CIVILIANISM PODCAST

Happy Holidays and Happy Solstice!

What an oddball that Willard aka *Mitt* Romney is. He just could not quit his religion even though it hardly fit his thinking on race. In war news, juancole.com easily sums up why the surge is not working, along with a few political bits of info. His compilation of articles proves the surge is not working. There are 30,000 Iraqis in prison, suspected to be innocent, and in general, less Sunnis in Iraqi society than before; and another 1 million Iraqis displaced into Syria because of our “surge”. That’s not an indication that something is working. Add to that 600 attacks a month. Those who say the surge is working aren’t reading the news, they’re watching Bush’s Brain Channel.

More on Bush, drugs, White House holiday decorating…. and Barney cam. It’s all such an insulated world they live in.

Trouble in ‘The Holy Land’ –Palestinian peace conference in Paris — lotsa money floating around, and they just need to give it away. Oh sure, it’s loans from China. A technicality. Think the 7.4 billion will help? It might if any of it was going to Gaza, but it’s not. The BBC article on Gaza is here. Will Paris cash help Gaza? See this article.

Rice is still taking a hard line on Iran, which gets us nowhere. Republican Rep. Wayne Gilchrist is talking to Iran, with or without Condi Rice.

Network Centric Warfare Conference
Website: A vision that will change the future! (Let’s hope not)
While you’re at it, have a look at this site.

The “Institute for Defense and Government advancement” brought to you by the private corporations that fund the technology that makes modern warfare possible. The NetCentric brochure is here (pdf)

Support the Impeachment of Dick Cheney
Visit Rep. Robert Wexler’s website for more information and to sign the impeachment petition. I play a portion of his interview from Florida Progressive Radio, which you can get via Blog Talk Radio.

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[tags]solar power, climate change, network, net centric, centric, warfare, conference, mitt romney, laura bush, barney cam, impeach dick cheney[/tags]

A few more issues and news to squeeze into the last of 2007 and this is part one. The winter solstice is nearly here, so brighten up your dark wintery thoughts with dreams of impeachment. It might be coming to a country near you in 2008! The KBR employee and rape victim Jamie Leigh Jones gets her day testifying before Congress, but the Justice Department decides to skip it.

Tasers are deadly weapons…..read the stories here and here. The UN considers tasers dangerous weapons of torture. Newsweek reports women being convinced they need new designer tasers, just as deadly as the original.

Chris Dodd and his FISA performance in the Senate can be found on YouTube, but in this podcast he thanks us for getting involved, because our involvement works!

Voting systems are still a mess in Ohio and other key states. I wonder if our votes will count in 2008. Please, Iowa and New Hampshire, choose wisely in January. Remember you are basically choosing for the entire country, and that responsibility is big.

Besides the end of our involvement in wars, impeachment and accountability for our criminals in government are what I most want for Christmas. Impeachment info and climate info coming up in part two.

Thanks to Kel for his comments on the media and thanks to AJ for another great Eco Moment. DOWNLOAD THIS EPISODE HERE or subscribe on the right.

[tags]voting,tasers,2008 election, democratic, chris dodd, fisa, progressive, jamie leigh jones,foundation,justice department[/tags]

Blackwater becomes an even bigger problem as they flex their steroided muslces and become global. American taxpayers continue to fund them and someday that may come back to bite us in the backside. Who will stop them from becoming the world’s largest private military? Blackwater continues to get massive government contracts.

The American employee of KBR who was raped and will not receive justice in the U.S. criminal court, Jamie Leigh Jones, is also nearly ignored by the mainstream media. She will not have her day in criminal court or in the media, because her case would bring up unpleasant truths about contractors; how they are outside the law and cannot be prosecuted. KBR and Halliburton employees are protected from the U.S. justice system no matter what they do, leaving their employees, like other contractors (Blackwater) able to rape and murder people and suffer no consequences. In fact, Blackwater has been rewarded with even more contracts after their murder allegations. Halliburton/KBR also continue to enjoy taxpayer-funded government contracts despite these appalling rape allegations.

“The Justice Dept. has not pressed charges because of a loophole where neither the U.S. or Iraqi legal systems can be applied to private contractors in Iraq. They are effectively above the law. Halliburton has requested private arbitration, a forum in which Halliburton has won 80% of the cases.”

U.S. Senate Approves Scaled Back Energy Bill

The new energy bill is disappointing for a lot of reasons, mainly because it doesn’t do nearly enough. CAFE standards for engines that will be obsolete in 10 years? Sorry, Dems. I’m not happy with this. You are giving everything to Bush that he wants, including another $70 billion for more war, after promising you wouldn’t do this. In addition, you are not thinking ahead, and you don’t understand climate change. Fire Nancy Pelosi, and fire every Democrat that voted for more war funding. Fire the Democrats that missed the budget vote too (except Chris Dodd,–explanation of that next time). Thanks to Mac for his voicemail on the energy bill.

