genes have been forced into tomatoes, jellyfish genes have made pigs' noses glow in the dark and cow genes have turned pigskin into cowhide. But the real danger lurks in the eight GM foods on the market in the US today: corn, soy, cotton, canola oil, sugar beets, zucchini, crookneck squash and Hawaiian papaya. The more we learn about the unpredictability of this infant, radical technology, the government collusion with the biotech industry and the fraudulent, industry-funded "science" behind GM crops, the more we realize we must go the way of most of Europe, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and other countries and demand to know what we are eating and feeding our families. We must begin by insisting that all foods with GMOs (genetically modified organisms) be labeled so we can avoid them. Here are ten reasons why.

1. GM foods are not safe! The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) says GM foods "pose serious health risks". Nineteen GM animal feeding studies show damage to the immune system, infertility, organ damage, insulin deregulation, increased mortality, accelerated aging, and potential precancerous cell growth. In one study, 50% of baby rats born of mothers fed a GM diet, were dead in three weeks (five times higher than normal). The babies who survived were much smaller and preliminary evidence indicated they were not able to conceive.

AAEM calls for an immediate moratorium on GMOs and recommends that doctors prescribe a non GMO diet for all their patients. In the only human feeding study (yes, there has only been one) GMOs survived and continued to function in the stomachs of people who had eaten GM food. No follow-up studies were done.

2. The FDA approved GM crops despite protests of the agency's own scientists. An overwhelming consensus of FDA scientists warned that GM foods could create allergens, toxins, nutritional problems and even "new diseases". However; the first Bush administration was intent on promoting GMOs so they appointed a former Monsanto lawyer, Michael Taylor, who developed the policy on GM foods, saying they were no different from conventional varieties. The policy was called "a political document" and "very pro-industry" by a microbiologist at the FDA. It was not based on peer-reviewed science. Taylor went on to become vice-president of Monsanto and is now back in government as our food safety czar! If a biotechnology company declares a GM crop is safe, that is good enough for the FDA.

3. GM crops are contaminating our entire food supply. At a conference in 1999, Monsanto said their goal was to ensure that 100% of seeds were genetically modified and patented (by them, of course) in 15 to 20 years. One way to achieve this is to contaminate naturally growing crops.

One Monsanto executive put it this way,“The hope of the industry is that over time, the market is so flooded that there’s nothing you can do about it. You just sort of surrender.”

Once contamination occurs there is virtually no way to recall it. In a 2004 government study, GM bentgrass cross pollinated with natural bentgrass 13 miles downwind. The industry thought the pollen could only travel 1000'! The Forest Service says this one example "has the potential to adversely impact all 175 national forests and grasslands." A 2010 study showed that 80% of wild canola in North Dakota had been contaminated with GM genes.

Even more worrisome, the USDA has even approved hundreds of open-air field trials of pharmaceutical crops- crops genetically engineered to produce drugs, like blood thinners, vaccines and powerful growth hormones, as well as industrial enzymes. In 2002, corn genetically engineered to produce a pig vaccine contaminated a half million bushels of soybeans.

In addition to contamination, Monsanto has spent billions buying up conventional seed companies toward their goal of a world in which natural seeds are virtually extinct. Monsanto provides 90% of GM seed sown globally.

NY Times May 2010

Wheat after Ten Years of Glyphosate Use Jeffrey Smith

4. GM crops increase pesticide use. In the first 13 years of growing GM crops in the US, herbicide use increased by 383 million pounds and 48% of that increase has been in the last two years, contrary to industry claims that herbicide use would decline. Seventy percent of GM crops are engineered to be resistant to Monsanto's herbicide, Round Up (glyphosate is its main ingredient). Such crops can cross pollinate with weedy relatives creating "superweeds" that require more toxic herbicide, like 2,4-D, an ingredient in Agent Orange that has seen an increase in use of 237% in two years. Some superweed infestations have been so dramatic that farmers have had to abandon cropland.

Besides rendering soils infertile, decreasing nutrients in plants and contributing to 40 plant diseases where it is used, glyphosate is also linked to sterility, hormone disruption, miscarriages, birth defects and cancer. From farms to lawns, our country is drenched in it.

5. GM crops do not increase yields. In 2009, the Union of Concerned Scientists debunked Monsanto's claim that GM crops would increase yields. “Traditional breeding outperforms genetic engineering hands down.” states the report. This was further corroborated by a UN/World Bank report of 400 scientists in 58 countries that concluded that organic farming is the only sustainable way forward. In ten years, many African countries doubled yield using organic practices.

6. The biotechnology industry hurts small farmers. You may have heard of Monsanto's "Seed Police" spying on and harassing farmers across America's heartland. When farmers buy the more expensive GM seeds they are prohibited from using them the next year. If GM seeds find their way onto farms, through contamination by wind or insect pollination, the farmer is sued by Monsanto. As a North Dakota farmer said, "Farmers are being sued for having GMOs on their property that they did not buy, do not want, will not use and cannot sell." Monsanto also encourages farmers to turn one another in and they have been brutal in their dealings with small farmers, suing hundreds and going after their homes and farms.

Additionally, farmers of GM crops have lost money due to a decrease in export sales because of lack of trust in GM crops by other countries. Monsanto wanted to create GM wheat, but wheat farmers fought them fearing loss of markets (US corn lost 99.4% of the European corn market after being genetically modified).

7. The biotechnology industry uses bad science to justify their claims. Monsanto once did a study to ally farmers' fears that their genetically modified bovine growth hormone (rBGH) caused increased infertility in cows. Monsanto secretly added cows already pregnant to the study to show there was no decrease in fertility! Monsanto also declared rBGH dairy safe for humans, although it dramatically increases the level of the hormone IGF-1 which is the number one risk factor for breast cancer and is linked to prostate and colon cancer. The company rigged the testing (pasteurizing milk 120 times longer than normal) to claim rBGH is destroyed by pasteurization.

Monsanto falsified research studies to hide the cancer causing nature of dioxin in its Agent Orange and a former manager of Monsanto India said Monsanto "faked scientific data" given to government regulators to get their GM products approved. In 2005, a German court ordered Monsanto to make a study public that they had been suppressing that showed changes in blood, livers and kidneys of rats given GM food. And there are myriad ways biotech researchers have been known to rig their studies.* Are these the guys you want to trust with the food you eat?

from the Institute for Responsible Technology

8. Many animals avoid GM foods when given a choice.What do they know that we don't? One farmer decided to try an experiment with a bag of GM corn and regular corn. He put both bags in his woodshed to conduct the experiment in the winter. But later he found the mice had done the experiment for him. All the conventional corn was eaten, the GM corn had not been touched! Cows, elk, geese, pigs, buffalo, raccoons, squirrels, rats, mice and other animals all try to avoid eating GM food!

9. Since GM foods have been introduced into the American diet, there have been increases in chronic diseases and allergies. We don't know exactly what is tied to GM food consumption, because so few studies are done, but consider this: since the mid 1990s when GM foods were introduced in the US, the number of Americans with three or more chronic diseases doubled from 1994 to 2001, food-related illnesses in the US also doubled from 1997 to 2002, as did trips to the ER for allergic reactions. There has also been a surge in obesity, autism, Alzheimer's, ADD, gastrointestinal problems, certain cancers and more.

From responsibletechnology.org's Power Point

We do know that a genetically modified supplement,called L-Tryptophan killed 100 and permanently disabled and sickened thousands of Americans in the 1980s. It created acute symptoms that came on quickly which helped researchers trace the illness. So what if GM foods today are creating proliferative cell growth in our stomach lining as as they do in rats, and what if that turns cancerous in ten or twenty years? How long would it be before links to a GM diet could be made? And if links are found, how do you recall millions of acres of GM crops?

