Saturday, January 29, 2005

2020 Vision - A CIA report predicts that American global dominance could end in 15 years. By Fred Kaplan

2020 Vision - A CIA report predicts that American global dominance could end in 15 years. By Fred Kaplan


2020 Vision
A CIA report predicts that American global dominance could end in 15 years.
By Fred Kaplan
Posted Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2005, at 2:48 PM PT

Who will be the first politician brave enough to declare publicly that the United States is a declining power and that America's leaders must urgently discuss what to do about it? This prognosis of decline comes not (or not only) from leftist scribes rooting for imperialism's downfall, but from the National Intelligence Council—the "center of strategic thinking" inside the U.S. intelligence community.

The NIC's conclusions are starkly presented in a new 119-page document, "Mapping the Global Future: Report of the National Intelligence Council's 2020 Project." It is unclassified and available on the CIA's Web site. The report has received modest press attention the past couple weeks, mainly for its prediction that, in the year 2020, "political Islam" will still be "a potent force." Only a few stories or columns have taken note of its central conclusion:

The likely emergence of China and India ... as new major global players—similar to the advent of a united Germany in the 19th century and a powerful United States in the early 20th century—will transform the geopolitical landscape with impacts potentially as dramatic as those in the previous two centuries.

In this new world, a mere 15 years away, the United States will remain "an important shaper of the international order"—probably the single most powerful country—but its "relative power position" will have "eroded." The new "arriviste powers"—not only China and India, but also Brazil, Indonesia, and perhaps others—will accelerate this erosion by pursuing "strategies designed to exclude or isolate the United States" in order to "force or cajole" us into playing by their rules.

America's current foreign policy is encouraging this trend, the NIC concluded. "U.S. preoccupation with the war on terrorism is largely irrelevant to the security concerns of most Asians," the report states. The authors don't dismiss the importance of the terror war—far from it. But they do write that a "key question" for the future of America's power and influence is whether U.S. policy-makers "can offer Asian states an appealing vision of regional security and order that will rival and perhaps exceed that offered by China." If not, "U.S. disengagement from what matters to U.S. Asian allies would increase the likelihood that they will climb on Beijing's bandwagon and allow China to create its own regional security that excludes the United States."

To the extent that these new powers seek others to emulate, they may look to the European Union, not the United States, as "a model of global and regional governance."

This shift to a multipolar world "will not be painless," the report goes on, "and will hit the middle classes of the developed world in particular" with further outsourcing of jobs and outflow of capital investment. In short, the NIC's forecast involves not merely a recalibration in the balance of world power, but also—as these things do—a loss of wealth, income, and, in every sense of the word, security.

The trends should already be apparent to anyone who reads a newspaper. Not a day goes by without another story about how we're mortgaging our future to the central banks of China and Japan. The U.S. budget deficit, approaching a half-trillion dollars, is financed by their purchase of Treasury notes. The U.S. trade deficit—much of it amassed by the purchase of Chinese-made goods—now exceeds $3 trillion. Meanwhile, China is displacing the United States all across Asia—in trade, investment, education, culture, and tourism. It's also cutting into the trade markets of Latin America. (China is now Chile's No. 1 export market and Brazil's No. 2 trade partner.) Asian engineering students who might once have gone to MIT or Cal Tech are now going to universities in Beijing.

Meanwhile, as the European Union becomes a coherent entity, the dollar's value against the euro has fallen by one-third in the past two years (one-eighth just since September). As the dollar's rate of return declines, currency investors—including those who have been financing our deficit—begin to diversify their holdings. In China, Japan, Russia, and the Middle East, central bankers have been unloading dollars in favor of euros. The Bush policies that have deepened our debt have endangered the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency.

What is the Bush administration doing to alter course or at least cushion the blow? It's hard to say. During Condoleezza Rice's confirmation hearings last week, Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D–Md., raised some questions about the nexus between international economics and political power. Rice referred him to the secretary of the treasury.

The NIC issued the report a few weeks before Bush’s inaugural address, but it serves to dump still more cold water on the lofty fantasy of America delivering freedom to oppressed people everywhere. In Asia, the report states, "present and future leaders are agnostic on the issue of democracy and are more interested in developing what they perceive to be the most effective model of governance." If the president really wanted to spread freedom and democracy around the planet, he would (among other things) need to present America as that "model of governance"—to show the world, by its example, that free democracies are successful and worth emulating. Yet the NIC report paints a world where fewer and fewer people look to America as a model of anything. We can't sell freedom if we can't sell ourselves.

Fred Kaplan writes the "War Stories" column for Slate. He can be reached at war_stories@hotmail.com.

Thursday, January 27, 2005

My online Neo Pets = My many, many blogs, feed me, feed me.

Wow, been feeding all my other blogs, and overlooking this one. Well ya know, if the President would just shape up, I wouldn't be so busy with all the other blogs. Enough about that, see my other blogs for stuff like that. Here is where I try to post family stuff. Which is not to say that the war deeply affects our family, but once in a while, I gotta take a light break.....it's such serious business, the war, the troops, Iraq, our country.

So Lance, the cat, has made himself at home, is doing real well, adapting well and has rather taken charge of the house. Now Jake, on the other hand, is just still pouting over the whole business. We put a pillow and the food dish for Lance on top of the freezer on the porch. He likes that cause he jumps up there and can lord it over Jake, who looks at me with those sad eyes and an expression of "Why, Why, why me, what did I ever do to you?".

When I take ol' Jakers for a walk or better yet a drive, he is all excited once again and knows I love him best. Lance doesn't seem to know though, that Jake comes first, he thinks he comes first. Now Lance follows me around everywhere, including when I walk Jake...what kind of cat follows you around like a dog does? But no car rides for Lance. That is special only for Jakers.

Our small village entertainment: We threw old bread out for the birds, well, okay, the crows then. There are a lot of crows that live around here and they won't let the smaller birds get to the bread. We threw out three loaves, not torn up. So Jake goes over and sniffs them and decides they are not edible for him. But he somehow thinks they are his, so he sits down in the road and stands guard. The crows won't come down with Jake sitting right there. We are watching out the windows, and it's getting pretty amusing as Jake takes his job of guarding the bread loaves very seriously, it seems.

Along come some of the other dogs that live on our street, sniff the bread and decide it's not for them either, and walk off. Jake continues guarding the loaves. The crows hover all around but won't fly down to snatch the bread. After a while, another stranger dog (means doesn't live around here) came along, sniffed the bread, decided it was for him and picked it up in his mouth and walked off with it. Well Jake is seriously offended and puzzled and looks at the stranger dog and then back at the loaves and is confused about what to do. If he leaves his guard spot the crows will fly down, but he also wants to retreive the bread loaf from the stranger dog.

