Holiday Impeachment Cards

http://impeachforpeace.org/ImpeachNow.html

Seasons Greetings!
This holiday season you can give your friends and family the gift that keeps on giving. You can help them deck the halls of congress with colorful impeachment petitions! Impeach for Peace has created holiday impeachment cards that allow your friends and family to initiate the impeachment process. Impeach for Peace created the Holiday Impeachment image, and researched a company that will allow you to send jumbo sized postcards along with a personalized message using your web browser. The first card you send is free! The cost of sending additional holiday greetings ranges from $1.11 to $1.87/card depending on how many you send. (Impeach for Peace receives no funds from these holiday greetings.)

Great for Christmas, Quanza, Haunakha, or Solstice.

http://impeachforpeace.org/images/DIYPostcard.jpeg

block amnesty for telecoms

A Second Chance to See "Spying on the Home Front"

Posted by Rebecca Jeschke

As Congress gears up to debate giving amnesty to telecoms involved in illegal spying, the terrific Frontline documentary "Spying on the Home Front" will be rebroadcast Tuesday on many PBS stations across the country. This program examines just how far the government has gone with its surveillance program, and features EFF Legal Director Cindy Cohn discussing EFF's ongoing case against AT&T for its illegal collaboration with the NSA. AT&T whisleblower Mark Klein also tells his compelling story about his discovery of a "secret room" diverting AT&T network traffic to the NSA.

But our case is only part of the story. As Salon blogger Glenn Greenwald put it, the documentary "powerfully dramatizes the severity of privacy erosion at the hands of a federal government operating largely in the dark."

Check your local listings for times, or you can always watch the program on the Frontline website. Then tell lawmakers to stop the spying and to block amnesty for telecoms that broke the law.

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'The RAND Corp: Here, There, Everywhere'

By Chris Anderson
21 Nov 2007

Posted in IndyBlog

 

In her latest article in the Indypendent, Jessica Lee highlighted the role of the RAND Corporation in drafting the the “Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act.” Writes Lee:

The bill appears to be influenced by the government-affiliated RAND Corporation, whose website includes a letter from Harman noting, “RAND … and I have worked closely for many years.” Harman, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing and Terrorism Risk Assessment, introduced H.R. 1955 on April 19, 2007.

Two weeks prior to this, Brian Michael Jenkins of RAND delivered testimony on “Jihadist Radicalization and Recruitment” to Harman’s subcommittee. Jenkins claimed “radicalization and recruiting are taking place in the United States,” and listed a number of high-profile cases in which Muslim Americans have been arrested on terrorism-related charges.

But RAND does more than just push thought-crime legislation through Congress. Indeed, a report released today by the City of New York shows just how long the reach of the RAND Corporation is. According to the New York Times:

Whites and members of minorities have a roughly equal chance of being stopped by police officers and questioned on the street in New York City. But officers are more likely to frisk, search, arrest or give summonses to black or Hispanic people — or to use force against them — according to a study released yesterday.

The study [was commissioned] by the Rand Corporation in March after it was revealed that the police stopped 508,540 people on the street last year.

Most importantly, the study “found no evidence of racial profiling,” writes the New York Sun:

A long-awaited independent review of half a million reports by the New York Police Department of stop, question, and frisk encounters with civilians was hailed yesterday by police officials, who said the review found no pattern of racial profiling.

The study, by the Rand Corp. of Santa Monica, Calif., found that black pedestrians were stopped by police “at a rate that is 20 to 30% lower than their representation in crime-suspect descriptions.

The reason for the seemingly contradictory results? RAND’s methodology, critics argue:

Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, called the report “hugely flawed,” saying that the document was more striking for what it did not say than for what it said. She said the report relied on “inappropriate benchmarks” to reach its findings.

Shock of shocks: another dodgy government report from the RAND Corp. This time, in our own backyard.