10. We are all guinea pigs in this unprecedented, unregulated GM experiment. The biotech industry would have you believe that inserting genes from bacteria, or viruses into the DNA of a corn or soy plant is a neat, orderly and safe process, like inserting a new page into a book. What they do not tell you is the process of genetic modification itself causes massive collateral damage to the finely controlled, intricate web of DNA. The transgenes are shot into DNA with a 22 caliber gene gun. Where they are inserted can cause hundreds or thousands of mutations throughout the genome, can destroy natural genes, permanently turn genes on or off and create unpredictable and potentially dangerous side effects. As Dr Suzanne Wuerthele, a toxicologist with the EPA said, “We are confronted with the most powerful technology the world has ever known, and it is being rapidly deployed with almost no thought whatsoever to its consequences.”

Sign the petition for labeling GM foods. Write and call your elected representatives, write letters to the editor, share information, talk this up and join a local nonGMO group (and if there isn't one- form one!). Stay tuned for an article on how we can begin by avoiding GM foods so we can reach a tipping point of consumer rejection to demand labeling. If Europe can do it, so can we!

"Just sort of surrendering" to the genetic modification of our food supply is not an option.

________________________________

Note- For those living in the Mid-Hudson Valley, the meeting Thursday, May 12 at 7 PM at the Rosendale Cafe has been postponed. I will be creating a list serve so we can talk about raising awareness GM foods and how to live GM-free. Please write to me at ClearStreamMedia@gmail.com if you would like to be on it and to receive notices for future meetings. Thanks!

*Industry researchers are paid to not find problems with GM foods and most of the research on GM is industry-funded. In fact, Monsanto blocks independent researchers from using its patented GM seeds for study.

Here are just a few of the tricks the company researchers use.

Use highly variable animal starting weights to hinder detection of food-related changes
Keep feeding studies short to miss long-term impacts
Test effects of roundup ready soybeans that have not been sprayed with roundup
Avoid feeding animals the actual gm crop, but give them instead a single dose of the gm protein that was produced inside gm bacteria
Use too few subjects to derive statistically significant results
Use poor statistical methods or simply leave out essential methods, data, or statistics
Use rigged or irrelevant control groups, and
Employ insensitive or obsolete evaluation techniques

from "Company Research on Genetically Modified Foods is Rigged" by Jeffrey Smith, executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology. I was recently trained by Jeffrey in an online webinar and thank him for his pioneering work on the health dangers of GM foods!

and thanks to Ellen Naney of Women in Black for her phrase- "GMO? OMG!" I see bumper stickers!

Poughkeepsie Protest at Bank of America Video!

2011-04-21T15:47:00.001-04:00

Thanks to all the Dutchess and Ulster County residents who came out Monday to protest the fact that Bank of America does not pay its federal taxes. They made $4.4 billion in profits last year and paid nothing. The year before that they even got a refund of almost $2 billion! We do not have to take food from hungry women and children, or turn off the heat on our elderly - we simply need the Big Banks, corporations and the rich to pay their fair share.

Many thanks to Joel Tyner, Dutchess County Legislator, Linda Abbott, Coordinator of the Ulster County MoveOn Council, Gerard Lyons, vice president of SEIU Local 200 and vice president of the Hudson Vally Area Labor Federation, to all who spoke and to all who cared enough to take it to the streets!

This protest was part of a MoveOn nationwide action. Thousands protested in 450 cities across the country! It's a movement!

Bank of America is not the only big tax dodger. In the “Guide to Corporate Freeloaders,” Senator Bernie Sanders listed corporations that do not pay taxes to the federal government, but received a federal bailout or large IRS refunds. The list includes Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Boeing, Chevron and Exxon Mobil, among others.

If you would like to be on a Hudson Valley list for future workers' rights and corporate accountability actions-
write to me at clearstreammedia@gmail.com

Ryan's Dark Ages Budget, The Chamber Doesn't Speak for You!

2011-04-12T13:55:00.008-04:00


Kristy Tillman via Fast Company's Co. Design

Republican Budget Chairman Paul Ryan's recent budget proposal would make this graphic on extreme inequality in America even worse! His plan would make our country unrecognizable with levels of poverty and hardship not seen since the worst days of the Great Depression. About 2/3 of the $4.3 thousand billion Ryan wants to slash from the budget would come from programs that assist lower income Americans. Ryan wants to eventually turn Social Security over to Wall Street, and end Medicare and Medicaid as we know them. Medicaid's beneficiaries are primarily children of low income families, seniors and disabled people. What is "courageous" about going after the most vulnerable in society? Ryan's plan would create a two-tier system in which health care is increasingly rationed by income. Ryan wants to shower the already ultra rich with billions more in tax cuts while raising taxes for the middle class in the largest redistribution of income from the bottom to the top in US history.

Ryan's proposals look very much like those advocated by the extreme right-wing Koch brothers, so it is not a surprise that Ryan spoke at Koch's strategy meeting in February (in the past, Supreme Court Justices Alito and Thomas have also graced those gatherings). And isn't it interesting that for 10 years, Ryan raised about the average for House members, but in 2010 his contributions soared from about $1.5 million to $4 million, mostly from "large individual contributions."

The Koch brothers are the largest funders of climate change denying organizations (spending almost three times as much as Exxon Mobil!) want to repeal health care and Wall Street reform and helped elect Republican governors like Scott Walker in Wisconsin, to eviscerate the rights of workers (political stooge Walker is also making it easier for Koch companies to pollute Wisconsin water with phosphorous )What Paul Ryan says publicly is outrageous enough, but can you imagine what is said behind the closed doors of a Koch gathering?

To get a better idea of who the Kochs are, here are just some of their offenses outlined by the Center for Public Integrity:

In late 2000- Koch was hit with a 97-count indictment for covering up the discharge of more than 15 times the legal limit of benzene, a carcinogen, from a refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas.The company faced penalties of more than $350 million. Four Koch employees were also charged individually and faced up to 35 years in prison.

Three months after the Bush administration took office—and just before the lawsuit went to trial—the Justice Department abruptly settled the case. Koch agreed to pay $20 million and plead guilty to a single count of concealment of information. In return, the Justice Department dropped all criminal charges against Koch and the four employees.

In another case, Koch was sued by the government in 1995 and 1997 over a reported 300 oil spills at pipelines owned and operated by the company. Those lawsuits sought from $71 million to $214 million in penalties for the spills, which dumped an estimated three million gallons of oil into lakes and streams in six states.

On January 13, 2000, the government settled that case for $35 million in fines.

The Kochs were also sued by their own brother several years ago in a case where the company was accused of stealing millions of barrels of oil from federal and Native American lands.

Notice how they always seem to escape the worst fines and penalties for their criminal behavior? It helps when you "own" the politicians who are supposed to regulate you. The Kochs have given millions to politicians, almost all Republican. They funded 62 of the 87 incoming House GOP freshman class, not to mention 85 right wing think tanks and countless astroturf groups like Americans for Prosperity that helped organize the Tea Party. "Their reach into virtually every aspect of political, economic and physical life on the planet is probably greater than you thought possible."

Paul Ryan hides behind the need to reduce the deficit. It must be addressed, but Ryan's way, the GOP's way, the Koch brothers way to do it- to hurt those struggling the most, while further lining the pockets of the wealthy - is unacceptable and un-American.

"If we just went back to what [defense spending] was under Clinton and also went back to the tax rates under Clinton for the rich and everybody else, we'd save $7.5 trillion over the next 10 years without taking money from the mouths of starving children." Bill Mahr on Rachel Maddow 4/12/11

The US Chamber of Commerce Doesn't Speak for You!

Many thanks to 350.org for their new campaign, The US Chamber Doesn't Speak for Me!

"Unnecessary Austerity," a new Institute for Policy Studies report, explains how Congress could raise more than $4 trillion in revenue over the next decade by reversing years of tax giveaways to the richest Americans and largest corporations.

And finally- a little fun. Watch Colbert expose Fox and Friends for the idiots they are.

1,000 at "We Are One Rally" in Newburgh!

2011-04-05T15:11:00.002-04:00

New Paltz Women in Black was well represented!

It was great being in Newburgh with about 1,000 on 3 corners standing up for their rights! Cars, buses and trucks honked enthusiastically in solidarity.This is a movement!