In his confusion, he decides to get up and go after the stranger dog, and the crows start circling downward. The stranger dog drops the loaf about 50 feet down the road, decides he doesn't want it after all. Jake, meanwhile has drifted over to the neighbor's place across the street as one of them has come out of the building and Jake knows they give him real and fun food treats. While he is over there begging for a goodie, the crows then spot the loaf the stranger dog dropped and see that Jake is occupied, so they swoop down and start having a feast. We are watching out the windows, laughing and being thoroughly entertained, wondering what Jake will do when he turns around and sees the crows are at the bread loaf.

Sure enough, Jake turns, sees the crows, dashes after them and chases them off, picks up the bread loaf and isn't sure what to do with it. He wanders back to the other two loaves, wanders back to the neighbors with the loaf in his mouth, wanders back home, just carrying that loaf of bread and not sure what to do with it. He decides then, that the best thing to do is to bury it. So he digs a hole and buries one loaf. Meanwhile the other two loaves are sitting on the road and the crows are still hovering, waiting. We are by this time laughing as we watch from the windows as this drama of nature unfolds. Lance has taken an interest by now and has been running from window to window trying to keep up with the birds.

It had all the markings of being a long afternoon's entertainment for us dull, boring people in our dull, boring village. The neighbors decided to take a walk, and Jake usually accompanies them, so he was delighted to go for a walk, and after all that careful sentry work guarding the bread loaves from the crows, he just walked off as if it never happened, and the crows then were free to feast. But no, two more stranger dogs came along, sniffed and decided to eat the two remaining loaves which they proceeded to do in short order, leaving nothing for the crows.

And that is life in the Village.

Now, about me and my blogs. I have, let's see now, 8 blogs at blogger, and 6 blogs here at blog-drive, 1 blog at live journal, 1 blog at blog city, another blog at bloglines, another at msn spaces, so that is 18 blogs. Plus I have also a few websites that I have built. And I have a list of about 6 more places where I could build other blogs. So ...... that is tooo many blogs, for sure, and I have to feed them all. That is why I call them my online neopets, cause I have to feed them and some get fed every day and some don't get fed for weeks at a time and lately, some don't get fed at all.

Lastly, let me recommend 2 movies for ya to watch. 1) Open Waters, it's an independent film and very unusual...different and we enjoyed watching it. 2) The Village, M. Night Shymalan which we enjoyed watching this one because the ending surprised us and it's nice to be surprised. There wasn't much in the way of clues along the movie to tell us what to expect for the ending, which is why it was a surprise. We liked it. Now, if you watch these two movies, let me know what you think, ok?

Till next time.............this is Gram offering up a gem.......

It's another anniversary for us today, Jan 27 and I'm including a photo of me from our last year anniversary get away retreat, to a tree house in Cannon Beach, Oregon. It was so serene, peaceful and quiet. Of course January is not the high tourist season in Oregon, so it tends to be quieter in the winter months anyway. This year we are not spending $$ on get away locally, we are starting a special account to save for an anniversary trip to Europe! I'm excited. Daughter and her husband have been to Europe couple of times now, Son has been and another daughter with her family lives in Germany now. Europe, here we come!  Posted by Hello

Anniversary Getaway Photo


It's another anniversary for us today, Jan 27 and I'm including a photo of me from our last year anniversary get away retreat, to a tree house in Cannon Beach, Oregon. It was so serene, peaceful and quiet. Of course January is not the high tourist season in Oregon, so it tends to be quieter in the winter months anyway. This year we are not spending $$ on get away locally, we are starting a special account to save for an anniversary trip to Europe! I'm excited. Daughter and her husband have been to Europe couple of times now, Son has been and another daughter with her family lives in Germany now. Europe, here we come! Posted by Hello
by Lietta Ruger

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

U.S. Rep Schakowsky; "It is time for our soldiers to start the journey home." Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Nadeam Elshami

January 24, 2005 202/226-6903 or 703/869-9020 (Cell Phone)

nadeam.elshami@mail.house.gov

Schakowsky on U.S. Troops in Iraq :

"It is time for our soldiers to start the journey home."

CHICAGO , IL - U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today released the following statement on U.S. soldiers deployed in Iraq :

"The time has come for the United States to withdraw our troops from the battlefield of a war that should never have been waged. There was no real justification for sending our brave young men a women to fight in Iraq, and there is even less reason to keep them there now to die in ever increasing numbers.

"Under false pretenses, the Bush Administration took our nation to war against a country that did not pose imminent threat to our security. In Iraq today, over 1,300 U.S. soldiers and an estimated 100,000 civilians are dead. This war is costing an average of $1.6 billion taxpayer dollars every week, while the mission remains vague, the troops overstretched and under-armored, friendly Iraqis chafe at our presence and unfriendly Iraqis bomb our convoys and enclaves. Neither democracy in Iraq nor security at home has been achieved. Instead, Iraq has become, in a gruesome self-fulfilling prophecy, the ground zero for terrorism that it was not when President Bush chose to invade.

"There are those who argue that the U.S. is obligated to 'fix' Iraq now that we have broken it. Unfortunately, the Administration has left us with no good options whatsoever. The worst choice, however, would be to continue to do more of the same, and watch the body count grow. It is clear that for stability to replace chaos, a political and not a military resolution is required.

"A political process has begun, admittedly fragile, and it is time for the United States to leave. Once the January 30 elections are concluded, the new Iraqi government takes responsibility for forging its own path toward stability and democracy. The U.S. should provide financial and material assistance for that effort and encourage the international community to help.

"The results may not be what the President envisioned or anyone wanted. Some experts warn of civil war. Many worry for the Christian community and for the women. These are very real concerns that, sadly, weren't even considered when the U.S. invaded, and even after 'mission accomplished' was declared by President Bush. We should do what we can diplomatically to address vulnerable populations, yet, as long as U.S. forces are on the ground, a lasting peace and stable Iraq cannot be achieved. All of us care deeply about our brave soldiers who are doing the very best they can under near impossible conditions. It is time to bring them home."

###

Leslie Combs
District Director
Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky
5533 N. Broadway, Chicago IL 60640
phone: 773-506-7100 fax: 773-506-9202

**********************************

Provided by Military Families Speak Out


Dear Military Families,
Below is a press release issued on January 24, 2005 by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky from Chicago, Illinois titled "It Is Time For Our Soldiers To Start The Journey Home." Feel free to share this with your family, friends, community and with your local, state and federal elected officials.
In Peace and Solidarity,
Nancy Lessin and Charley Richardson
for Military Families Speak Out

Saturday, January 22, 2005

He's going back to Iraq, 2nd Deployment + Stop Loss

I had hoped to retire this blog, it served it's function at the time, yet, I have not lived easily knowing that the potential for another Bush administration was a possibility. While with every fiber of my soul and being, I worked against such an outcome, knowing it would mean more war in Iraq, more war in other countries, it looks like we have four more years with Bush at the controls. My kids, who already served in Iraq, will be sent again, I feared, and this blog has not yet seen it's end time.



