Heaven

How and Why We're Working to Block the Bankruptcy Bill

"April Fools!  We're not really going to wreck the bankruptcy system and turn families over to the gentle mercies of credit card companies!  We just wanted to see how extreme we could get and have the media still believe it!"

That's what I'd like to hear the United States Senate announce today, but I won't hold my breath.

When a majority of U.S. Senators, including 19 Democrats, voted to pass the bankruptcy bill, some of them may have thought that no one was watching.  Certainly consumer groups, labor, community organizations, and civil rights groups had written the bill off as virtually unstoppable.  Stopping it was not at the top of their agendas, each already overloaded with other defensive battles against the Bush onslaught.

Democrats, Paper ‘Trails’ Aren’t Good Enough; Count The Damn Ballots!

March 19, 2005—After the 2004 election I thought I would barf if I heard one more Democratic pundit or politician lament the lost election and blame it on the party's "message." As grassroots activists across the country reported thousands of election irregularities and voting machine "glitches" that overwhelmingly benefited Bush, the Democratic leadership seemed unusually willing to look the other way. John Kerry quickly conceded, former President Carter attended Bush's ignoble inauguration, and Bill Clinton now pals around with Bush the First.

Rank and file Democrats are tearing their hair out.

Now, in a gesture calculated to win back their base, but gain little else (in terms of voting security), both House and Senate Democrats have offered a flurry of bills (with many state legislatures following in hot pursuit) that require ballot printers for touchscreen voting machines.

Incredibly, none of these bills call for the ballots to be counted .. except in the extremely remote event of a recount.

It takes your breath away. The Dems know that two Republican-controlled

Hypocrisy, the U.S. and the U.N.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Some days, it's hard to pick the outrage du jour, but hypocrisy is always an inviting target, and the United Nations oil-for-food scandal provides a two-fer. We have been hearing much right-wing huffing over the dreadful, terrible, awful, unprecedented, worst-ever scandal in all history. One indignant winger was livid because The New York Times devoted more coverage to the collapse of Enron than to the earth-shaking U.N. scandal.

Those throwing conniption fits over the United Nations' misdeeds (failure of oversight, according to the Volcker Report) might want to meditate a bit on the role of the U.S. government in all this before they further embarrass themselves denouncing perfidious foreigners.

A Quarterly Report from Bush-Cheney Media Enterprises

The first quarter of 2005 brought significant media dividends for the Bush-Cheney limited liability corporation.

Stakeholders received windfalls as mainstream news outlets deferred to consolidation of power from the November election.

A rollout of new “democracy” branding -- kicked off by the State of the Union product relaunch -- yielded at least temporary gains in psychological market share. For instance, repackaging of images in the Middle East implemented makeovers for several client governments. Actual democratic threats, inimical to Bush-Cheney LLC interests, remain low.

Our major domestic financial goal, the privatization of Social Security, is out of reach for the next several quarters. However, in view of the magnitude of potential profits, this massive effort will continue.

More problematic, in retrospect, was the March expenditure of political capital in the Schiavo gambit. Returns on media investment, as gauged by opinion poll data, have been disappointing. However, base earnings are likely to accrue to beneficial levels due to high volume from fundamentalist buy-ins.

Statement on the Passing of Terri Schiavo

I am deeply saddened by the passing of Terri Schiavo this morning.  Her loss is truly a sad day for all America and the world.  Our hearts are heavy as we witnessed Terri’s ordeal as her feeding tube was withdrawn two weeks ago, inducing her agonizing death.  Our prayers go out to her parents Bob and Mary, Michael, her husband, her family and close friends. 

I spoke to the Mr. and Mrs. Schindler yesterday and told them, “Fate has dealt you a blow, but faith in God and love will see you through.  Be prepared for her to live or die, but take comfort in knowing that you have done your best.  You may lose a daughter, but thank God for what you have left.  Don’t get bitter, get better.”  When it is real dark, faith is our beacon of light.  Job said, “my worst fears have come upon me,” but he also said, “yet will I trust God.”

Terri is not only a victim of a prolonged illness, but also an irreconcilable and bitter family feud which threw her guardianship and treatment into a legal debate. 

Veterans for peace call for Congressional action to impeach George W. Bush and Richard Cheney

St. Louis – A national veterans’ organization today called for the removal of President Bush and Vice-President Cheney for crimes committed during the invasion and occupation of Iraq.

In a letter sent to each member of the U.S. House and Senate, Veterans For Peace (VFP) stated that “...This administration’s war on Iraq, in addition to being increasingly unpopular among Americans, is an unmistakable violation of our Constitution and federal law which you have sworn to uphold.  In our system, the remedy for such high crimes is clear: this administration must be impeached.” 

  To read the letter to Congress, and the U.S. and international laws the administration has violated, please follow this link: http://www.veteransforpeace.org/impeachment/impeachment.htm.  

Scientific Analysis Suggests Presidential Vote Counts May Have Been Altered

Study Will Be Released Tomorrow March 31st
Group of University Professors Urges Investigation of 2004 Election

Officially, President Bush won November's election by 2.5%, yet exit polls showed Kerry winning by 3%[1] <#_ftn1>. According to a report to be released March 31^st by a group of university statisticians, the odds of a discrepancy this large between the national exit poll and election results happening by accident are close to 1 in a million.

In other words, by random chance alone, it could not have happened. But it did.

Two alternatives remain. Either something was wrong with the exit polling, or something was wrong with the vote count.

Exit polls have a long history of exceptional accuracy in past decades in the US, in the Ukraine, in Latin America, in Germany, and elsewhere. Yet in November 2004, the discrepancy was more than five times this (and similar to that of the invalid Ukraine election.[2] <#_ftn2>)

From the black perspective

On Monday, March 21,2005 at the State House, the House Administration Committee, chaired by Republican Representative Bob Ney, held a hearing on what went wrong in the November 2, 2004 election in Ohio. ONN TV aired Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell’s testimony. His performance was hostile and embarrassing as he clashed repeatedly with Democratic Representatives Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio and Rep. Juanita Millender-Donaldson of California. For those of us interested in the truth, Mr. Blackwell’s behavior was outrageous and arrogant. This has been a pattern in the past, for instance, when he appeared on the Lou Dobbs television show, but his latest actions have placed him in the Name That Fool category. Being Black Activists, we are ashamed and disappointed by Blackwell’s conduct. Has Mr. Blackwell forgotten that he is an elected official? It is his duty and responsibility to answer any questions we have regarding the procedure of the election and the outcome of such.

Trading student sit-ins for student blog-ins!

Progressives and Blacks are missing the use of the foundational tool that made the success of the Civil Rights Movement of The late Dr. Martin Luther King!  The Traditional Media made the success of this movement. However, the fact that The Military and The Present Administration have commandeered the media and made it the Propaganda arm for a yet unofficionally declared war Blogs are the information vehicle.

Yes, the www has become just as powerful as the Traditional Media and it is free and available to any citizen possessing a Personal Computer. Yes, instead of having Sit-ins in the present day Civil Rights and Civil Liberties fight Americas have the “Blog-in” as its publicity tool.

For Blacks this places the burden on them for writing, a skill Blacks practice all too seldom. But Blacks must start now to Blog with great frequency. The FAMU School of Journalism should start these “Blog-ins” that can make the Civil Rights and Civil Liberties movement live!!

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