MoveOn Energy Sticker

Want a free sticker to support clean energy? It's designed by Shepard Fairey, the acclaimed artist who created the iconic Obama 'HOPE' poster. And MoveOn's giving them away totally free--even the shipping's free.

I just got mine. Click this link to get your free sticker:

http://pol.moveon.org/energystickers/?id=-4096028-XO3oB6x&rc=paste.orig_email

Thanks!

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies

Note: I have posted this for the last few years and this year a different section is red because we have a new President. We need to remind President Obama and the persons in Congress about this year's red section.

I know this is not the Constitution but it is one of the founding documents upon which we all place so much reliance!

All are created equal [all colors, races, sexes and sexual preferences] and we all have rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

For me and many others - all means all - all does not mean some !! And those right? Life liberty and the pursuit of happiness ? By my accounting it includes the right to health and health care because without that - one does not have life or happiness - and it means a livable wage - again with out that one can not pursue happiness.

Yes the Supreme Court has ruled corporations are persons - but no where does that give them more and more of our resources [including human resources] and the "right" to make obscene profits at the expense of the people! If they want to be considered as persons, they need to join in humanity and help the country - not just help their CEOS and shareholders!

Enough ranting - enjoy your day and go out and save the world [or just your little corner of it]

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies

In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

The signers of the Declaration represented the new states as follows:
New Hampshire
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts
John Hancock, Samual Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

More Beef Recalls due to E.coli

CHICAGO (Reuters) – A Colorado meat company is expanding a recall of beef due to possible contamination by E.coli O157:H7 bacteria after an investigation found 18 illnesses may be linked to the meat, the company and the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Sunday.

Greeley, Colorado-based JBS-Swift Beef Co is voluntarily expanding its June 24 recall to include about 380,000 lbs of assorted beef products, for a total recall of about 421,000 lbs, USDA and the company said.

Full article: http://bit.ly/Q35sr

Will we ever again have a period of time without some food being recalled for some contamination? I'm old enough to remember the days before big agra when you knew where your food came from and what was in it. Today? One takes ones chances when buying food.

I eat kosher meat as it is least likely to be "bad." I also try to buy as local as I can so as to help independent farms and the businesses that carry their foods. Here in Portland we are lucky that we have such places - coops, farmers markets and stores that carry locally produced food. We can also go directly to some growers to pick our own or buy directly.

Big agra does not want us to know what is in our food or where it comes from - because we would gag! It's not food anymore - it's engineered "stuff."

It's bad enough that we killed the soil and food is less nutritious than it ever was - but we contaminate it with fertilizer and who-know-what and it's literally killing us.

From Color of Change

Color of Change website: http://www.colorofchange.org

Dear Friends,

President Obama is trying to reform our broken health care system, which has left more than 45 million Americans uninsured^[1] and millions more with insurance that won't provide the treatment they need.^[2]

Some in Congress are with Obama. But the insurance industry, with help from Republicans^[3] and so-called centrist Democrats,^[4] is leading the charge to kill a key part of his plan -- a government-run insurance plan that would increase the number of Americans covered, called the "public option." Industry groups are spending millions -- $35 million in lobbying costs alone^[5] -- to convince people that they won't be able to choose their doctor, that government will be making their medical decisions, that they'd be forced to take the government's plan, and that the plan is part of some socialist plot -- all lies. In reality, the insurance industry is trying to protect its enormous profits on the backs of everyday people.

For Black folks, the stakes couldn't be higher: we are twice as likely as Whites to be uninsured, we have more than double the rate of infant mortality, we face more than twice the rate of diabetes-related deaths than Whites -- and the list goes on.^[6]

While the fight rages in Washington, our voices are simply not at the table. That's why I've joined ColorOfChange.org in telling Congress that every person in this country should have equal access to affordable health care, regardless of race, income, or any other factor. Will you join me? It only takes a moment:

http://www.colorofchange.org/health/?id=1649-602884

Americans understand the idea of the public option and overwhelmingly support it -- three out of four people want the federal government to offer insurance coverage.^[7,8] But powerful lobbying groups like America's Health Insurance Plans, Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America, and the American Medical Association -- representing the insurance industry, the drug industry, and doctors -- are doing everything in their power to maintain the status quo.^[9]

Several organizations have pushed back, including MoveOn.org -- a key partner of ours in this fight -- but it will take all of us standing up if we want to win.