I left it, rather unattended, to serve as a placemark and prayed never have to pick it up again and resume entries into this blog. It is a tragedy that I have to keep it going, as my loved ones are being sent back to Iraq for 2nd deployments.



My dear son-in-law, the mainstay and backbone of his family which are my daughter and their three children, my grandchildren....he's just received orders for redeployment to Iraq. On top of a second deployment, he also now is under Stop Loss orders. He was due to have his enlistment completed in 2005 and now with Stop Loss he would not be able to get out of military as scheduled. He has already served in Iraq 2003-2004 in a 15 month tour, 1st Armored, and was caught up as was all of the 1st Armored troops in a last-minute extension in April 04, at exactly the time he was scheduled to come home. NOT. Another three months in Iraq.



His cousin, my nephew, is awaiting orders now and is himself a husband, a father and they are expecting their second child. He also served 15 months in Iraq, 1st Armored, and was extended at same time as my son-in-law. He has served previously in Bosnia. He is awaitng his own orders for a 2nd tour in Iraq. Another tour in Iraq, and this is more war and combat than a young person should have to see or bear.



Both will do their mission, and I do not speak for them but I do speak up on their behalf and not necessarily with their permission yet they do know I have been doing all in my limited power as a military family, a mother, a civilian, to do what I can to halt the carnage and destruction that are the features of collateral damage, words used so impersonally to describe the stink and death of war.



What is appalling besides everything about how the troops needs are under-met, and how badly they are being exploited is that his choices now look like this:



Re-enlist in March. No, you don't want to re-enlist? Well you already have orders to redeploy to Iraq and you are already under Stop Loss orders so you won't be getting out any time soon anyway. If you don't re-enlist, you'll be serving anyway and in Iraq, while the rest of the guys get their bonus for re-enlisting, you won't be getting yours and will be serving beside them anyway.



What limited choices are these and does our public know that the all-volunteer military has fallen through trickery and deceit, misleading to even false information into an entrapment. They can't get out! That, friends, is a long way from "volunteer".



The troops cannot be recycled over and over again to Iraq without grotesque expense to themselves and their families which seemingly, if I am to judge by the civilian response in our country, is just fine so long as no one else in our country but the military families and troops have to bear the burden. That argument, "well they volunteered didn't they" doesn't carry water anymore. It may have started out that way, but so much has changed along the course, that this is a long, long way from anything resembling an "all volunteer military".



Not unlike the Iraqis themselves, our troops are trapped in a war-torn country in a war ordered and sustained by our own government and seemingly a majority of this country's citizens. Please, please tell me, WHAT is the reason now?



Having lived through almost 3 years of lies and deception spouted by the administration, I have endured listening to the citizens catch hold of propaganda and repeat it ad-nauseum with little thought to the words they are gleefully repeating . I have seen our mainstream news turn itself away from it's origins as news reporting to become more of the propaganda, lies, deception and treachery which keeps our kids (and our old men hauled back into active duty) in Iraq. But one by one the lies have come to light, yet our citizenry champions the newest and latest excuses for why we are there and why the troops must stay.



I had hoped to retire this blog when my son-in-law and nephew came home from Iraq. I built it only to give them a record to look at when they returned. Now they will be returning to Iraq in second deployments, in large part, thanks to the deliberate ignorance and willfulness of our own citizenry, my fellow countrymen, my neighbors. I do not thank you or excuse you for your part in casting the death warrant vote but I also know the singular accountability and responsibility lies at the hands of our own President and Commander-in-Chief, George W. Bush.



So picking up where this blog left off, I will be recording again the conditions in our country, in our politics, in our citizen mindset, as our two loved ones are marched back to Iraq. To those so willing for this war, and the wars yet coming, as promised by the President in his Inauguration speech, I say, send your own if you are so committed to this man you cheer as your President, and bring mine home.

Dying to Preserve the Lies: The Quiet Dignity of Dissent

Watching the Inauguration as broadcast by an incredibly classless and toadying media - ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, led by our national broadcast embarrassment FoxNews - I have found the best source of news and recovery to be our blogosphere.

Not all the blog voices are national or well-known.

Not all the blog voices scream headlines and fire off rhetorical torpedoes.

Some come from quiet backwater Amercian homes and powerfully demonstrate the quiet dignity of dissent. One such is blogger, Wonderwander whose postings consistently reflect that very dignity and legitimacy that Right Wing hacks fear the most and attack with a most outrageous and terrified irrationality.

Wonderwander has yet to make the attack list and because she quietly insists on maintaining an occasional honest and truthful commentary amid the more frequent copy and pasting of pertinent articles, may never be known outside a small circle. It's that quietness that penetrates her writing and touches the conscience within.

Dying To Preserve The Lies

She wrote the following 3 days after the election:

-------

I feel like voters just signed the death warrant for our kids

He's going back to Iraq, 2nd Deployment + Stop Loss

I had hoped to retire this blog, it served it's function at the time, yet, I have not lived easily knowing that the potential for another Bush administration was a possibility. While with every fiber of my soul and being, I worked against such an outcome, knowing it would mean more war in Iraq, more war in other countries, it looks like we have four more years with Bush at the controls. My kids, who already served in Iraq, will be sent again, I feared, and this blog has not yet seen it's end time.

I left it, rather unattended, to serve as a placemark and prayed never have to pick it up again and resume entries into this blog. It is a tragedy that I have to keep it going, as my loved ones are being sent back to Iraq for 2nd deployments.

My dear son-in-law, the mainstay and backbone of his family which are my daughter and their three children, my grandchildren....he's just received orders for redeployment to Iraq. On top of a second deployment, he also now is under Stop Loss orders. He was due to have his enlistment completed in 2005 and now with Stop Loss he would not be able to get out of military as scheduled. He has already served in Iraq 2003-2004 in a 15 month tour, 1st Armored, and was caught up as was all of the 1st Armored troops in a last-minute extension in April 04, at exactly the time he was scheduled to come home. NOT. Another three months in Iraq.

His cousin, my nephew, is awaiting orders now and is himself a husband, a father and they are expecting their second child. He also served 15 months in Iraq, 1st Armored, and was extended at same time as my son-in-law. He has served previously in Bosnia. He is awaitng his own orders for a 2nd tour in Iraq. Another tour in Iraq, and this is more war and combat than a young person should have to see or bear.

Both will do their mission, and I do not speak for them but I do speak up on their behalf and not necessarily with their permission yet they do know I have been doing all in my limited power as a military family, a mother, a civilian, to do what I can to halt the carnage and destruction that are the features of collateral damage, words used so impersonally to describe the stink and death of war.

What is appalling besides everything about how the troops needs are under-met, and how badly they are being exploited is that his choices now look like this:

Re-enlist in March. No, you don't want to re-enlist? Well you already have orders to redeploy to Iraq and you are already under Stop Loss orders so you won't be getting out any time soon anyway. If you don't re-enlist, you'll be serving anyway and in Iraq, while the rest of the guys get their bonus for re-enlisting, you won't be getting yours and will be serving beside them anyway.

