By Peace Takes Courage, a 16 year-old peace activist from Alabama. A source of inspiration and a reason to keep fighting the good fight. Music by Sarah McLachlan.
Dedicated to the 2,957 American families who will be missing someone this Christmas. And the hundreds of thousands of families in Iraq and Afghanistan whose lives have been destroyed by our wars.
The first two foundation columns have been put in place for the Freedom Tower that will replace the World Trade Center in New York.
Gosh, I hope these columns don’t mysteriously melt and disintegrate like the 47 steel columns at the core of the original towers. What if a strong magnet gets too close, or an aluminum Coca-Cola can gets thrown at it, it might get pulvurized into microscopic particles! Steel is pretty weak, you know. Highly unpredictable physical characteristics and very easy to melt.
FREEDOM TOWER. What a great name. And who cares if the victims’ families want it or not? We need to start making money on this property again! I hope they wallpaper the entire place with American flags.
[ Links moved to end of post ]
UPDATE: Kevin Barrett was on tonight’s episode of the O’Reilly Factor on Faux News! Kevin was in our brainstorming group on Saturday, I was standing next to him as he talked with someone about how an aluminum plane would not penetrate a steel building the way it’s been claimed. Poor guy, having to deal with that O’Reilly prick. Does he ever let anyone finish their sentences? And does he ever say anything besides “well I think you’re wrong.” Whatever. Thanks for doing it Kevin!! Okay back to the original post…
I was going to write up a detailed and factual review of the 2 day’s events, but I’ve decided that somebody else will probably do that and it’s not really what I’m in the mood for right now. Right now I’m trying to sum up what I personally brought away from the whole weekend. It’s really clogging up my head and making it hard to come back to the real world with clocks and schedules and parking lots.
Boston is such a great city. So historical and unique. I don’t think I saw a single Wal-Mart! And it was sooooo inspiring to be surrounded by like-minded people. Seriously like-minded about everything that’s so important to me. I was not the minority for once! It felt so comfortable even though I was a stranger to them and the city. I don’t know what the turn-out was but in my opinion it doesn’t even matter. The simple fact that we all came together for this cause, this goal, this declaration of what true patriotism means to us, that’s what mattered. We shared anger, jokes, dreams, and plans for the future. The point was not to prove one theory over another. It was not to convince 500 people passing by Faneuil Hall that missiles blew everything up. It was not to argue with each other over the movement’s preferred focus or strategies. Rather, it was to gather together and brainstorm how we can work together towards our shared goal. That shared goal being to question what we’ve been told and demand action. That’s it. QUESTION. And get others to question. Look at the big picture. Remember the principles our country was founded on and bring about accountability and consequences. Sure this is simplifying the movement to the full extent. But sometimes the details scare people away, so I try to explain it as TRUTH and nothing else.
It’s just so preposterous for people to doubt “their” government for even a second, let alone doubt something as emotional and life-changing as 9/11. That alone should scare people, isn’t something wrong if we’ve had the human instinct to QUESTION and PONDER driven out of us? Filled in with high-fructose corn syrup and complacency? For some reason there’s a stigma attached to questioning. IT’S TOO HARD. Conformity is so much easier and usually color-coded. People are so over 9/11. It’s been 5 years, on with life. How dare we bother them with such horrible memories from the past. Let’s talk about Britney Spears. Or Barack, he’s the answer to all our problems.
Fair enough, I certainly don’t believe every 9/11 theory I read. But at least consider that one or both sides may be wrong. CONSIDER that we don’t know what the hell really happened that day and that’s a major problem. CONSIDER that just because the TV says something, doesn’t make it true. Don’t swallow everything thrown at you, even if it’s dipped in dark chocolate and peanut-butter.
If you’re lucky, you’ll get someone to say “yeah, I’m sure the gov.’t had something to do with it.” And doesn’t that make you angry? “Of course it does.” And right then you hit the next wall. Surprisingly, lots of people already have that seed of doubt in their heads. Just read the polls. But it’s completely stagnant, there is no desire to act on it. They know they’ve been done wrong but they just don’t care. Iraq, Afghanistan, Katrina, the lies keep coming but they just sit back and take it. Maybe just maybe it’ll fester a little bit, but usually not. This is my main frustration right now. Actually, it’s an understatement to call it a frustration. And it’s not just with 9/11 Truth. It’s with everything political and/or social-justice oriented.