From the Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation-

Over 1,000 union members and allies rallied in Newburgh today to stand up for the middle class and honor the memory of Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated on April 4 while supporting the Memphis sanitation workers’ strike. The Newburgh rally was part of a nationwide mobilization in solidarity with working people in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and dozens of other states where well-funded, right-wing corporate politicians are trying to take away the rights Dr. King gave his life for.

"Martin Luther King died fighting for collective bargaining for the sanitation workers of Memphis. The anniversary of his death should serve as a stark reminder that workers' rights are human rights. As President Reagan said, “Where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost," said PEF Executive Board Member Janette Clark.

The workers united will never be defeated!

WAKING PLANET: Universe in a Brain Cell

2011-04-03T13:37:00.001-04:00

WAKING PLANET: Universe in a Brain Cell

No Nuclear Power, No Fracking Day of Action, Workers' Rights Rally- We Are One!

2011-04-02T11:20:00.009-04:00

1. NO to Nuclear Power!

That anyone could still be a proponent of nuclear power in light of the out of control nuclear disaster in Japan is astounding to me. There were 130 tons of nuclear fuel at Chernobyl; there are 1,760 metric tons at Fukushima. Have you noticed the reporting has stopped? What is happening there now? There was a report the other day that radioactivity levels were a million times greater than normal and that was quickly changed to 10,000 times. We know that babies in Tokyo cannot drink the water or the milk and that minute traces of radioactive dust have already circled the globe; yes, even here. Scientists say there is no safe threshold, that any contamination poses a threat to your health. At least one nuclear reactor core has been breached and as of today, three weeks after the tsunami crippled the plant, highly radioactive water is pouring into the Pacific Ocean and it is almost certain the worst is yet to come.

Why do people think it could not happen here? The NRC called Indian Point the most dangerous plant in the US; the one most at risk of meltdown due to an earthquake (it sits on the intersection of two active seismic zones). The risk is 72% higher than previously thought. Entergy, the plant's owner, admits it could not handle a 7.0 quake, yet the NRC denied New York's demand that this issue be a part of the re-licensing review.

Additionally, there are 1,500 tons of radioactive waste on site. Tritium and Strontium 90 have been leaking from at least two spent fuel pools at Indian Point into the Hudson River and into groundwater. As we have seen at Fukushima the spent fuel pools have 2 to 10 times more radiation than the reactor core (the spent-fuel pools at New England's oldest nuclear plants now hold up to five times more radioactive material than they were initially designed to handle). To make matters even worse at Indian Point, the fact that 20 million live in a fifty mile radius of the plant makes evacuation impossible.

Not only do we have to close Indian Point, we must end nuclear power before it ends us. The radioactive waste issue alone is reason enough to ban nuclear power. It has to be contained for a half million years or more- a physical impossibility. As it leaks it will concentrate in the food chain causing epidemics of genetic diseases, leukemia and cancers in future generations.

Read the top 10 reasons to close Indian Point and then call Congress 1 202 224-3121 and President Obama 1 202 456-1414 and demand that we start shifting to a clean energy future and to begin by closing Indian Point! Sign the petition and join Mothers and Others to Close Indian Point May 8th!

" The splitting of the atom changed everything save man's mode of thinking. Thus we drift towards unparalleled catastrophe. Nuclear power is a hell of a way to boil water." Albert Einstein

Citizens Campaign for the Environment

2. No Fracking Day of Action- April 11

Indian Point gets exemptions from safety regulations (according to the NY attorney general, the plant is currently in violation of established fire safety regulations and in seeking more than 100 exemptions from those regulations). Similarly, during the Bush administration, Cheney pushed for what is known as the Halliburton Loophole, exempting fracking fluids (the toxic mix that is the result of hydraulic fracturing) from the Clean Water Act. Water wells, groundwater and waterways are being severely polluted all across the nation as a result. As the New York Times recently reported in a three part series, "One well can produce over a million gallons of waste-water that is often laced with highly corrosive salts and carcinogens like benzene and radioactive elements."

Join the protest April 11 Show Albany the Cumulative Impact of People Who Want Clean Air, Land, and Water!

3. Stand for Workers' Rights!

April 4 is a National Day of Action to Support Workers' Rights!

From We Are One-

Join us in solidarity with working people in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and dozens of other states where well-funded, right-wing corporate politicians are trying to take away the rights Dr. King gave his life for: the freedom to bargain, to vote, to afford a college education and justice for all workers, immigrant and native-born. It’s a day to show movement. Teach-ins. Vigils. Faith events. A day to be creative, but clear: We are one.

Please come out to support local workers' rights to collectively bargain for decent wages and safe working conditions- corner of Rt 17K and Union Ave, 4:30PM

Good News- Volunteers in Wisconsin were able to get enough signatures (in under half the time they had allotted to them) to trigger a recall election of state Senator Dan Kapanke (R)- One of eight Senate Republicans targeted after passing Walker's bill to end collective bargaining for public workers. One down- seven to go. Eight when you include Walker himself!

Keep Faith!

"Defend the Dream" Video, Public against Nuclear, No Fracking

2011-03-22T12:47:00.009-04:00

1. New Video! Thanks to Ilene Cutler who made this video from our recent Defend the Dream Rally. Great job!

Update! Dade County, WI Judge Maryann Sumi put a hold on Walker's bill to strip bargaining rights form public workers, saying Republicans violated the states open-meeting laws to pass it! Another poll showed that if people had known what Gov Walker was going to do, they would not have elected him! RECALL!

2. Nuclear Power is Inherently Dangerous
Our hearts go out to the people of Japan who are suffering so much. Seeing the nuclear nightmare unfold each day reminds us of why we have to support renewable green energy in our country! A new poll shows that over half of Americans want a moratorium on new reactors and would support "a halt to extending the operating lifespans of older nuclear reactors." About three fourths: oppose tax payer loan guarantees for new reactors (President Obama asked for $36 billion for that purpose) favor a shift from nuclear to renewables and would make companies liable for Fukushima- style disasters.

Demand a permanent shut down of all US GE Mark I reactors. There are 23 in the US. There are fundamental flaws in them that the industry has been warned about for 40 years!

Here is an informative map that measures radioactivity in our country in real time.

3. Fracking Update from Rosalyn Cherry
There is an environmental crisis in New York State and together we can take action
to prevent it. With only a few months until the moratorium on horizontal hydraulic
fracturing is lifted --- and with vertical fracking already causing problems across Western
NY --- we need to seize current momentum and widespread public concern to advocate
loud and clear for a statewide ban on fracking.

When the public hears the truth about fracking, the vast majority of the population will
stand with us in calling for a ban. We must not let the failure of imagination of what is
politically possible hold us back from calling loudly for what is necessary. If we make
our case to the citizens of New York, and work to create strong alliances in our
communities, we believe that we can win --- and win overwhelmingly.

If you share this vision, we invite you to join us on March 27th at the SUNY
Albany Lecture Center from 10AM to 6PM. Details below about car pooling.

Share this summit with friends on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/fU5URV
Register here: http://bit.ly/e5v9iG

And mark your calendars!
On Monday May 2nd, 2011, we're marching in Albany to demand a statewide ban.
Full march and rally details TBA.
If you would like to help mobilize for the march, join us at the summit on March 27th!

Carpools and caravans (all sharing gas and tolls):
Leaving NP Village Hall (25 Plattekill) at 7:45AM returning at 8PM. Contact Rosalyn
Cherry --- rosalyn@clutterkit.com
Leaving Kingston Park & Ride near the circle at 8AM. Contact Alexander Lines ---
845.810.2716

Sponsored by Frack Action ( http://www.frackaction.com)
Goals and agenda at http://frackaction.com/content/summit-win-ban

Urgent Flash
We are sitting on top of Utica Shale in Sullivan, Ulster, Greene and Albany counties and
many counties to the west. Map at http://tinyurl.com/4jf3m3a
Gas drillers are eying the Utica Shale! Read about it at http://tinyurl.com/4S6ukok
Together we WILL ban fracking in New York State and keep our water unpolluted.