What limited choices are these and does our public know that the all-volunteer military has fallen through trickery and deceit, misleading to even false information into an entrapment. They can't get out! That, friends, is a long way from "volunteer".

The troops cannot be recycled over and over again to Iraq without grotesque expense to themselves and their families which seemingly, if I am to judge by the civilian response in our country, is just fine so long as no one else in our country but the military families and troops have to bear the burden. That argument, "well they volunteered didn't they" doesn't carry water anymore. It may have started out that way, but so much has changed along the course, that this is a long, long way from anything resembling an "all volunteer military".

Not unlike the Iraqis themselves, our troops are trapped in a war-torn country in a war ordered and sustained by our own government and seemingly a majority of this country's citizens. Please, please tell me, WHAT is the reason now?

Having lived through almost 3 years of lies and deception spouted by the administration, I have endured listening to the citizens catch hold of propaganda and repeat it ad-nauseum with little thought to the words they are gleefully repeating . I have seen our mainstream news turn itself away from it's origins as news reporting to become more of the propaganda, lies, deception and treachery which keeps our kids (and our old men hauled back into active duty) in Iraq. But one by one the lies have come to light, yet our citizenry champions the newest and latest excuses for why we are there and why the troops must stay.

I had hoped to retire this blog when my son-in-law and nephew came home from Iraq. I built it only to give them a record to look at when they returned. Now they will be returning to Iraq in second deployments, in large part, thanks to the deliberate ignorance and willfulness of our own citizenry, my fellow countrymen, my neighbors. I do not thank you or excuse you for your part in casting the death warrant vote but I also know the singular accountability and responsibility lies at the hands of our own President and Commander-in-Chief, George W. Bush.

So picking up where this blog left off, I will be recording again the conditions in our country, in our politics, in our citizen mindset, as our two loved ones are marched back to Iraq. To those so willing for this war, and the wars yet coming, as promised by the President in his Inauguration speech, I say, send your own if you are so committed to this man you cheer as your President, and bring mine home.

written by Lietta Ruger

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Our very own This ol' House



Our ol' house in a small village off the beaten path. Built 1892 originally in saltbox style and modified by the different owners over the years. Photo taken by daughter, a bit of a photography buff, she worked it in sepia tones. Posted by Hello

Winter Breezes

Here in my quaint old fashioned home, in the Village, as I wander from room to room going about my daily business (whatever that might be on any given day), I am continually struck by how this house was put together. There are windows everywhere, in great part, due to the continually remodelling and upgrades over the years.



We didn't do the alterations, we bought the house as is, so to speak. I can look outside everywhere I wander in this great ol' house. It never ceases to catch my breath. I open windows and doors to let in the winter breezes and love the feeling of fresh air on my face, letting the outside in. I feel like I'm in the control center of our little neighborhood when I'm in my house, as I can see outside in every direction and know what is going on out there.



It's taken a couple of years to get the house put together in a satisfactory way that accomodates our furnishings and our lifestyle. What that means is that I've rearranged the rooms in this house so many times now, it's taken on it's own life since we moved in a little over 2 years ago. I can now remember when this particular room housed the grandchildren, and before that it was my painting studio room, and before that it was a guest room. It goes like that for each room in the house.



Today the winter winds are blowing, and I've got Tim Janis CD playing as I type, life is a good as it can get in this moment. Those are the small wonders I am trying to look for now in a world gone over to the dark side.

Our very own "This Old House."


Our ol' house in a small village off the beaten path. Built 1892 originally in saltbox style and modified by the different owners over the years. Photo taken by daughter, a bit of a photography buff, she worked it in sepia tones. Posted by Hello

Tuesday, January 18, 2005

DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT

DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT
poem by Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Sunday, January 16, 2005

Jesus on the Family.org, The Christian Minority Coalition

My dear husband found this website and shared it with me by email with the below intro:

JESUSONTHEFAMILY.ORG In a world of escalating violence, war and greed, parents want to protect their children and keep their families strong.
Learn how Jesus taught nonviolence and inspired spiritual growth, without forcing his faith on anyone.


The Christian Minority Coalition Many Christians from conservative churches have written to me, to describe that backlash they've had to endure from churchgoers and family members whenever they've dared to stand up for Jesus' teachings...particularly those that are inconvenient to certain political agendas.

For activist leaders of the radical religious right, the Bible isn't so much a spiritual guide as an ammunitions storehouse. Verses are handpicked from here and there (carefully ignoring those scriptures that might get in the way of their own "godly" image and political ambitions) to justify whatever they want to do.

And since there are commands in various parts of the Bible to do terrible things that Jesus never condoned--like stoning your rebellious children to death, or stoning gay people, or killing everyone in an enemy's village except the young virginal girls...well clearly, there's something for everyone, no matter how cruel, no matter how vile.


The sites described and linked above are precisely those kinds of Christian advocacies most needed for these times. These are the sites Mr. Dobson and Mr. Falwell should have built long ago - long before Americans would be required to vote based on real moral values. Since such a high moral action was beyond messers Dobson, Falwell, Robertson, LaHaye, Land, and the many others of the same ilk. We are left do deal with them in their firmest and bloodiest mantle - the same mantle as the Pharisees of old. I truly wish that I had been a part of the founding of Jesus On The Family and The Christian Minority Coalition. - Arthur Ruger - Publisher, The American Choice.


And I read several of the articles, and found them compelling, so I thought I would share the wealth; Here are a few of her articles. The entire website, however, is a wealth of information and exactly hits on how we experience our Christian spirituality. It surely seems that those of us who share similar views on the teachings and messages of Jesus have become a minority. Somehow, I don't really believe we are a minority, rather, I think the so called Christian majority just have aggressively loud voices and are intent on outshouting even Jesus. Enjoy, I am sure you will.

Articles by Dr. Teresa Whitehurst at Jesus on the Family.org

Author of Jesus on Parenting
coauhor of The Nonviolent Christian Parent

The Christian Minority Coalition

From Belts to Bombs, America's
Passion for Punishment

Let's Not Pretend We Didn't Know

Should Americans of Conscience
Go on Strike?

Dreams of Nonviolent Resistance

The "Christian Nation" Bombs:
A Call to Resist the Perversion of Our Faith

"Why Are Some American Christians So Bloodthirsty?"

Understanding Prowar Christians'
Indifference to Civilian Deaths

see more at Jesus on The Family

Jesus on the Family

Wonderwander has changed it's look and theme..

I've been giving my blogs a work-over and updating or otherwise improving their look and Wonderwander is the last of my blogs to get a new look. I have a fondness for Wonderwander, as it was my first entry into blogging, so my first blog. I didn't have a clue what I was doing really, and didn't start to get a clue until I'd made several blogs.