Explorers running into Hummers rear-ending BMW’s trying to get out of the city as fast as possible running into as few pot-holes as necessary. The windows are of course tinted so they don’t dare have to look at the world around them. Is this what the Civil Rights Movement was like? “Yeah black people should have equal rights but oh well, what’ya gonna do? What’s for dinner?” Oh to have that mindset for even a day.
AIDS is just a four-letter acronym if you keep your eyes closed and stay away from Africa. Darfur, what’s another hundred thousand people? The Middle East, just nuke ‘em all and get it over with. How sad that we’ve let our desire for convenience, entertainment, and wealth dissolve our true human potential. And now it’s every man, woman, and child for themselves. Someone will only help them if it’ll count as a tax-deduction. Or if they can put it on their resume. The ability to feel true compassion for our fellow human beings and fight for TRUTH and JUSTICE has almost completely dissipated and I fear this is the main obstacle for the 9/11 Truth movement. MOVEMENT. People don’t want to move. They want to sit. On a micro-suede couch. They want someone else to bring it to them. Convert it to a PDF and email it. Or maybe text message the Revolution? That’s certainly what I’d prefer.
But at least this weekend reminded me I am surrounded by good, true, and passionate people in this fight. Margaret Mead, I sure hope your words are true…
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
- M. Mead
As well as being brighter, the vegetarians were better educated and of higher social class but the link with intelligence remained statistically significant even after adjusting for these factors. Despite their intelligence they were not wealthier and more likely to be working for charities or in education.
Published on Friday, December 15, 2006 by the Independent/UK, copied from Common Dreams
It’s official – vegetarians really are smarter. But it is not because of what they eat. Bright children are more likely to reject meat and opt to become vegetarians when they grow up, a study has shown. Clever veggies are born not made.
The finding helps explain how a team of vegetarians won the BBC Test the Nation competition in September, when they beat off competition from six other teams including butchers, public school pupils and footballers’ wives to achieve the highest overall IQ score.
The top scoring individual in the contest, Marie Bidmead, 68, a mother of five from Churcham, Gloucester, was also a vegetarian. “I think it shows we veggies are good thinkers. We think about what we eat for a start,” she said.
Researchers from the University of Southampton who conducted the study agree. They suggest that vegetarians are more thoughtful about what they eat. But they say it is unclear whether bright children choose to become vegetarians for the health benefits or for other reasons, such as a concern for animals, or as a lifestyle choice.
Continue reading ‘Vegetarianism: the Choice of the ‘More Intelligent’ Child’
In search of truth and justice for all past, present, and future victims of 9/11, of which my fellow citizens are all included, I am heading off to Boston in 12 hours for the Boston Tea Party for 9/11 Truth. Because that day is at the core of so many of our country’s problems (whether people are aware of this or not), I am making it the focus of my attention, energy, and resources.
Not that any of it can be undone. But the truth needs to be known and the plug needs to be pulled. No more lies. No more phony reports and commissions. No more fear-mongering. No more blank checks for war, tyranny, murder, and profit. It’s time to make “Project for a New American Century”, false-flag operations, the Saudi Royal Family, thermite, forensic evidence, Downing Street, and “controlled demolition” well-known words spoken by mainstream and pissed off Americans.
No, I am not a conspiracy theorist whacko. I am a citizen with a whole slew of questions in search of answers and inspiration from others in this fight. In my 24 years of time in this earth I have witnessed 3 (known) wars all ordered by Bush’s, the worst hurricane to ever hit this country, the drowning of an entire city in the richest country in the world, 6 years of a government blatantly failing its citizens, a tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands of people because there was no alert buoy floating in the ocean, Global Warming becoming a very real threat, 2 stolen elections, and the “Pearl Harbor like event” of the 21st century that pulled a sheet of fear and complacency over our eyes. All of this in just 24 years.