__________________

And I just read that fracking emissions are thousands of times higher than first reported according to the EPA and that New Jersey is getting close to a ban on fracking! Power to the people!

4. 113 Arrested at White House Protesting Wars protests led by veterans

Watermelon Slim of Vietnam Veterans Against the War is taken into custody March 19. Photo by Ellen Davidson

Spirited "Defend the Dream" Rally in New Paltz!

2011-03-17T11:44:00.005-04:00

New Paltz, 3/15 : A Good Day for Workers B Upton

Well over one hundred people (overflowing to all four corners!) took to the streets in New Paltz Tuesday to Defend the American Dream! They were joining thousands in MoveOn demonstrations across the country to protest the GOP attack on hard working American families and demand that the wealthy elite pay their share in these tough economic times.

People everywhere are rising up against the GOP agenda of busting unions, making painful cuts to vital programs, further enriching the rich and claiming new authoritarian powers. Take just one example: Michigan Governor Rick Snyder wants to cut the corporate tax rate by 86% or nearly $2 billion while increasing the state income tax by 31% with the largest burden being on the poor. Snyder also wants kingly powers to fire elected officials in cities and towns and replace them with his handpicked "emergency town managers" who could break all existing contracts, including collective bargaining ones.

Lansing protesters chanted "This is our House" in the Capitol Building the day after our rally. They are not taking this lying down!

At the rally, we were thrilled to have great union representation! A big thank you to speakers:
Jodie Jacobs and Jude Purnow, American Federation of Teachers, Beth Soto, coordinator for the Hudson Vally Area Labor Federation (HVALF); Gerard Lyons III, vice president of SEIU Local 200 and vice president of HVALF; Mike Lonigro, secretary/treaurer of the SEIU Local 200 and Anthony M Adamo, president of the CSEA SUNY New Paltz Local 610. They gave rousing talks and had the crowd going! Thanks to them, to all the union members and to everyone who came out for this rally!

Linda Abbott, Ulster County MoveOn Council Coordinator, said that 45,000 jobs would be lost in New York State if Republican cuts to the federal budget were enacted, which is totally contrary to the goal of reviving our economy and creating jobs. She also thanked Rep Hinchey for consistently being on the side of the people.

A resounding theme was that politicians should not balance the budget on the backs of the middle class and working poor, who had nothing to do with the economic recession we are in. Rather that they should get the money from tax dodging corporations, in the bloated Pentagon and in the vaults of the richest 400 who have more wealth than over 150 million Americans combined! Not letting the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest expire is costing us $830 billion over the next ten years! As Micheal Moore and others have said, "We are not broke!" It is just in the hands of an ever dwindling few.

Here is an article from the Kingston Freeman and front page coverage from the New Paltz Times on our rally. Forward!

Our Freedom Is at Stake - Rise Up against the Corporate Coup!

2011-03-14T15:09:00.009-04:00

Firefighters at Madison after the Senate GOP Broke a Law to Pass Walker's Bill

Defend the Dream Rally

Tuesday, March 15, 5:15PM

In front of Elting Library, 93 Main St, New Paltz

We are witnessing a hostile, corporate take over of our democracy and the longest undeclared war in America's history - the war on the middle class. When adjusted for inflation the middle class has less money today then in 1971, while America's richest have made out like the bandits they are. And no one has done better than the nation's richest 1/10 of 1% . Four hundred individuals now have more wealth than half of the American population- over 150 million people combined! Republican governors like Walker, Scott, Christie, Corbett and others are not out to only bust unions, but to also replace democracy with autocratic rule and do the bidding of their corporate benefactors; the well being of their constituents be damned.

Consider Corbett in PA, who wants to install a coal company executive (and large contributor) who would be given unilateral authority to override all state agencies, nullifying PA citizens protections (think fracking). Corbett also wants to cut $1billion from preK through college, while increasing the state's $2 billion prison budget by 11%. His call to cut state colleges and universities by 50% could close two of our country's oldest, black colleges. He refuses to impose an extraction tax on gas companies that could raise $200 million a year, but he wants to cut almost $50 million from state environmental programs charged with overseeing the Marcellus Shale industry, already charged with polluting drinking water in the state.

The Republican governor in Michigan, Rick Snyder claims authority to fire elected officials in cities and towns and install his own person to dictate how those municipalities are run. Under the guise of financial emergency, these "Emergency Managers" would also have the power to nullify all contracts, including collective bargaining ones. Snyder can even hire a private company to declare a city is in a financial emergency and let that company take over the city, including its state contracts. All of this can be without any input from the voters. This is the antithesis of democracy and big government at its very worse.

Corporate dollars are fueling this antidemocratic agenda. In Wisconsin, Walker's bill also allows him to sell off state power plants and heating and cooling facilities, in a no- bid, Halliburton style way. Forbes identified the three companies that could most benefit from this stipulation and surprise- they are all owned by Koch Industries, that pumped over $1 million into Walker's campaign.

Forbes called this part of the bill "highly irregular" and added, "If governors begin giving away public utilities in exchange for campaign support, we are all in big trouble."

Meanwhile, back in DC, Republicans are trying to slash vital programs like food for needy women, children and infants, home heating oil help for seniors, eviscerating the EPA and other cuts that could cost up to one million jobs! Tax cuts for billionaires continue. Tax dodging by corporations continues. Republicans want to balance the budget on the backs of hard working American families who have already sacrificed enough and have been hurt the most by an economic mess they did not create! The GOP wants to share sacrifice as long as it doesn't involve them or their rich friends.

ARE WE JUST GOING TO TAKE THIS? NO, WE ARE NOT!

Join us tomorrow night for a national day of action to Defend the Dream! We will be standing in solidarity with Wisconsin and all American workers and to demand that the rich and corporations pay their fair share! There are hundreds of these rallies planned for Tuesday, March 15, organized through MoveOn. Sign up to attend the one in New Paltz here, or find one near you here. Or you can sign up on FaceBook. We hope to have many members of local unions joining us! We all need to stand strong together to Defend the American Dream!

" If American workers are being denied their right to organize and collectively bargain when I'm in the White House, I'll put on a comfortable pair of shoes myself. I'll walk on that picket line with you as president of the United States of America because workers deserve to know that somebody is standing in their corner." Remind President Obama of his campaign speech in 2007. 202 456-1414.

Then They Came for the Trade Unionists

2011-03-10T22:56:00.001-05:00

Thursday 10 March 2011

by: William Rivers Pitt, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed

Excerpts from Mr Pitt's article

On this day, it behooves us to remember the words of Martin Niemoller.

"First they came for the communists," he wrote, "and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me."

Mr. Niemoller wrote his poem decades ago. It might read like this today:

First they declared corporations were "people," and I didn't complain because I'm already a person.
Then they made unlimited money "speech," and I didn't complain because the American Dream says I'll be rich someday, too.
Then they commandeered the means of production by shipping our greatest strength - manufacturing - overseas, because they don't have bothersome unions over there, and I didn't complain because WalMart has cheap stuff.
Then they bought Congress so they could write the laws, and I didn't complain because I can’t be bothered to vote.
Then they bought the Supreme Court so they could cement their rule, and I didn't complain because I don't have time to pay attention.
Then they bought the news so they could convince everyone it's always been this way, and I didn't complain because it's always been this way.
Then they manhandled an election and I didn't complain because I'm not from Florida.
Then they lied us into wars and I didn't complain because I'm not a soldier, or an Iraqi, or an Afghani.
Then millions died for profit and I didn't complain because the graphics on the news were totally awesome.
Then they started locking people up because they said they could and I didn't complain because nobody locked me up.
Then they started spying on everyone because they said they could and I didn't complain because I'm a real American.
Then they came for the worker, but thanks to supply-side trickle-down economics, I don't have a job.

This truth is self-evident.

They are coming for you, and they are relentless.

Stand up.

For your country, for your family, for yourself.

Stand up.

Be heard.

Strike!

Go.

The Story of Citizens United v FEC...