Life went on, the two in our family were deployed to Iraq for 15 months, and my life altered considerably. I felt pulled in different directions as being opposed to the war from the beginning, knowing my daughter and her 3 children would be alone to fend for themselves, and the nature of my employment with the State required a neutral position on politics, well at least, nothing that could be spoken aloud one way or the other. I did not feel I could keep all the balls in the air and the feelings of disconnect were powerful for me from the beginning. I left my career employment, devoted myself to being the support for my daughter's family, and finding outlets where I could indeed find expression for my feelings against the war.



Being a military family now, with 2 loved ones deployed, and being a military brat, I knew the culture of military life is to keep silence regarding policies and public statements of the Commander-in-Chief. Yet, I felt from the beginning that his CIC did not have the high value, respect and dignity of the code of military troops and would not be an ally to them once he deployed them. How unfortunate that my early gut was so correct along the progression of the last 2 + years in what we have seen in Iraq.



I found Military Families Speak Out and a place to exercise my unique voice in calling attention to the un-met needs of the troops deployed, the wrongness of the war in Iraq particularly, and the incredible impact the devastation and carnage would have on our own troops as well as untold civilian families in Iraq. I spent all of the early 18 months of Iraq in speaking out which brought us to the campaign for Presidential election. I watched along, with the rest of the country with intense interest as to who would best handle the deterioration of Iraq, knowing Bush could not or would not, leaving Kerry as the more likely alternative.



Towards the end of the election though, I came to find that while I had some unsureness about John F. Kerry, I well remembered his courage in the 1960s, upon his return from Vietnam. I heard what he had to say and came to admire his courage even more. I threw myself into helping in the campaigning for John Kerry and believed without question that he

received more votes and would be our new President and Commander-in-Chief. Till that evening when something shifted, rather suddenly, and rather surprisingly. I saw the look on Bush's face earlier in the day and I knew he knew ... it was over. Yet by late afternoon, evening, he was holding an unprecedented and surprise press release in the White House with his family gathered around. I knew at that moment, in my heart, that something behind the scenes was going on, something we would likely never really get to know about, and the election had been tampered with in ways we could only imagine and guess at, but my heart sank in recognition that Bush was not leaving. Iraq would continue, as would the carnage and devastation as would the young troops continue to be in combat without leadership, without a leader who had their heart as his own.



I worked after the elections for the long 7 weeks, morning till late into the night, in the blogging communities, on what was coming to light in voter disenfranchisement, voter suppression, and election fraud. Representative Conyers held the Congressional Hearings and I waited for the electoral vote to be presented in Congress, knowing there would be a challenge to the Ohio vote. Representative Tubbs-Jones and this time One Senator, Sen. Barbara Boxer did go on record with a challenge/contest to the Ohio elector vote. It will now be part of the Congressional Record, part of our country's shame, but there for the young and future generations to view and make of it what they will regarding this period in our history as a nation.



The two in our family who have already served extended tour (15 months) in Iraq, have heard they will be re-deployed now for second tours in Iraq. I have never felt so utterly helpless to have some impact in helping my loved ones, and I did everything in my limited power that I could do these past 2 + years to not have to come to this day, where our two young ones have to face the reality of second tours in Iraq in seriously worsened and even more dangerous conditions. I feel "old", very "old" suddenly. The immediate future is in the hands of the citizens of this country, and those of us who cried out loudly and went unheard for the most part, can't do it without the rest of our countrymen.



I've organized my blogs to take care of differings aspects for how to get along now in a 2nd Bush term as he goes about cannibalizing what is left of our country for reasons no one but he seems to know for there is no rationalizing or explaining away his decisions or policies. Blue Tones will be my blog then for political wanderings. Emerald City will be my blog for living life with a broken heart and that sick feeling in the soul of my being, as each day will pass no matter my broken heart or the nature of my soul. Dying to Preserve the Lies, will continue to try to advocate for the troops, for ending this war, for getting them home, and then truly, God only knows now how or if Iraq will be put back together having suffered so much damage for no reason anyone can now point to specifically. God, how I hate what our country has become.



In a throwback to a time past, I have also Back in The Days, everything 1950's and 1960's as I was a child/teen during those eras and despite the travesties of a difficult life in a family making poor choices, I have fond memories of some of the things that brought me comfort in those eras. Although the 1960's brought me my young husband, drafted and sent to Vietnam, I was still young enough to be naively aware (if that makes any sense). And with Wonderwander then I will go back to where I started with this blog, which is just to mark the daily wonders when I find them.

Martin Luther King Day, Monday.

I will share something from Dr King that isn't as well known, below. First though, I want to thank my guests and visitors to this blog, and I made some fixes because I didn't like how long it was taking to load, and it was distorted. Please let me know if it is not showing up well on your browser/screen.

Gram's Gems is a blog I made to share with family, but I'd sure like to have folks take a look at my other blogs. I have done a serious over-haul to 5 of them, and I'm really pleased with how they are looking. I used fresh, new, updated templates that I had to install myself and then make adjustments, additions and what not, so I was in a learning curve for several days. So please take a look at the blogs; Wonderwander, Blue Tones, Emerald City, Dying to Preserve the Lies, and Back in the Day, Everything 1950's and 1960s. The links are over to the left on the side bar.

Oh and Sweetie found this wonderful website, Jesus on the Family, and I looked it over and am Highly Recommending it. Link is also over to the left on the side bar.

Oh, and please do visit the discussion forum that Lica, Bree, Randa and I have been working on, called Talking Stick. There is a cute box with the words Talking Stick over to the left, just click on it.

Now, in honor of Dr Martin Luther King Jr, here is one of his more little-known speeches, but very, very relevant for the times we find ourselves in now.

"A time comes when silence is betrayal."

snipped........

The truth of these words is beyond doubt but the mission to which they call us is a most difficult one. Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover when the issues at hand seem as perplexed as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty; but we must move on.

Some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak. And we must rejoice as well, for surely this is the first time in our nation's history that a significant number of its religious leaders have chosen to move beyond the prophesying of smooth patriotism to the high grounds of a firm dissent based upon the mandates of conscience and the reading of history. Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. If it is, let us trace its movement well and pray that our own inner being may be sensitive to its guidance, for we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us.

snipped.....

more at this link

Hopi Elders Prayer

From the Hopi Elders

You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour. Now you must go back and tell the people that this is The Hour.

Here are the things that must be considered: Where are you living? What are you doing? What are your relationships? Are you in right relation? Where is your water?

Know our garden. It is time to speak your Truth.

Create your community. Be good to each other. And do not look outside yourself for the leader.
This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel like they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off toward the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water. See who is there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves! For the moment we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lonely wolf is over. Gather yourselves! Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
We are the ones we have been waiting for.

The Elders, Oraibi, Arizona, Hopi Nation

Saturday, January 15, 2005

Hopi Elders Prayer

Hopi Elders Prayer

From the Hopi Elders

You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.
Now you must go back and tell the people that this is The Hour.