I do not understand how others can live through all of this and stand idly by. Perhaps it’s the effect of TV and consumerism and their art of distraction and separation? What you see on the screen isn’t real. If you buy more, you’ll be happy. Bigger is better. Your car is what makes you. Or the little voice in our head that says we must work, work, work, 9-5 every day, no room for any other endeavors. Whatever the reason, I personally cannot ignore what calls me, I have to keep moving. So tomorrow, I move…
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by Ani DiFranco
yes,
us people are just poems
we’re 90% metaphor
with a leanness of meaning
approaching hyper-distillation
and once upon a time
we were moonshine
rushing down the throat of a giraffe
yes, rushing down the long hallway
despite what the p.a. announcement says
yes, rushing down the long stairs
with the whiskey of eternity
fermented and distilled
to eighteen minutes
burning down our throats
down the hall
down the stairs
in a building so tall
that it will always be there
yes, it’s part of a pair
there on the bow of noah’s ark
the most prestigious couple
just kickin back parked
against a perfectly blue sky
on a morning beatific
in its indian summer breeze
on the day that america
fell to its knees
after strutting around for a century
without saying thank you
or please
Continue reading ‘In search of 9/11 truth’
Yesterday was not only International Human Rights Day, but also Impeachment Day for many political groups across the country, including AfterDowningStreet.org.
The newly elected Democrats in Congress are running away from all mentions of impeachment. Even Pelosi and Brown, 2 of my favorites. This is why I kept my expectations low. They’re looking to be just like every other politician that came before them, more concerned about retaining their power than using it for the right reasons. Fortunately there are more of us than there are them.
It is up to us to SPEAK UP and voice our demands. YELL them, actually. You’re not alone in thinking Bush & Cheney should be impeached for what they’ve done. There are so many of us who want this!! It’s just that the media is doing a good job of hiding this fact. Fortunately this is 2006 and WE are the media too. So tell it like it is!
This short movie is my contribution to the movement, with the goal of raising awareness and forcing people to look at the cumulative effect the Bush Regime has had on our country and the world. We need to revisit all the high crimes this unelected man and his cronies have committed in our name, and the complete lack of accountability or punishment that followed. The Constitution is there for a reason.
* A big THANKS to AfterDowningStreet.org for posting a link to this page on their site, and another THANKS to everyone who has stopped by to watch it. The fact that it’s been viewed over 125 times (not counting the ones who viewed it through this page) is an honor for me. If you’d like to repost this, here’s the YouTube URL where you can get the code:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq6q5gTBvdM
From AfterDowningStreet.org: “Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney has introduced articles of impeachment against George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Condoleezza Rice. In doing so, she alone has spoken for the 51 percent of Americans who Newsweek says want Bush impeached.
McKinney charges that Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld manipulated intelligence and lied to justify war, and that Bush has engaged in illegal domestic spying. The former charge has been extremely well documented, and the latter proudly confessed to. The former charge was central to the concern of those who included impeachment in the U.S. Constitution. The latter charge is one of openly violating a law that was established in response to President Richard Nixon’s impeachable offenses.
The media attacks on Congresswoman McKinney have begun. McKinney foresaw the current attacks on her record and forged ahead anyway.”
Under the standards set by the United States Constitution, President Bush—along with Vice President Cheney, and Secretary of State Rice—should be subject to the process of impeachment, and I have filed H. Res. 1106 in the House of Representatives.
To my fellow Americans, as I leave this Congress, it is in your hands—to hold your representatives accountable, and to show those with the courage to stand for what is right, that they do not stand alone.
-Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA)
This woman is my hero!!! First after watching American Blackout, then after seeing her support for the 9/11 Truth Movement, and now this. Simply amazing to see a Congress member actually doing their job. Cynthia, my hat is off to you, I cannot thank you enough. This country cannot thank you enough. And shame on the people of Georgia for not re-electing someone who will stand up against the Bush Regime and uphold the Constitution of the United States. Fortunately she still has some time left to do the work that needs to be done, and I know she’ll keep fighting even after she leaves Congress.