2011-03-03T21:06:00.010-05:00

...and how it is undermining our democracy. Corporations are NOT people. Money is NOT speech! This ruling, by five activist justices on the Supreme Court, gives corporations the ability to overwhelm our elections with their vast wealth. Obama has called it a threat to our democracy. Let's ban together to return power to "We, the People"!

Birth of a Main Street Movement, End of Fracking? & More

2011-03-01T12:34:00.013-05:00

From one of the protests in all 50 state capitols organized by MoveOn on Saturday


Rally in New Paltz Saturday in solidarity with Wisconsin

Tens of thousands all over the nation stood in solidarity with Wisconsin workers and workers everywhere on Saturday! In addition to hundreds of actions by the new organization US Uncut, more than 50,000 rallied in the capitols of all fifty states! This is the birth of the Main Street Movement (also called the American Dream Movement) that says stop stealing from and attacking the middle class! Make the rich pay their share!

I was heartened to hear a popular pizza place in Madison is deluged with orders for pizza to go to the crowd from all over our country! If you'd like to make a donation send to: AFT Wisconsin State Solidarity Fund
ATT: Rob Russell, 6602 Normandy Lane, Madison, WI 53719 Also, sign the letter of support for the brave Wisconsin 14 here.

1. 10 Ways Scott Walker Is Selling Out His Constituents to Corporations

Walker’s assault on public employees is only part of a larger radical agenda that will hurt the poor and middle class. Receiving little coverage are his plans to slash Medicaid, allow no-bid sell offs of public power plants to corporations, eviscerate environmental laws - banning wind power, repealing the clean water rule (despite the fact that 104 died and 400,000 fell sick from Milwaukee water in '93) and destroying wetlands, disenfranchising voters, cutting jobs, stifling innovation and installing autocratic rule. And for the GOP, Wisconsin is just the beginning. Geesh, no wonder record numbers of Americans are taking to the streets.

2. Don't take food out of the mouths of hungry women and children- make corporations pay their taxes instead! Last year, I paid more taxes than Exxon Mobil, GE, Bank of America and Citigroup combined, and so did you! This was the main theme of US Uncut protests held Saturday. They modeled themselves after UK Uncut that began when the UK threatened to cut programs for the poor totaling $7 billion. UK citizens asked "Why not make Vodophone pay the $7 billion they owe in taxes instead?" Read more on the movement to make corporations PAY UP!

3. Could this finally signal the end of fracking?

"Regulation Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted Water Hits Rivers" NY Times 2/26

Thousands of EPA documents received by the New York Times "reveal that the wastewater, (from fracking) which is sometimes hauled to sewage plants not designed to treat it and then discharged into rivers that supply drinking water, contains radioactivity at levels higher than previously known, and far higher than the level that federal regulators say is safe for these treatment plants to handle. Thanks to Congressman Hinchey who got right on it! Add your name to halt fracking here.

BREAKING- There were 2 earthquakes in Texas today close to fracking sites.This video uses satellite imagery to show the connection.

4. Clarence Thomas- Another Shocking Conflict of Interest Citizens United spent over $100,000 to attack Senators who opposed Thomas's nomination to the Supreme Court. Thomas must retroactively recuse himself from the Citizens United v FEC ruling! Join over 220,000 in signing the petition for him to do just that.

5. Baby Dolphins Dying in the Gulf
Baby and adult dolphins are washing up on shore in the Gulf at alarming rates. The BP oil spill happened at the beginning of their gestation.

Rally for Workers' Rights Yesterday and One Tomorrow!

2011-02-25T09:24:00.005-05:00


Protesters Standing with Wisconsin in Kingston,NY B Upton

Next ACTION-

Stand in Solidarity with Wisconsin Workers and

Stop Corporate Tax Dodging!

Saturday, Feb 26- In front of Elting Library, Main St,

New Paltz- 12:30-1:30PM
Sign up here

12 foot sign to show our military madness- Thanks to Shirley Warren!! B Upton

Hundreds of rallies are planned Saturday (2/26) all across the nation to protect workers' rights and

demand corporations and the rich pay their fair share.
Hard working American families have sacrificed enough already! If you are not in the Hudson Valley find a rally near you at usuncut.org

To sign up for the New Paltz rally click here!

Kingston, NY: On Thursday, about 75-100 people attended a spirited rally in front of Congressman Hinchey's office in Kingston to show their support for the workers of Wisconsin and to thank the congressman for consistently being on the side of the people.

“We’re here today to commend Hinchey for his stand against the Republicans’ incredibly dangerous proposed cuts to the budget and to urge him to keep up the fight,” said Linda Abbott, the Coordinator of the Ulster County MoveOn Council that organized the rally. “The Republicans recently proposed over $100 billion in cuts to the federal budget, which would include cutting $123.1 million from New York State’s education budget. At a time when millions of Americans are struggling to make ends meet, it doesn’t make sense to cut programs that working families depend on. Instead, we should invest in America by making corporations and millionaires pay their fair share, not by punishing working Americans,” said Abbott.

Lori DuBord, Congressman Hinchey's District Representative addressed the crowd.

"Congressman Hinchey sides with people who actually work for a living unlike the Republican majority in Washington, who are siding with Wall Street, Big Oil and greedy CEO's. While he's working to end huge tax earmarks for big oil and corporate welfare, they are cutting investments in renewable energy jobs and heating assistance for the elderly. Congressman Hinchey understands how important it is that we win this fight and that the budget cannot and should not be balanced on the backs of working people," said DuBord.

Some participants spoke of the difficult, financial times they and their families are experiencing. A sixty-three year old woman spoke of losing her job, others said they were worried about home foreclosures and others spoke of how difficult it is to make ends meet.

Donna Goodman, a member of a public sector union, United University Professions at SUNY New Paltz, said it was important for people to remember the poor and middle class did not create the current economic disaster; Wall Street did and that they should be held to account. She added that the fight against unions is about power, not the budget and that collective bargaining gives workers a fighting chance for fair wages and benefits. The average union member with a bachelor's degree makes 25% less than those in the private sector according to Goodman.

Barbara Upton, also with the MoveOn Council, said, "I paid more taxes last year than GE and Exxon Mobil combined and so did each of you!" She urged lawmakers to collect the estimated $100 billion corporations currently dodge through offshore tax havens. She also spoke of the billions that could be cut from the Pentagon without jeopardizing our safety. She reminded the crowd that the day before 9/11/01, Sec of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told reporters that the Pentagon had lost $2.3 trillion. Protesters held up a 12 foot sign while she spoke that showed that the Defense Department currently makes up almost 60% of our budget.

"We need to move hundreds of billions spent on death and destruction and use that money to rebuild America, create good jobs, build a green economy and provide quality health care and education to the people," she said. "We need to use that money to renew the American dream."

Another rally with the same theme will be held Saturday in New Paltz, in front of the Elting Library, 93 Main Street from 12:30 to 1:30PM. All are welcome.

Stand up for Workers- Demand the Rich Pay Their Share!

2011-02-23T17:40:00.002-05:00

JOIN US FOR THE RALLY TOMORROW!!

Feb 24, Thursday, 12-12:30, 291 Wall St, Kingston

Ulster County MoveOn Council


Wisconsin Protester buzzfeed.com

"Why is a 3% tax increase on the richest considered “socialism” but a 14% pay cut on middle class is “doing your part?” from a woman named Jennie on Twitter

The American people are "getting it". Rightwing political stooges, like Gov Scott Walker, are out to do the bidding of their billionaire, corporate masters; make draconian cuts to services for the poor and middle class, bust unions, remove regulations and continue to loot the middle class.There are well over 100 rallies planned all over the country tomorrow to support workers, oppose cuts to the neediest and demand the rich pay their share (click here to find one near you). In the case of Wisconsin, the Koch brothers who brought Scott Walker to power, not only want to destroy the unions, but they also want to be able to buy state-owned power plants for pennies on the dollar. Tucked into Walker's budget bill is a provision that allows him to sell off public utilities without competing bids. This guy is such an amateur. I just listened to the prank call, Walker took, thinking he was talking to David Koch. You can tell Walker is excited to be talking to his big honcho patron. In the 20 minutes they talked, Walker details his plans to bust the unions, compares himself to Reagan, talks of his growing popularity and says "This is our time to change the course of history." N'er a mention of the budget crisis. At one point "Koch" suggests planting some trouble makers in the crowd of peacefully protesting workers. Walker decides not to, but admits "We already thought of that."