Here are the things that must be considered:
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?

Know our garden.
It is time to speak your Truth.

Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.

This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold on to the shore.
They will feel like they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off toward the middle
of the river,
keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.
See who is there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of
all ourselves!
For the moment we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lonely wolf is over. Gather yourselves!
Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary.
All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

The Elders, Oraibi, Arizona, Hopi Nation

We've reached Oz, my friends, travelling the Yellow Brick Road

I've changed the look, name and feel for this blog. To mark the changeover, I thought I better put an entry to announce the new direction of this blog. While it may still have some political news, war news, I have other blogs (too many) where I can contain political items, Blue Tones, and war items, Dying to Preserve the Lies. There is Back in the Days, Everything 1950s and 1960s along with several other of my blogs for other topics.

So where will I take this blog? Well, with the ground truth now being we do indeed have the uncertainty of Bush for another 4 years, it firmly looks to me like our country has indeed taken the Yellow Brick Road and wound up in Oz with the Wizard at the controls. When I had hope that the Wizard would be exposed for what he was, I still had hope for our country righting it's course direction. There was the slim margin of hope that the vote fraud, the electronic machines that put votes for Kerry into the Bush column in the hundreds of thousands across the states, the voter suppression and disenfranchisement done in very deliberate ways with very deliberate methodoly, that when all this was exposed and the public understood it had not gained the President it voted for but the imposter Wizard, that the country would indeed right itself.

That hope flittered away after Senator Barbara Boxer along with Representative Tubbs-Jones (two courageous women) stood together to contest the elector votes in congress and no other Senator stood On Record as contesting the vote, although had supportive things to say for Senator Barbara Boxer, and some few Representatives did indeed go on record as contesting the elector vote. So the elector vote went on record as noting George W. Bush as re-elected, for which I am entirely certain he will dismantle what's left of what was great about our country. Yet history was made, and the congressional record does show now the concerns, the proven concerns of a voting process that was highly manipulated by less than savory tactics to downright criminal vote tampering.

Now we do live in Oz, and unreality continues to become reality. Alternative universes exist side by side with mainstream media proclaiming the Bush alternative as the only universe and either a lazy or unwilling public (generally speaking) continues to assimilate the lies being told and integrating the lies into themselves as truth. Many of us see the Bush universe for what it is and know the lie after lie, deception after deception, and feel strongly the disconnect that goes with having to travel with one foot in one universe and another foot in an alternative universe.

So while in Oz, I need to resume my "life", what there is of it in these peculiar times where up is down, black is white, and find ways to continue the resistance while getting on with some of the normalcy of my life. The life I had before Bush invaded Iraq, before our young were dying in a foreign country that did not a thing to our country, before the torture of Abu Ghraib, before the carnage and killing of up to 100, 000 Iraqis themselves families with wives, husbands, children trying to live under the mantle of the Occupiers, before the campaigning that showed the worse of the worst side of politics, before the moral values people imposed their own immorality upon the entire country, and finally, the election which showed the near-end of democracy in being an election of the people, by the people and for the people.

Mourn I shall, continue the good fight, I shall, and along the way, there are still some cherished freedoms I have the priviledge to enjoy while my own son-in-law and nephew return for their second deployments in Iraq in the namesake of democracy. They know it for what it is, and I've known it for what it is from day 1 when this President invaded (illegaly) a country who was no threat to our own. Now all the troops are caught up in the undeclared draft while our own country cheers on the support the troops rally cry which is far from patriotic or national pride, rather the shame of our nation. For clarity sake, let me say here that I Do know how to separate the warrior from the war so I do not demean our troops, I demean the country that permitted this to happen and continues to live in willful ignorance about the facts of Iraq. I uphold the troops who are tightly constricted and conscripted with very little wiggle room for doing other than carrying out the mission and orders but I do not uphold the President who is the sole person to hold accountable and responsible for this horrific carnage to our troops and to a country scapegoated to be the Great Satan, the great evil-doers. The Great Evil-Doer presently occupies the White House and rules in Oz.

I shall go about now finding those precious gems among the dungheap. I've lived through the dungheap before, I shall again, but this is way beyond the safety or well-being of my own life, it's much bigger than that and so I tread new ground in that I am not dealing with the dungheap alone this time as we are all in it now. Life in Emerald City then, while the Wizard is at the controls, and how to survive it and hold onto humanity and dignity. There are still choices, many actually, and once I heard it said that even among the concentration camps, when people had been stripped of everything by their fellow human beings, they exercised their limited choices even when sometimes the only choice was how to die.

Catching Up on Cold Winter evening

I'm wiped out. Where did I leave off, oh yeah, New Year's. Well let's see, since Sweetie has his new computer, we are happily engaged now in our mutual hobby, him online with his puter and me online with mine. Now I've got him thoroughly addicted to blogging and he's making em left and right.

Joy is blogging now too, so got several in the family blogging away. I have done change-overs to many of my older blogs, and I like what is happening. Dying to Preserve the Lies has a new template, that I installed! I was so pleased with that I made another brand new blog, installed my own template and liked it too. It's called Back in The Day, Everything 1950's and 1960's.

Then I worked over another old blog, used a lot of new tricks on it and am liking it too. But aside from some major workshop activities on blogs, we installed the Mozilla modem and so I was having to adjust some to how it works. We both reallly like how it works, and then I talked Lica into using it on her puter too. I think she likes it, but I haven't heard back from her. It's the tabs, you can open so many pages simultaneously!

So then I started getting the extensions, and got bloglines. It stores up the rss feeds so you can be in one place and read blogs, news, just about anything all in one place on your bloglines. We also got G-mail so was adjusting to that new email and sharing the invites around. Then I installed the companion email to Mozilla, which is Thunderbird and liking it well enough to make it my primary email instead of Outlook Express.

We aren't using then Internet Explorer or Outlook now, but keeping them both installed. So it's been a whole new computer landscape while I've adjusted to all the new goodies. Now I'm here back at blog-drive and it looks like they've changed the environment. I'll be catching up with all the blogs I made at blog-drive, but not for a bit, I'm tired.

Oh, and then there is the discussion board I made, and it's been sitting there not doing anything, but I talked to Randa in chat today and got her in there, she'll probably get something going with it in Teenz and Poetry. Next I have to go back to all my thousands of blogs (I exaggerate, but there are like 20 or more) and tie them all together. Oh, and yeah, I was also working on a new website too, so will have to link all these pieces up into one large networking.

It's like having a lot of children, and they each need different attention. Guess it's a Lietta version of neo-pets. Lance insists on jumping up in my lap while I'm online, so it's Lance, me and the keyboard and Sweetie across the way happily engaged in his online entertainments.

Drop in the temperature here, so it's chilly, downright cold, but I'm not complaining, cause Lica tells me it's like in the teens where they are, and that's frigid. Then there is is Sis in Utah and I'm sure it's cold there, not sure what kind of temperatures they get there, but colder than here.
Okay, enough for now, got to keep up this blog, been neglecting it.

