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This country has made remarkable progress on civil rights over our history. We’ve moved from slavery to segregation to equal rights under the law. African-Americans have gained the right to vote, the right to equal employment opportunity. Open racism has become increasingly unacceptable. Gays and lesbians have progressed toward equal rights. Same-sex marriage is increasingly accepted in law and in practice.

Yet in the past years we’ve been presented with inescapable evidence of continuing systemic discrimination. Ferguson and many other abuses sparked the Black Lives Matter movement that exposed the systemic and too often deadly bias of our criminal justice system.

Liberals and conservatives alike have criticized mass incarceration of nonviolent offenders, disproportionately people of color.

The wealth gap between the races has increased dramatically, as African-Americans and Latinos were disproportionately targeted and victimized by the systemic fraud that led to the financial collapse.

Yesterday, on April 11, 2016, constituents of Minnesota US Congressperson Rick Nolan were informed of a 2015 House Resolution (HR 14) that 41 House Congresspersons signed onto (26 Democrat/15 Republicans). Among the co-sponsors were 3 Minnesotan DFLers Rick Nolan, Collin Peterson and Tim Walz. A nearly identical resolution had been introduced in the US Senate on June 2, 2015. Neither of Minnesota’s Senators, Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, signed onto that one.

Nolan’s letter concluded: “The time for secrecy is over.The American people and the families of the victims of 9-11 deserve the truth.”

Here is the essence of the resolution:

House Resolution 14, in the US House of Representatives, January 6, 2015:

Resolved, that

(1) the President should declassify the 28-page section of the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 2001; and

o what happens if a campaign tries “disqualification” as a tactic?

Hillary Clinton and the Clinton campaign hinted and hinted and hinted that Bernie Sanders is not qualified to be president, but they may never have actually said it. No matter. Some news media believed them, took the hints for facts, and reported that Hillary said Bernie was not qualified. In response, Bernie openly and loudly said Hillary is not qualified to be president. New York media predators had a grand time chewing on all this raw meat. And that was just last week.

The Democratic party is teetering on the brink.  The green/peace/social justice community needs a Plan C.  The Republicans have one.  The Democrats don’t.  The impacts could be catastrophic.  

Consider:

Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have serious handicaps for reaching the presidency.

By her own admission, Hillary is an ineffective campaigner, with serious negatives among young activists and the general voting population.

Long considered an “ace in the hole” for her campaign, Bill’s presence on the stump has been problematic at best.

There are continual rumors of a pending Clinton indictment.  About what remains unclear.  But such an event could seriously impede or destroy a Clinton candidacy.

Bernie has proven to be a spectacular campaigner, catalyzing an amazing outpouring of activist energy, mostly young, but with a remarkably broad base that reflects the serious problems our nation faces.     

A new film called Dear President Obama that is narrated by Mark Ruffalo begins very gently, sympathizing with President Obama's supposed need to please his funders and corporate lobbyists.

n her essay “Sexism in American Politics,” Barbra Streisand has written (or had ghostwritten) the sweeping and quite false claim that Hillary Clinton is “held to a pernicious double standard” only because she’s a woman, a claim that Streisand fails to support with any relevant, substantive evidence.  

BANGKOK, Thailand -- The British artist who drew the "V For Vendetta"
graphic novel and movie character's white pointy-chinned face mask
which now disguises anti-government protesters, Anonymous hackers and
others worldwide, says concealing your identity in public can protect
against police torture and death squads.
   "I think what Edward Snowden is doing, and what Anonymous is doing,
they are doing what they think is a good thing," Mr. Lloyd said in an
interview during a March 22 to March 29 exhibition of his work at
Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
   "The V mask itself? It's good to have a symbol that unifies. So if
you're wearing something as a mask that unifies and actually says
something -- says what you are doing, and is in sympathy with some
sort of concept -- that's good because it's a unification.
   "But any mask is quite acceptable. Everybody has the right to go
out on the street as an individual citizen, masked or otherwise, to
protest.
   "Your identity is not important. The fact that you are there as a

"This investigation identified a complete breakdown of safety at Enbridge. Their employees performed like Keystone Kops and failed to recognize that their pipeline had ruptured and continued to pump crude into the environment. Despite multiple alarms and a loss of pressure in the pipeline, for more than 17 hours and through three shifts, they failed to follow their own shutdown procedures. Enbridge restarted the pipeline twice in that 17-hour period, pumping oil that would account for 81 percent of the total spill.” -- National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-07-24/-keystone-kops-bungling-led-to-costliest-u-s-pipeline-spill)

Do you think that ending human violence is impossible? Do you believe that even aiming to do so is unrealistic? Well, you might be right. But you might also be interested to know that there are a lot of people around the world who are committed to trying. And, if you think the aim is worthwhile, you could be one of them.

The most casual perusal of the media will confirm what most of us suspect: violence takes many forms and it is absolutely pervasive. But what the media might not report regularly is that there are some phenomenal people and organizations out there that are doing everything they can to tackle one or more aspects of this violence. And as they identify themselves as part of one or more worldwide networks working on violence, they acquire a fuller appreciation of what is being achieved.