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Activists Planning Impeachment Protest at New Year's Rose Bowl Parade

http://www.bcimpeach.com

A local and national coalition of impeachment activists is planning to stage various protests and demonstrations throughout the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California, on New Year's Day. The convergence of groups is called the White Rose Coalition in honor of the resistance movement that emerged in Munich Germany in 1942. It includes members of the Los Angeles National Impeachment Center (LANIC), Code Pink, World Can't Wait, ANSWER, Progressive Democrats of America, the Green Party, Veterans for Peace, United for Peace and Justice, and others They are calling for impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, based upon Articles of Impeachment which pertain to what they call "high crimes and misdemeanors." The groups are staging this protest because "this administration is said to be planning yet another illegal invasion, this time bombing Iran," according to Cynthia Mather, a spokesperson from LANIC. "The consequences of such an assault on global well-being and security would be catastrophic," she said. "The Democrats are not making any move to stop it, so impeachment is our only recourse."

Numbers of protestors and demonstrators from the various groups could be in the hundreds or, possibly, in the thousands, says Peter Thottam, Executive Director of LANIC. "We expect this to be a national day of impeachment visibility, with folks joining from all parts of the country. It is hard to gauge how many will show up, but according to the latest MSNBC poll, when 584,000 people were asked if they thought Bush had committed impeachable offenses, 89 per cent said yes! There is a tremendous level of anger and frustration out there. I doubt if our Washington, D.C. politicians have any idea just how much. Bush and Cheney are shredding our Constitution. Our Congress is obligated to act now before it is too late."

Tobi Dragert
White Rose Coalition
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213-304-5206

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'Do You Have a Panglossian Disorder?'

or, 'Economic and Planetary Collapse: Is it a Therapeutic Issue?'

 

(scooped by 'Psychedelic Tourist')

" ... I have spoken elsewhere about the label “Doomer,” and I’ve come to believe that this frame is outdated. Instead, I would like to suggest that we must stop asking ourselves, given the lateness of the hour, why there are those pessimistic about the future, and begin asking, instead, why there are those still blindly and enthusiastically optimistic about it. Could this be a disorder, in itself? Here’s my proposal:

Panglossian Disorder: “The neurotic tendency toward extreme optimism in the face of likely cultural and planetary collapse.”

Panglossian Disorders and Their Subtypes

Temporal Subtypes:
Scarlet O’Hara-ism- “I’ll just have to think about that tomorrow.” A strategy of denial that allows the person to temporally compartmentalize the feared event(s).
Futurism: “Sure, that will happen, but it will occur after all of us are long dead.” A belief that something that might happen in the distant future is no concern in the present.
Y2K features: “They said everything would collapse with 2000, and it didn’t.” A belief that any prior concern about societal problems that didn’t occur demonstrates the impossibility of any others happening in the future.

Angry Subtypes:
Rhett-Butlerist Features- “Peak Oil? Planetary Collapse? Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” Aggressive denial of information not in keeping with one’s world view.
Kill the Messenger Redirection: “Why are you telling me this? What kind of sicko focuses on these kinds of facts? You need help!” The belief that those who bring bad news are doing it for malevolent reasons.

Narcissistic Subtypes:
Rigid Cheney-ism: “The American Way of Life is non-negotiable.” The belief that any undesirable change can be avoided by a sheer act of will.
Survivalistic features: “Hey, if the rest of the world is doomed, I don’t worry about it, because I’ve got mine.” A belief that personal preparation is adequate.

Religious Subtypes:
“Religiosity: “God/The Planet/Mother Nature loves humans. He/She/It would never permit massive die-off.” Or “If that happens, I just put my faith in my Savior.”
Neoliberal Econo-manic Tendencies: “The market will sort it out.” A belief that market forces control all— including geological realities.
Nascarian Features: “People love their automobiles. A solution will have to be found to keep us driving.”

Subtypes with Denial or Minimization as the Central Feature:
Pure Denial: “That can’t be right. It’s just impossible.”
Minimalization as a primary defense: “There may be some shortages, but I doubt it will be as bad as you say.”

