“Be my friend
Hold me, wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
I’m needy
Warm me up
And breathe me”
FRANCES IS THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN SCHEDULED TO BE EXECUTED BY TEXAS IN MODERN HISTORY. NEW EVIDENCE AFFIRMS HER INNOCENCE.
Please join the online campaign to Stop The Execution Of Frances Newton! She is scheduled to be executed by the state of Texas on September 14.
Send emails to Texas Governor Rick Perry, Attorney General Greg Abbott, President Bush, Congressional leaders and Senators and Representatives from Texas and the Texas State Legislature, the Mayor of Houston and Houston City Councilors, The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Anan and your senators and representatives, DEMANDING that Frances’ execution be stopped immediately!
“Feel the touch of grief
You stand in disbelief
Can steal the earth from right beneath you
And falling in so far
They know just where you are
Yea but there ain’t no way to reach youWe’re running
Through a world that lost its meaning
Trying to find a way to love
This running
Ain’t no kind of freedom.”-david gray
Columbus OH – House Democrats are asking the Legislature’s legal research arm to explain the process of impeachment against Governor Bob Taft. The Republican was convicted last week of four ethics law violations for failing to report golf outings and other gifts.
The Democrats will meet Tuesday to discuss their response to Taft’s conviction. House Democratic leader Chris Redfern says today that his members only want to understand the complicated impeachment process. Democrats will consider alternative responses, such as asking the governor to resign.
Democrats would need votes from Republicans who control the House to pursue impeachment. Senate President Bill Harris says that talk of impeachment is unwarranted. The Republican says he does not think there will be an attempt to impeach the governor. Taft says he won’t resign.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
“We weren’t on the wrong side.
We were the wrong side.”
This Daniel Ellsberg quote sums up the premise of the whole documentary. Released in 1974, one would almost swear it was made in 2004 and was referring to Iraq, not Vietnam.
Interestingly enough, if you look at the IMDB entry for the movie, one comment says “might be too shocking.” Well, if you consider seeing Vietnamese families watching their own houses get set on fire, a young man being shot in the head with no provocation or hesitation, young women being taken advantage of by G.I.’s, a grieving father who just lost his children and wife to yet another American bombing mission… I’d call that shocking, yeah, but it’s also reality and anyone whose country is fighting in their name should see what war really looks like.
In one interview with a veteran, he talks about how he never actually saw the bombs explode when he’d fly bombing missions. He could never see the people and villages getting destroyed. And that’s how they kept their hearts out of it, it was just a job to them. Several GI’s in the midst of a battle are asked if they know why they are there. They didn’t know, but they were trusting of the government that sent them.
I could write a long list of ironies and parallels in this documentary, but it’s more important that someone sees it for themselves. And even if this disaster in Iraq wasn’t happening, I would still want people to see this movie. But because Iraq is happening, especially now, we need to learn from our history or it’s never gonna stop…
I’m about halfway through watching the Corporation and already it’s one of my favorite movies. It’s amazingly educational and depressing but it’s nothing you haven’t heard before.
Actually, before I can write any decent review I need to go back and write down some notes because there were some really great points in it. I do remember a couple of favorite parts offhand though.
In the first hour they explain how the 14th Amendment basically ended up giving corporations all the rights of an individual. This is what started the massive build-up of power that exists today. So, thinking of corporations as people, they start analysing a typical corporation as if it were a person being clinically diagnosed as a psychopath. They go through each symptom and find evidence to show that many corporations do indeed fit the clinical definition of a psychopath. It’s ridiculous. You think it’s bad, but you don’t even know.
Another part I want to mention.. I think it was Chomsky that brought up the metaphor.. anyway, he talked about how when man was first trying to learn to fly, sometimes they’d jump off some crazy ass cliff to test their makeshift machine. They’d jump off, get wind in their hair, flapping their wings, honestly thinking at first that they were flying, when in all reality they were just freefalling to their death by gravity, they just didn’t notice right away that the ground was getting closer and closer.
This is exactly what the mind state of our civilization is right now. We think we have all these great technological and industrial innovations that will make our lives easier and we’ll soar through the sky of life with the greatest of ease from now on. When in reality we’re not soaring or flying, but rather freefalling down to our inevitable doom. All the things we have today are producing externalities that far outweigh the benefits of that which is being consumed and are making the earth get closer and closer every day.
Okay I’ll stop ranting. For now. Every American should see this movie. No– every Earthing. Go watch it. If you can’t find it, let me know, I’ll make sure you see it.