Thursday, January 13, 2005

I love the way advertising portrayed kids in the 1950s.


I love the way advertising portrayed kids in the 1950s. While I never had this brand, we did have Spam and potted meat....yuck! Took many a lunch to school that had sandwich made with potted meat or spam. And unlike these happy little children in the ad, I didn't like or look forward to my sandwich. Posted by Hello

How to Be a Good Wife

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Language (How to Be a Good Wife):

"The following is from a 1950's home economics textbook intended for high school girls, teaching them how to prepare for married life:

1. Have dinner ready: Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal - on time. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him, and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospects of a good meal are part of the warm welcome needed.

2. Prepare yourself: Take 15 minutes to rest so you will be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.

3. Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives, gathering up school books, toys, paper, etc. Then run a dust cloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift, too.

4. Prepare the children: Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces if they are small, comb their hair, and if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part.

5. Minimize the noise: At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of washer, dryer, dishwasher or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet. Be happy to see him. Greet him with a warm smile and be glad to see him.

6. Some Don'ts: Don't greet him with problems or complaints. Don't complain if he's late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day.

7. Make him comfortable: Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft, soothing and "

Saturday, January 01, 2005

New Year 2005, we quietly again rang it in

Happy New Year, 2005! Well, guess we are getting older, we fought to stay awake till midnight this year. Quiet at home, watched the annual showing of series The History of Sex, and another channel was showing Law and Order episodes back to back. We are dorks when it comes to New Year's celebrations, have been for good many years now.

I did have a nice hot chocolate spiked with Peppermint Schnapps, yummy and warm tummy. Our young family neighbors did fireworks and poor Jake, he just can't take it! Broke the door down trying to get inside, scurrying around trying to get his big dog body under the bed or computer station. I let him go into my closet, which has space for him and is his haven in the fireworks storm.

Lance, on the other hand...hmmmm, BAD CAT. Seems he does like his home here with us but hasn't let go of his bad cat problem, with not using litter box. Surprise, surprise, we found the evidence and spent some time scouring and cleaning and now Lance will be banished to the outside for awhile, till he learns where he is supposed to take care of business.

So reversal last night, Jake inside and Lance outside. Too funny. I have 2 traumatized pets, wouldn't you just know. Both need "special" attention for their fears. Jake, mostly okay, till the fireworks or gunshots go off and he is immediately cowering and terrified. Lance, traumatized by loss of his owners and home for years and so has developed behavior problems.

We watched, again, on tv, the firework display at the Seattle Space Needle. Just gets bigger and better every year. This year, with that many explosives all around the Needle, I wondered if it was gonna blow up! Guess they know what they are doing, and the Needle still stands. The same Needle I saw iwhen I was a child in the 1964 World's Fair that was meant to be temporary and has become the permanent landmark of Seattle. Awesome!

Conyers to Object to Ohio Electors, Requests Senate Allies

Okay, as you well know, all I've spent my time and energy on this last 6 weeks is election/vote fraud. Conyers has moved it along, and now it's time to act if you want to see anything come of it. The electorate vote goes before Congress Jan 6th, and Conyers has written letters to all the Senators and Representatives calling for a challenge to the electorate vote. Please, take a few minutes to contact congress and request they stand up for the challenge in this election.



You remember movie, Farenheit 911, and you may remember the scene where not one Senator would sign or stand up with the Representatives? Please not again, please take this small action to let congress know it matters.



Article and link to easily contact congress follows:



Looking specifically to these Senators as potentially likely to sign;The Senators who shall receive the greatest focus from Conyers in this matter are Biden, Bingaman, Boxer, Byrd, Clinton, Conrad, Corzine, Dodd, Dorgan, Durbin, Feingold, Harkin, Inyoue, Jeffords, Kennedy, Kerry, Lautenberg, Leahy, Levin, Lieberman, Mikulski, Nelson (FL), Jack Reed, Harry Reid, Rockefeller, Sarbanes, Stabenow, Wyden and Obama.



Link to Contact Congress http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm



Article:http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/123104W.shtml



Conyers to Object to Ohio Electors, Requests Senate Allies

By William Rivers Pitt

t r u t h o u t Report

Thursday 30 December 2004



Representative John Conyers, ranking minority member of the House Judiciary Committee, will object to the counting of the Ohio Electors from the 2004 Presidential election when Congress convenes to ratify those votes on January 6th. In a letter dispatched to every Senator, which will be officially published by his office shortly, Conyers declares that he will be joined in this by several other members of the House. Rep. Conyers is taking this dramatic step because he believes the allegations and evidence of election tampering and fraud render the current slate of Ohio Electors illegitimate.



"As you know," writes Rep. Conyers in his letter, "on January 6, 2005, at 1:00 P.M, the electoral votes for the election of the president are to be opened and counted in a joint session of Congress. I and a number of House Members are planning to object to the counting of the Ohio votes, due to numerous unexplained irregularities in the Ohio presidential vote, many of which appear to violate both federal and state law.



"The letter goes on to ask the Senators who receive this letter to join Conyers in objecting to the Ohio Electors. "I am hoping that you will consider joining us in this important effort," writes Conyers, "to debate and highlight the problems in Ohio which disenfranchised innumerable voters. I will shortly forward you a draft report itemizing and analyzing the many irregularities we have come across as part of our hearings and investigation into the Ohio presidential election.



"There are expected to be high level meetings with high ranking Democratic officials next week to coordinate a concerted lobbying effort to convince Senators to challenge the vote. The Green Party and David Cobb, as has been true all along, will be centrally involved in this process, as will Rev. Jesse Jackson.



The remainder of the Conyers letter reads:



3 U.S.C. §15 provides when the results from each of the states are announced, that "the President of the Senate shall call for objections, if any." Any objection must be presented in writing and "signed by at least one Senator and one Member of the House of Representatives before the same shall be received." The objection must "state clearly and concisely, and without argument, the ground thereof." When an objection has been properly made in writing and endorsed by a member of each body the Senate withdraws from the House chamber, and each body meets separately to consider the objection. "No votes...from any other State shall be acted upon until the (pending) objection...(is) finally disposed of." 3 U.S.C. §17 limits debate on the objections in each body to two hours, during which time no member may speak more than once and not for more than five minutes. Both the Senate and the House must separately agree to the objection; otherwise, the challenged vote or votes are counted.



Historically, there appears to be three general grounds for objecting to the counting of electoral votes. The language of 3 U.S.C. §15 suggests that objection may be made on the grounds that (1) a vote was not "regularly given" by the challenged elector(s); and/or (2) the elector(s) was not "lawfully certified" under state law; or (3) two slates of electors have been presented to Congress from the same State.