Subtypes with Histrionic, Helplessness, Acquiescence or Submissive Features:
Submissive Features: You’re probably right. [Shrug]” Too hard/scary to think about… A response that acknowledges the reality of the threat, but is emotionally frozen or unwilling to devote emotional time and energy to the matter.
Histrionic Features: “I just don’t know anything about that. Oh, Golly, I hope you’re wrong. That’s all I can say. Oh Golly, I just can’t think about it.”

Subtypes with Delusional or Magical Thinking:
Meglomanic Features:“This simply won’t happen to me.” A belief in one’s specialness, which will save them from the consequences affecting those around them.
Paternalistic Features: “The government/corporations will sort it out.” A belief in the infallibility of organizational structures to resolve problems they aren’t willing to even acknowledge.
Doubting Thomas Features: “Peak Oil is a scam by the Oil Companies to raise prices!” Minimizing the possibility of the crisis by the belief that some one or some group has ultimate control over its happening.
Pure Cornucopian Features: “The more we need, the more they’ll be.” A belief that continued progress and provision of material items for mankind can be met by advances in technology.
The Flintstonian: “The stone-age didn’t end because they ran out of stones.” A belief that modern innovation is eternal.
Frank Zappa-ism: “As soon as things get really bad, they’ll come up with something.” A belief that necessity is the mother of invention.
Magical Thinking: “Don’t worry, we can build a car that can run on air!” Proposes solutions that are clearly outside the realm of physics.
MacGyver-ism Features - A belief that massive planetary problems can be solved with ordinary/common items found readily at hand. Eg.: “Pig dung will be the next fossil fuel.” Or “Coke Cans can be turned into solar panels.”

The Panglossian View

Borrowing Voltaire’s character Pangloss in his novel Candide, we might speak of a Panglossian Disorder as the belief that “all is well and everything in the world is for the best.” In adopting a Panglossian philosophy, Candide accepts situations and tries not to change or overcome obstacles. Instead, he passively accepts whatever fate has in store, and shrugs off his personal responsibilities. The name Pangloss is actually a pun: pan = Greek for ‘all’, relating to the whole universe (English); and ‘gloss’ (English) = both an explanation and an interpretation, which is deceptive in its external appearance. There is also a medical definition: Panglossia: abnormal or pathologic garrulousness, usually of a trivial nature.

While I was initially rather ‘tongue in cheek’ in proposing a new diagnostic category called “Panglossian Disorder” which I defined as “the neurotic tendency toward extreme optimism in the face of likely cultural and planetary collapse,” the more I thought about it, the more sober I became. We can easily see why those who might be gloomy about the future could feel hopeless and take the path of inactivity. On the other hand, this same fear of disaster can motivate constructive action in an attempt to mitigate the effects. Not so, however, for those who see no NEED to take action, because they live in the best of all possible worlds. Indeed, I might argue that it is the very blind hopefulness and inaction of the masses that leads many of my readers to assume a more hopeless posture toward world events.

A Panglossian perspective denies the need for constructive action, and leads to complacency and a worsening of our world’s woes. I’ve come to think about the Panglossian perspective as not optimism itself, but as a defense against pessimism. This defense takes many forms, as I’ve described above, and I’d like to describe why so many of us NEED a defense against pessimism, and how, unfortunately, my profession of psychology has been so instrumental in fueling that defense. ... "

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Oz election outcome: meet the new boss...

"...After Tony Blair, the loss of John Howard in power must be another shock to US President George Bush. However, President Bush congratulated Kevin Rudd on Labor’s victory. President Bush wished Mr. Rudd to be his good friend while referring outgoing John Howard as his best friend. Though the political experts in Australia referring Howard’s defeat as a big change in Australian internal and external politics, nevertheless, they are predicting that there might be some frigidity between the White House and Canberra but both Australia and United States will maintain their strong military and trade ties..."