States across the country are experiencing budget shortfalls- not because of union demands (the protesters in WI said they were willing to cut benefits- but Walker is holding out for the end of collective bargaining for public employees) but because of the fraud and recklessness of Wall Street that depleted pension funds. The states have a collective budget shortfall of about one hundred billion and I know just the place they can find it!

Corporations in our country have not been paying their share for years. Yes, we have a high corporate tax rate- but what good is it if everyone uses loopholes like offshore havens to avoid paying, in many cases, anything at all. It is estimated that we taxpayers every year have to make up the hundred billion they are dodging. UK Uncut is a grassroots movement that is exposing the corruption there and US Uncut just launched in this country (they are having rallies across the country Saturday and MoveOn is calling for a 50 state response in the state capitols that day too!). The IRS estimates that very rich individuals and corporations are hiding $5 trillion in tax havens. End corporate tax dodging- it is economic treason!

We also need to seriously cut the Pentagon. With interest on the debt to pay for unfunded wars, we are paying over one trillion a year on "defense". A thousand billion dollars. Please don't forget that on the day before 9/11, Rumsfeld announced that the Pentagon could not account for $2.3 trillion! They just did not know where it went. They routinely cannot account for 25% of their money due to waste, incompetence and corruption. We should be looking for billions there so that we don't have to take food from hungry children, or let old people freeze in their homes.

Tomorrow, we will be thanking Rep Hinchey for standing up for the poor and middle class, but we will be making demands too- may the demands from thousands across the country reverberate and begin to take down some sacred cows that if left unchecked will turn us into a third world oligarchy. Sign up here.

And here is a great video of the Wisconsin movement. It's hard to believe a right wing deputy attorney general in Wisconsin suggested using live ammunition against these upstanding Americans. Jeff Fox should be fired! (update- sometimes justice is swift!)

If you live in the Hudson Valley, hope to see you tomorrow!

Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill Protest from Matt Wisniewski on Vimeo.

"NEW to science" pathogen in GM crops, Talk on GM Dangers Tuesday

2011-02-21T13:20:00.001-05:00

The news keeps getting scarier in regard to genetically modified foods. The article below from the Institute of Science in Society says a senior scientist with the USDA is warning of a "NEW to science" pathogen found in Round Up Ready GM soy and corn that may be responsible for high rates of infertility and spontaneous abortions in dairy cows and cattle.

Hope you can join us tomorrow night! Details below.

Did you know that:
about 80% of all processed foods in the supermarket contain GMOs (genetically modified organisms)?
FDA scientists warned of potential health risks of GM foods and called for long term safety studies, but were ignored?
you can keep yourself and family healthy by avoiding GM foods
and that together we can create a tipping point of consumer rejection that will require labeling like other countries?

"The Health Risks of Genetically Modified (GM) Foods"
Tuesday, Feb 22 7PM
Elting Memorial Library
93 Main St, New Paltz

Speaker, Barbara Upton has been trained by Jeffrey Smith, executive director of the Institute for Responsible Technology
and author of best selling books on the subject- "Seeds of Deception" and "Genetic Roulette: the Documented Health Risks of GM Foods"
Presented by Clear Stream Media.

Bring a snack to share if you like!

Brochures on the health risks and a shopping guide on how to avoid GM foods will be provided.

Feel free to print out and post the attached flier. Thanks! If you cannot make it but would like to be on our mailing list - send me your name and email.

Please forward and hope to see you there!

Emergency! Pathogen New to Science Found in Roundup Ready GM Crops?

USDA senior scientist sends “emergency” warning to US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on a new plant pathogen in Roundup Ready GM soybean and corn that may be responsible for high rates of infertility and spontaneous abortions in livestock Dr. Mae-Wan Ho

Please distribute widely and forward to your elected representatives

An open letter appeared on the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance founded and run by Judith McGeary to save family farms in the US [1, 2]. The letter, written by Don Huber, professor emeritus at Purdue University, to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, warns of a pathogen “new to science” discovered by “a team of senior plant and animal scientists”. Huber says it should be treated as an “emergency’’, as it could result in “a collapse of US soy and corn export markets and significant disruption of domestic food and feed supplies.”

The letter appeared to have been written before Vilsack announced his decision to authorize unrestricted commercial planting of GM alfalfa on 1 February, in the hope of convincing the Secretary of Agriculture to impose a moratorium instead on deregulation of Roundup Ready (RR) crops.

The new pathogen appears associated with serious pervasive diseases in plants - sudden death syndrome in soybean and Goss' wilt in corn – but its suspected effects on livestock is alarming. Huber refers to “recent reports of infertility rates in dairy heifers of over 20%, and spontaneous abortions in cattle as high as 45%.”

This could be the worst nightmare of genetic engineering that some scientists including me have been warning for years [3] (see Genetic Engineering Dream or Nightmare, ISIS publication): the unintended creation of new pathogens through assisted horizontal gene transfer and recombination.

Huber writes in closing: “I have studied plant pathogens for more than 50 years. We are now seeing an unprecedented trend of increasing plant and animal diseases and disorders. This pathogen may be instrumental to understanding and solving this problem. It deserves immediate attention with significant resources to avoid a general collapse of our critical agricultural infrastructure.”

The complete letter is reproduced below.

Dear Secretary Vilsack:
A team of senior plant and animal scientists have recently brought to my attention the discovery of an electron microscopic pathogen that appears to significantly impact the health of plants, animals, and probably human beings. Based on a review of the data, it is widespread, very serious, and is in much higher concentrations in Roundup Ready (RR) soybeans and corn-suggesting a link with the RR gene or more likely the presence of Roundup. This organism appears NEW to science!
This is highly sensitive information that could result in a collapse of US soy and corn export markets and significant disruption of domestic food and feed supplies. On the other hand, this new organism may already be responsible for significant harm (see below). My colleagues and I are therefore moving our investigation forward with speed and discretion, and seek assistance from the USDA and other entities to identify the pathogen's source, prevalence, implications, and remedies.
We are informing the USDA of our findings at this early stage, specifically due to your pending decision regarding approval of RR alfalfa. Naturally, if either the RR gene or Roundup itself is a promoter or co-factor of this pathogen, then such approval could be a calamity. Based on the current evidence, the only reasonable action at this time would be to delay deregulation at least until sufficient data has exonerated the RR system, if it does.
For the past 40 years, I have been a scientist in the professional and military agencies that evaluate and prepare for natural and manmade biological threats, including germ warfare and disease outbreaks. Based on this experience, I believe the threat we are facing from this pathogen is unique and of a high risk status. In layman's terms, it should be treated as an emergency.
A diverse set of researchers working on this problem have contributed various pieces of the puzzle, which together presents the following disturbing scenario:

Unique Physical Properties
This previously unknown organism is only visible under an electron microscope (36,000X), with an approximate size range equal to a medium size virus. It is able to reproduce and appears to be a micro-fungal-like organism. If so, it would be the first such micro-fungus ever identified. There is strong evidence that this infectious agent promotes diseases of both plants and mammals, which is very rare.

Pathogen Location and Concentration
It is found in high concentrations in Roundup Ready soybean meal and corn, distillers meal, fermentation feed products, pig stomach contents, and pig and cattle placentas.

Linked with Outbreaks of Plant Disease
The organism is prolific in plants infected with two pervasive diseases that are driving down yields and farmer income-sudden death syndrome (SDS) in soy, and Goss' wilt in corn. The pathogen is also found in the fungal causative agent of SDS (Fusarium solani fsp glycines).