Since the Electoral Count Act of 1887, no objection meeting the requirements of the Act have been made against an entire slate of state electors. In the 2000 election several Members of the House of Representatives attempted to challenge the electoral votes from the State of Florida. However, no Senator joined in the objection, and therefore, the objection was not "received." In addition, there was no determination whether the objection constituted an appropriate basis under the 1887 Act. However, if a State - in this case Ohio - has not followed its own procedures and met its obligation to conduct a free and fair election, a valid objection -if endorsed by at least one Senator and a Member of the House of Representatives- should be debated by each body separately until "disposed of".



A key legal aspect of this is the second clause referenced in the letter. Rep. Conyers and the other House members involved do not believe the electors have been lawfully certified. They believe that there has been too much illegal activity on the part of Blackwell, other election officials, and Republican operatives on the ground and therefore, as stated in the letter, the electors were not "lawfully certified" under state law. Next week, the House Judiciary Committee Democratic staff will release the report referenced in the letter, which is now still in draft form, and which led Mr. Conyers to this decision.



The Senators who shall receive the greatest focus from Conyers in this matter are Biden, Bingaman, Boxer, Byrd, Clinton, Conrad, Corzine, Dodd, Dorgan, Durbin, Feingold, Harkin, Inyoue, Jeffords, Kennedy, Kerry, Lautenberg, Leahy, Levin, Lieberman, Mikulski, Nelson (FL), Jack Reed, Harry Reid, Rockefeller, Sarbanes, Stabenow, Wyden and Obama.



William Rivers Pitt is a New York Times and international bestseller of two books - 'War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know' and 'The Greatest Sedition is Silence.'



http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/123104W.shtml

Okay, as you well know, all I've spent my time and energy on this last 6 weeks is election/vote fraud. Conyers has moved it along, and now it's time to act if you want to see anything come of it. The electorate vote goes before Congress Jan 6th, and Conyers has written letters to all the Senators and Representatives calling for a challenge to the electorate vote. Please, take a few minutes to contact congress and request they stand up for the challenge in this election.

You remember movie, Farenheit 911, and you may remember the scene where not one Senator would sign or stand up with the Representatives? Please not again, please take this small action to let congress know it matters. Article and link to easily contact congress follows:

Looking specifically to these Senators as potentially likely to sign;

The Senators who shall receive the greatest focus from Conyers in this matter are Biden, Bingaman, Boxer, Byrd, Clinton, Conrad, Corzine, Dodd, Dorgan, Durbin, Feingold, Harkin, Inyoue, Jeffords, Kennedy, Kerry, Lautenberg, Leahy, Levin, Lieberman, Mikulski, Nelson (FL), Jack Reed, Harry Reid, Rockefeller, Sarbanes, Stabenow, Wyden and Obama.

Link to Contact Congress http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm


Article:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/123104W.shtml

Conyers to Object to Ohio Electors, Requests Senate Allies
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t Report
Thursday 30 December 2004


Representative John Conyers, ranking minority member of the House Judiciary Committee, will object to the counting of the Ohio Electors from the 2004 Presidential election when Congress convenes to ratify those votes on January 6th. In a letter dispatched to every Senator, which will be officially published by his office shortly, Conyers declares that he will be joined in this by several other members of the House. Rep. Conyers is taking this dramatic step because he believes the allegations and evidence of election tampering and fraud render the current slate of Ohio Electors illegitimate.

"As you know," writes Rep. Conyers in his letter, "on January 6, 2005, at 1:00 P.M, the electoral votes for the election of the president are to be opened and counted in a joint session of Congress. I and a number of House Members are planning to object to the counting of the Ohio votes, due to numerous unexplained irregularities in the Ohio presidential vote, many of which appear to violate both federal and state law."

The letter goes on to ask the Senators who receive this letter to join Conyers in objecting to the Ohio Electors. "I am hoping that you will consider joining us in this important effort," writes Conyers, "to debate and highlight the problems in Ohio which disenfranchised innumerable voters. I will shortly forward you a draft report itemizing and analyzing the many irregularities we have come across as part of our hearings and investigation into the Ohio presidential election."

There are expected to be high level meetings with high ranking Democratic officials next week to coordinate a concerted lobbying effort to convince Senators to challenge the vote. The Green Party and David Cobb, as has been true all along, will be centrally involved in this process, as will Rev. Jesse Jackson.

The remainder of the Conyers letter reads:

3 U.S.C. §15 provides when the results from each of the states are announced, that "the President of the Senate shall call for objections, if any." Any objection must be presented in writing and "signed by at least one Senator and one Member of the House of Representatives before the same shall be received." The objection must "state clearly and concisely, and without argument, the ground thereof." When an objection has been properly made in writing and endorsed by a member of each body the Senate withdraws from the House chamber, and each body meets separately to consider the objection. "No votes...from any other State shall be acted upon until the (pending) objection...(is) finally disposed of." 3 U.S.C. §17 limits debate on the objections in each body to two hours, during which time no member may speak more than once and not for more than five minutes. Both the Senate and the House must separately agree to the objection; otherwise, the challenged vote or votes are counted.

Historically, there appears to be three general grounds for objecting to the counting of electoral votes. The language of 3 U.S.C. §15 suggests that objection may be made on the grounds that (1) a vote was not "regularly given" by the challenged elector(s); and/or (2) the elector(s) was not "lawfully certified" under state law; or (3) two slates of electors have been presented to Congress from the same State.

Since the Electoral Count Act of 1887, no objection meeting the requirements of the Act have been made against an entire slate of state electors. In the 2000 election several Members of the House of Representatives attempted to challenge the electoral votes from the State of Florida. However, no Senator joined in the objection, and therefore, the objection was not "received." In addition, there was no determination whether the objection constituted an appropriate basis under the 1887 Act. However, if a State - in this case Ohio - has not followed its own procedures and met its obligation to conduct a free and fair election, a valid objection -if endorsed by at least one Senator and a Member of the House of Representatives- should be debated by each body separately until "disposed of".

A key legal aspect of this is the second clause referenced in the letter. Rep. Conyers and the other House members involved do not believe the electors have been lawfully certified. They believe that there has been too much illegal activity on the part of Blackwell, other election officials, and Republican operatives on the ground and therefore, as stated in the letter, the electors were not "lawfully certified" under state law. Next week, the House Judiciary Committee Democratic staff will release the report referenced in the letter, which is now still in draft form, and which led Mr. Conyers to this decision.

The Senators who shall receive the greatest focus from Conyers in this matter are Biden, Bingaman, Boxer, Byrd, Clinton, Conrad, Corzine, Dodd, Dorgan, Durbin, Feingold, Harkin, Inyoue, Jeffords, Kennedy, Kerry, Lautenberg, Leahy, Levin, Lieberman, Mikulski, Nelson (FL), Jack Reed, Harry Reid, Rockefeller, Sarbanes, Stabenow, Wyden and Obama.

William Rivers Pitt is a New York Times and international bestseller of two books - 'War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know' and 'The Greatest Sedition is Silence.'


http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/123104W.shtml