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[tags]Blackwater, Halliburton, KBR, Jamie Leigh Jones, justice system, budget bill, omnibus bill, Democrats, corruption, Republicans, Chris Dodd, Barack Obama, Energy bill, more war funding, capitulation[/tags]

Mitt Romney wants us to know he is so religious that religion and government will never be separated on his watch. It’s true it would be some kind of miracle if he ever got elected, given that embarrassing speech on his personal religious beliefs the other day, but we learned nothing about his Mormonism. And that’s fine, because it’s irrelevant. We need a president who respects that the U.S. is legally a secular country.

Congress passes the weird, unworkable SAFE Act. It’s heading to the Senate where we can only hope this nonsense stops. Do we really need to define obscene artwork again in the U.S.? Can the government really scoop up all of our internet activity under the excuse of tracking child porn over unsecured wi-fi? They’re going to try. The legislation is on its way!
Links: Cnet News
Downsized DC on the RTBA — Make Congress Read the Bills!
SAFE Act — gov.track.com

Shamika, the soldier in Iraq, calls in to AAR again and I have her latest comments. (Her first phone call included was in Civilianism episode #21.) Thanks also for the voicemail from Matt. I wish I was still as optimistic about everyone getting along as I was back in April. Maybe next year!

This ends my daily marathon–mission not accomplished, but that’s OK.

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[tags]Mormon,Mitt Romney,Religion speech, JFK, SAFE act, Downsize DC, RTBA, Congress doesn’t read bills, Shamika, soldier dissent[/tags]

The climate change conference in Bali is being snubbed by both the U.S. mainstream media and the president of the U.S. Neither entity seems to understand or accept science as important. Coincidence? I get an email from Al Gore, a man who does understand science, and I update you on the basics of the conference in Bali. Also included is another Eco Moment, a commentary on climate change by yours truly, and a radio show compilation on alternative energy by Alan Jarand, director of a radio station in Illinois. Special commentary on climate change by John Edwards, one of only three Democrats who attended the National Forum on climate change held November 17.

Links mentioned in the podcast:

Bali Climate Conference
Gore’s Climate Petition — Sign here.
John Edward’s entire climate change speech can be found here

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[tags]Bali, Indonesia, environment, John Edwards, climate change, conference, summit, al Gore, eco moment, progressive podcast, liberal podcast, Civilianism[/tags]

Bush denies that the NIE report changes anything, while China and other slightly more rational countries insist that everything has, actually changed and further sanctions against Iran might not fly quite so high. What are they smoking in the White House? Bush, John Bolton, and the other Neoconservatives are frightened little boys, staying terrified while terrifying all of us. There is still, as always, something wrong with this picture.

So while the world celebrates that there is no nuclear program in Iran after all, Bush and his NeoCon cadre continue to insist we should all be very wary and concerned. Here is the bizarro press conference transcript where Bush claimed nothing has changed except his need to convince our lazy Congress to throw away more billions of dollars on war and permanent bases, exact purposes unknown.

We should be frightened of what he means: knowledge of how to create a nuclear weapon is his benchmark for presumably “stopping” (i.e., “attacking”) Iran. You will hear in this press conference some of the exact same language and philosophy he used in the BS buildup to war with Iraq.

Karl Rove is in hot water, and I have a coffee-related Eco Moment from AJ of the 2CentsWorth podcast and a voicemail from Chris of St. Pete for Peace. Thanks to both of you from this introvert. And yes, podcasting is activism. Find your voice and do whatever it is you can do. Even if it’s just picking up the phone and making a phone call to your senator, that’s activism. I guarantee if you try it, you will make a difference. Make sure you listen to the song at the end!

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[tags]NIE report, Bush press conference, denial of reality, wolfowitz, Neocons. AEI, John Bolton[/tags]

It is time to come together as a nation and say enough. It is time to come together as a country and say no more. No more suspicion, no more illegal wars, no more treating citizens like terrorists, no more passing laws that allow Americans to be treated like criminals for doing nothing. Freedom of speech is more important than a false sense of security. Keep the internet free; arm yourself with knowledge. Stand up for your rights! Call your Senator and tell them to vote NO on S. 1959. The main Congress switchboard number: 202 225-3121

The National Intelligence Estimate(pdf) says Iran is no threat and stopped developing nuclear weapons in 2003. Bush and Cheney knew this for nearly a year and still terrorized us with visions of “World War Three”. We need to listen to the rational voices, not the hysteria from the chickenhawks in Washington.

From Naomi Wolf, Fascist America in 10 Easy Steps

Watch the hearing about the internet and how our “gatherings” online scare Jane Harman. CSPAN video here.
Questions? Send or call them in. 320-300-4273.

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[tags]thought crimes, HR 1955, S 1959, internet terrorism, homegrown terrorism, violent radicalization[/tags]