A public option makes sense for the country as a whole, and it makes particularly good sense for Black folks. Many of us make too much to qualify for Medicaid but either aren't eligible for or aren't adequately covered by private, employer-based plans. Overall, 21% of Blacks are uninsured, compared to 12% of Whites.^[10]

We need a public insurance option, but that's not the only thing we should be fighting for. We need to push for equity in all aspects of our approach to health care. Every community deserves quality medical treatment, research and resources. That's not what we're getting now, and the numbers prove it:

• 22% of Black women say cost keeps them away from the doctor's office, compared to 15% of White women ^[11]
  
• Black women have the highest rates of new AIDS cases, cancer mortality, obesity and low-weight infants of any ethnic or racial group ^[12]
  
• There are 13.6 Black infant deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to 5.7 White infant deaths per 1,000 live births ^[13]
  
• There are 47 Black deaths from diabetes-related illness per 100,000 people, compared to 22.5 White deaths per 100,000 people ^[14]
  
• There are 60.1 new AIDS cases per 100,000 people among Blacks, compared to 6.7 new cases per 100,000 people among Whites ^[15]

Our opportunity to address the disparities that keep too many of us from enjoying long, healthy lives is now.

Please join me in telling our lawmakers that the first step toward improving our health care system is including a public plan that makes good health something everyone can afford:

http://www.colorofchange.org/health/?id=1649-602884

Thanks.

References:

1. http://www.kff.org/uninsured/7806.cfm
2. http://tinyurl.com/n2f3k7
3. http://tinyurl.com/l4ndwv
4. http://tinyurl.com/m5h8y7
5. http://tinyurl.com/m59ur5
6. http://www.kff.org/minorityhealth/upload/7633-02.pdf
7. http://tinyurl.com/mpo97j
8. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/19/opinion/polls/main5098517.shtml
9. http://tinyurl.com/lxpm3v
10. See #6
11. http://www.kff.org/minorityhealth/upload/7886ES.pdf
12. Ibid.
13. See #6
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.

Additional resources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/us/politics/14cong.html?_r=1
http://www.slate.com/id/2220534/pagenum/all/

Iran, USA and Twitter

In the past weeks much has happened on Twitter with and about the Iranian elections.

if Many of us greened our avatars in support of Iranians and we also commented on what might have happened if Twitter had existed in 2000 or 2004. Imagine the outpouring of tweets about the stolen election in Florida, the lack of backbones in democrats who refused to stand up to boss bush and his legal threat team in Florida.

If we had had more support and a way to communicate quickly - maybe the world would be very different right now [or maybe not] - we'll never know.

And 2004 - what if we had been able to tweet about Ohio all day - the election problems there - missing ballots, early closing, lack of machines when it was known they would be needed, long lines and hacked black boxes - with UberRepug Ken Blackwell in charge of the Ohio voting!

We would not have wanted interference from other countries - but we would have welcomed the emotional support and proxies had the bush admin shut down some ISPs or whatever it is the Iranian government is doing!

We could have take the the streets and still been in touch via our cell phones - limited as they were back then.

So why is Iran happening? I think the citizens there saw what happened here with 8 years of bush corruption, cronyism and lack of oversight of anything.

They saw the havoc that bush wrought with his additional 4 stolen years and they don't want 4 more years of Ahmadinejad...

The USA serves as an example of what happen you calmly accept fraudulent elections and allow corruption and illegality to go on unabated. Negative examples are as powerful learning tools as positive ones.

The world is still paying for our 8 years and Iranians look at us and do not wish to add to the mess in the world.

Comments?