 

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Tough Talk on Impeachment

From the Bill Moyers Journal:

 

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The Federal Reserve: debunking the conspiracy 'myths'

By: Edward Flaherty, Ph.D. Department of Economics College of Charleston, S.C.  

 

Facts: Yes, the Federal Reserve banks are privately owned, but they are controlled by the publically-appointed Board of Governors. The Federal Reserve banks merely execute the monetary policy choices made by the Board. In addition, nearly all the interest the Federal Reserve collects on government bonds is rebated to the Treasury each year, so the government does not pay any net interest to the Fed.

 

Facts: No foreigners own any part of the Fed. Each Federal Reserve bank is owned exclusively by the participating commercial banks and S&Ls operating within the Federal Reserve bank's district. Individuals and non-bank firms, be they foreign or domestic, are not permitted by law to own any shares of a Federal Reserve bank. Moreover, monetary policy is controlled by the publically-appointed Board of Governors, not by the Federal Reserve banks.

 

Fact: Independent accounting firms conduct full financial audits of the Federal Reserve banks and the Board of Governors every year. The Fed is also subject to certain types of audits from the Government Accounting Office.

 

Facts: The Federal Reserve rebates its net earnings to the Treasury every year. Consequently, the interest the Treasury pays to the Fed is returned, so the money borrowed from the Fed has no net interest obligation for the Treasury. The government could print its own currency independent of the Fed, but there would be no effective safeguards against abuse of this power for political gain.

 

Facts: The Federal Reserve banks have only a small share of the total national debt (about 7%). Therefore, only a small share of the interest on the debt goes to the Fed. Regardless, the Fed rebates that interest to the Treasury every year, so the debt held by the Fed carries no net interest obligation for the government. In addition, it is Congress, not the Federal Reserve, who is responsible for the federal budget and the national debt.

 

Facts: Kennedy wrote E.O. 11,110 to phase out silver certificate currency, not to issue more of it. Records show Kennedy and the Federal Reserve were almost always in agreement on policy matters. He even signed legislation to give the Fed more authority to issue currency.

 

Facts: McFadden was incorrect regarding the Fed costing the government money. However, later economic analysis agrees with him that Federal Reserve policy blunders had a substantial role in causing the Depression. However, his implication that this was done deliberately has no basis in fact. Moreover, for a dozen years prior to his rant, McFadden had been the chairman of the House subcommittee that oversaw the Federal Reserve. Why didn't he do anything to reform or abolish the Fed while he had the chance?

 

Facts: The banking system is indeed able to create money with a mere computer keystroke. However, a bank's ability to create money is tied directly to the amount of reserves customers have deposited there. A bank must pay a competitive interest rate on those deposits to keep them from leaving to other banks. This interest expense alone is a substantial portion of a bank's operating costs and is de facto proof a bank cannot costlessly create money.

 

Fact: The term 'lawful money' does not refer to gold or silver coin, but to types of money which the government would permit banks to use when tabulating their reserves. These types of money included, but were not limited to, gold and silver coin.

 

BY: Edward Flaherty, Ph.D. Department of Economics College of Charleston, S.C.  
Myth #1: The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 was crafted by Wall Street bankers and a few senators in a secret meeting.  
Myth #2: The Federal Reserve Act never actually passed Congress. The Senate voted on the bill without a quorum, so the Act is null and void.  
Myth# 3: The Federal Reserve Act and paper money are unconstitutional.  
Myth# 4: The Federal Reserve is a privately owned bank.  
Myth #5: The Federal Reserve is owned and controlled by foreigners.  
Myth #6: The Federal Reserve has never been audited.  
Myth #7: The Federal Reserve charges interest on the currency we use.  
Myth #8: If it were not for the Federal Reserve charging the government interest, the budget would be balanced and we would have no national debt.  
Myth #9: President Kennedy was assassinated because he tried to usurp the Federal Reserve's power. Executive Order 11,110 proves it.  
Myth #10. The Legendary Tirade of Louis T. McFadden

 

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