Implicated in Animal Reproductive Failure
Laboratory tests have confirmed the presence of this organism in a wide variety of livestock that have experienced spontaneous abortions and infertility. Preliminary results from ongoing research have also been able to reproduce abortions in a clinical setting.
The pathogen may explain the escalating frequency of infertility and spontaneous abortions over the past few years in US cattle, dairy, swine, and horse operations. These include recent reports of infertility rates in dairy heifers of over 20%, and spontaneous abortions in cattle as high as 45%.
For example, 450 of 1,000 pregnant heifers fed wheatlege experienced spontaneous abortions. Over the same period, another 1,000 heifers from the same herd that were raised on hay had no abortions. High concentrations of the pathogen were confirmed on the wheatlege, which likely had been under weed management using glyphosate.

Recommendations
In summary, because of the high titer of this new animal pathogen in Roundup Ready crops, and its association with plant and animal diseases that are reaching epidemic proportions, we request USDA's participation in a multi-agency investigation, and an immediate moratorium on the deregulation of RR crops until the causal/predisposing relationship with glyphosate and/or RR plants can be ruled out as a threat to crop and animal production and human health.
It is urgent to examine whether the side-effects of glyphosate use may have facilitated the growth of this pathogen, or allowed it to cause greater harm to weakened plant and animal hosts. It is well-documented that glyphosate promotes soil pathogens and is already implicated with the increase of more than 40 plant diseases; it dismantles plant defenses by chelating vital nutrients; and it reduces the bioavailability of nutrients in feed, which in turn can cause animal disorders. To properly evaluate these factors, we request access to the relevant USDA data.
I have studied plant pathogens for more than 50 years. We are now seeing an unprecedented trend of increasing plant and animal diseases and disorders. This pathogen may be instrumental to understanding and solving this problem. It deserves immediate attention with significant resources to avoid a general collapse of our critical agricultural infrastructure.

Sincerely,

COL (Ret.) Don M. Huber
Emeritus Professor, Purdue University
APS Coordinator, USDA National Plant Disease Recovery System (NPDRS)

References

1. “Researcher: Glyphosate (Roundup) or Roundup Ready Crops May Cause Animal Miscarriages”, Jill Richardson, La Vida Locavore, 18 February 2011
http://www.lavidalocavore.org/diary/4523

2. “Researcher: Glyphosate (Roundup) or Roundup Ready Crops May Cause Animal Miscarriages”, 18 February 2011, http://farmandranchfreedom.org/gmo-miscarriages

3. Ho MW. Genetic Engineering Dream of Nightmare? The Brave New World of Bad Science and Big Business, Third World Network, Gateway Books, MacMillan, Continuum, Penang, Malaysia, Bath, UK, Dublin, Ireland, New York, USA, 1998, 1999, 2007 (reprint with extended Introduction). http://www.i-sis.org.uk/genet.php

Rally to Oppose Cuts, Chevron Guilty, Assault on the Environment

2011-02-16T14:38:00.010-05:00

1. Rally for the Other 98%!
Republicans scoff at the idea of class warfare, but that is exactly what has been going on for the past 40 years as more and more wealth has been and continues to be concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. Politicians take huge campaign contributions from the moneyed elite and in turn, the wealthiest are given outrageous tax breaks and corporations are allowed to write their own regulations and are given tax loopholes that allow them to pay no corporate taxes. Rich corporations, like the oil companies, are also lavished with billions in subsidies and the bloated Pentagon's budget keeps escalating (we spend over a trillion $ for defense- China at number 2 only spends $380 billion) All of this is happening while there are now proposals to cut: home heating assistance for the poor, Pell grants for deserving college students, food aid for needy women and children, job training, food inspection, green jobs, and very successful programs like Teach for America, Americorps and Headstart.

It is time for everyday Americans to rise up to say no to this system of corruption that is killing the middle class and the American dream!

Join us Thursday, February 24 from 12-12:30PM in front of Congressman Hinchey's office, 291 Wall St, Kingston. The rally, organized by the Ulster County MoveOn Council is being held to thank Rep Hinchey for speaking out on the proposed budget cuts and to hear from local people about how these cuts would affect their lives. For more information, or if you have a story to share contact Linda Abbott at linabbott@gmail.com.

For more background on the growing economic disparity in our country click here. And here are two pie charts that show how inequitable our current system is.

Should the top 400 families in our country have as much wealth as the bottom 50%? Is it fair or sustainable in a democracy for the top 10% to own 71.5% of all the wealth , while the other 90% of us share just 28.5% of it?

And we all know corporations are making record breaking profits and the stock market is doing well- yeah, once again for the top 10% who own over 90% of the stocks and bonds in our country.

Democracy cannot survive such economic inequality! Join us next Thursday!

Celebration as Mubarak Resigns Guardian.co.uk

2. Mubarak's stolen fortune should be returned to the Egyptian people! Add your name!

It really is stunning to hear people on the right defending a dictator over the democratic aspirations of a people.

When asked at CPAC why so many were behind democracy in Iraq, but would rather deny it to the people of Egypt, Ann Coulter said because we had an ally in the dictator. When reminded that Mubarak imprisoned journalists and dissidents, Coulter said she would like to see more journalists jailed.

3. Chevron Found Guilty! In Ecuador, Texaco, which Chevron bought in 2001, "deliberately dumped 18.5 billion gallons of highly toxic waste sludge into the streams and rivers that local people depend on for drinking, bathing, and fishing. The company dug over 900 open-air, unlined waste pits that continue to seep toxins into the ground." They did all this intentionally to cut expenses, while destroying ecosystems and peoples' lives. Chevron was ordered to pay a fine of $8 billion- the beginning of justice.

4.An Invitation to Murder Abortion Providers In South Dakota there is a law under consideration that could make it legal to kill doctors who perform abortions. Since, 1993, eight doctors have been assassinated and 17 others have been victims of murder attempts by anti-abortion extremists. The GOP attacks on women's health continue—including a bill that would allow hospitals to let a pregnant woman die rather than perform a life-saving abortion. Sign this petition, "We Won't Go Back to the Back Alley"


treehugger.com

5. Broad Assault on Clean Water, Air, Wildlife and Public Health
Republicans are using the appropriations bill as a way to eviscerate environmental protections. If they have their way, millions of wetlands and thousands of streams will be left with no protections, the EPA would not have the authority to regulate mercury and cancer-causing air pollutants and wildlife would be removed from the Endangered Species list, based on political calculations instead of science. Sixty percent of Americans already live in areas where pollution reaches dangerous levels. Please make you voice heard.

Breaking- Over 30,000 public employees marched on the capitol at Madison WI today to protest the Governor's plans to end collective bargaining for public employees and reduce benefits. Here is a video from earlier in the week- the movement has only grown stronger since then. Lou Schultz (MSNBC) has been doing an excellent job covering this story- including outing the governor for busting unions (the governor inherited a balanced budget- but he pushed through $140 million in new special interests spending, which he now wants public employees to pay for) Also, seven people were arrested this week for staging a sit in to oppose the destructive practice of mountain top removal mining in W Virginia- Stay tuned on both stories.

The people united will never be defeated!

Egypt Is Free!

2011-02-11T12:45:00.002-05:00

Victory! Suhaib Salem/Reuters

The people united will never be defeated! Today, the Egyptian people, freedom and human rights won over tyranny and autocratic rule.

Our hats off to the pro-democracy demonstrators who remained steadfast, nonviolent, dignified and united. The world will never be the same.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/12/world/middleeast/12egypt.html?hp

									Love this photo from 3 days after the peaceful revolution began. How could the army shoot their grand mas? Many are saying there was a movement inside the movement- the one for equality for women! Photo credit: Lefteris Pitarakis / AP ,

Say No to GMO's!

2011-02-09T10:22:00.003-05:00

Go to responsible technology.org to join the Tipping Point against GM foods!
And sign petition to tell Obama to side with us not Monsanto!

No to Monsanto, Brits Rise Up and Keith Is Back!

2011-02-08T14:59:00.005-05:00

1. "Obama Goes Rogue on GMOs - Tell him to say NO to Monsanto"
From Food Democracy Now!
"According to university scientists, the deregulation of GMO Roundup Ready alfalfa could lead to the genetic contamination of all conventional and organic alfalfa within five years."

Over the past 12 days, the Obama administration has unbelievably chosen to approve two biotech crops, Roundup Ready genetically modified (GMO) alfalfa and Roundup Ready genetically modified (GMO) sugar beets. Obama's recent approval of them will allow them to be planted as early as this spring, despite widespread acknowledgement that these crops are certain to contaminate both conventional and organic farmers non-GMO crops. Their approval only benefits one company — Monsanto.

These decisions are a devastating blow to our democracy and the basic rights of farmers to choose how they want to grow food on their land and the rights of consumers who increasingly choose organic and sustainably grown food for its positive health and environmental impacts. Please join us in telling President Obama that it's time to stand up to Monsanto and reject these GMO crops today! Click here.

_______________________

Not only has the administration approved Monsanto's Round Up Ready Alfalfa, they also said it did not have to be separated from traditionally grown alfalfa to prevent GM contamination. Read more about the House Committee that favored unregulated GM alfalfa here. The chair of the House Committee on Agriculture, Frank Lucas (R-OK) was a recipient of Monsanto funds for his last election and has received $1,247,844 from the agribusiness industry during his career. The office at the USDA that said the GM alfalfa was safe and posed no risk to conventional crops relied on data supplied by "entities with financial ties to the biotechnology industry."

And sadly, it looks like the White House was the main cheerleader for unregulated GM alfalfa.
"Dangers of GM Foods" Presentation- Tuesday, Feb 22, Elting Library, New Paltz, 7PM.

Photo Credit: Dominic Alves via Flickr

2. People Rise Up!
As we experience crippling budget cuts at home, our nation's wealthiest corporations are hardly paying taxes at all. Brits just rose up targeting tax dodgers and even received support from some on the right.
View the slide show- Eight Corporations that Owe You Money!

3. "A Terrible Divide" by Bob Herbert
"For a variety of reasons, there are not enough tax revenues being generated to pay for the basic public services that one would expect in an advanced country like the United States. The rich are not shouldering their fair share of the tax burden. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continue to consume an insane amount of revenue. And there are not enough jobs available at decent enough pay to ease some of the demand for public services while at the same time increasing the amount of taxes paid by ordinary workers.

The U.S. cannot cut its way out of this crisis. Instead of trying to figure out how to keep 4-year-olds out of pre-kindergarten classes, or how to withhold life-saving treatments from Medicaid recipients, or how to cheat the elderly out of their Social Security, the nation’s leaders should be trying seriously to figure out what to do about the future of the American work force." Read all.

4. Power to the People!
I know our hearts are still with the pro-democracy protesters in Egypt (the radical right is siding with Mubarak). The Egyptian people are amazing heroes and we hope they will stay strong until Mubarak is out of office. I read today he may be going to Germany for an extended health check-up, a face-saving way to rid the country of a dictator. Here is a video of our citizens also rising up to confront the shadowy, moneyed elite in our country. (wrote about it here.)

5.Some Good News!

He's baaack. Keith Olbermann will have a nightly, prime time news and commentary show on Current TV! (Ch 368 on Direct TV)

Weekly News- Egypt, Koch Brothers, Fracking and More

2011-02-04T11:34:00.002-05:00

The Egyptian People Rise Up! photo credit: Avaaz

" Citizens protesting in the streets from Greece to England, and more demonstrably, from Tunisia to Egypt, may be revolting for national reasons and against individual governments, but they share a common bond. They are revolting against a world that lines the pockets of rich deal-makers while sticking the tab to ordinary people. That bond is global".

1. As we watch the unfolding drama in Egypt, our hearts go out to the struggling masses yearning for more equitable and freer lives. Mubarak's thugs have been targeting journalists and attacking the nonviolent protesters. Here is a take on the unrest that rarely makes it into the news.

2. The Koch Brothers Exposed!

Thanks to Greenpeace!

For years the Koch brothers have been funding conservative think tanks, have given $54.9 million to climate denying organizations and most recently, they helped start Americans for Prosperity and Freedom Works which got the Tea Party rolling. They are multi-billionaires who want to be even richer at the expense of the people and the earth. Here's a Jim Hightower article on what happened recently at an exclusive resort where the Kochs and their super rich friends were meeting. Fifteen hundred protesters showed up and no one could ignore the blimp flying overhead!

3. I mentioned to some friends recently how one of Bremmer's Orders after the Iraq invasion was to prevent farmers there from saving seed- setting them up for a Monsanto invasion. Here's a video that describes the death of farming in the Fertile Crescent.

4. Subject line: Diesel Oil in your drinking water?

If we want to protect New York's drinking water from risky natural gas drilling, we need to act now.

The New York Times just reported on a Congressional investigation into hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"), a drilling method that threatens our water supply and our environment. The investigation reported that companies including Halliburton have been pumping tens of millions of gallons of diesel oil into our water supply as part of the fracking procedure.

After grassroots pressure from tens of thousands of concerned New Yorkers, the State Senate approved a moratorium on fracking this summer. But it's time to tell Gov. Cuomo that a moratorium isn't enough -- we need to ban fracking permanently in New York before our water supply becomes contaminated.

I just signed the petition sponsored by the Working Families Party telling Gov. Cuomo to ban fracking. Will you join me? Just go to:

http://action.workingfamiliesparty.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=3271

5. Back to Egypt- so relieved to see the massive protests in Egypt are peaceful so far today. But no doubt, this is a time for a radical change in our foreign policy that is economically breaking our nation, creating enemies and is antithetical to true American values. "Wake Up Call for U.S. Empire: Egypt an Opportunity for a Transformational New Beginning"

Please sign the world wide petition to show you are standing with the people of Egypt!

Organic Elite Caves to Monsanto

2011-01-28T11:11:00.000-05:00

Many animals avoid GM food when given the choice- From responsibletechnology.org

The Organic Elite Surrenders to Monsanto: What Now?

By Ronnie Cummins
Organic Consumers Association, Jan 27, 2011
Straight to the Source
"The policy set for GE alfalfa will most likely guide policies for other GE crops as well. True coexistence is a must." - Whole Foods Market, Jan. 21, 2011

"In the wake of a 12-year battle to keep Monsanto's Genetically Engineered (GE) crops from contaminating the nation's 25,000 organic farms and ranches, America's organic consumers and producers are facing betrayal. A self-appointed cabal of the Organic Elite, spearheaded by Whole Foods Market, Organic Valley, and Stonyfield Farm, has decided it's time to surrender to Monsanto. Top executives from these companies have publicly admitted that they no longer oppose the mass commercialization of GE crops, such as Monsanto's controversial Roundup Ready alfalfa, and are prepared to sit down and cut a deal for "coexistence" with Monsanto and USDA biotech cheerleader Tom Vilsack."
read more- http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_22449.cfm

This is outrageous! This organic elite cabal know that we are relying on testing of GM foods by the very biotech industry profiting from them. There are no pre-market safety tests, human feeding studies or any effective oversight of companies like Monsanto. But this group of executives (with ties to USDA Sec Vilsack- once named "Governor of the Year" by the biotech industry) is calling for "co-existence" with genetically engineered crops. There is no co-existence possible- GM pollen spreads through the air for miles and once it contaminates other non-GM crops it is irreversible (Monsanto's long term plan is to have 100% of all seeds GM, patented and owned by them)!

This article also details the dirty little secret of so called "natural" foods (2/3 of Whole Foods sales come from them) which contain soy and corn derivatives and most certainly contain GM as 91% of soy and 85% of corn are GM in this country.

Eighty-five to 95% of Americans want GM food labeled. Europe did it and so can we!

Come tonight to see "The World According to Monsanto" at the Elting Library in New Paltz at 8:15PM. I will also be giving a presentation from the Institute of Responsible Technology on "The Dangers of Genetically Modified Foods" on Feb 22. Details to come.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_22449.cfm