CIVILIANISM PODCAST

Politics, waste and fraud are related topics in the U.S. but one of them isn’t getting enough media attention. Meanwhile, our media has a problem fairly covering Hillary Clinton, and I play opinions from AAR of how someone else believes that also. What are Hillary’s plans, and will it all be over after this weekend, and will all the votes be counted? (It looks like they will not be, which was announced after this was recorded.)

Here is information on the movie In the Valley of Elah (trailor) and Democracy Now’s Winter Soldier episode.

What does the future Bush administration have in store for us this summer? It could be an attack on Iraq, or it could be random incarceration of anyone it chooses under Directive 51.
NSPD-51 and the Potential for a Coup d’état during a National Emergency.
Also discussed: Top Iraq Contractor Skirts US Taxes Offshore
Iraq Spending has ignored the rules, according to the Pentagon itself.
Byron Dorgan and the Senate appropriations committee on waste, fraud and abuse has found that billions of American taxpayer dollars have supposedly gone to fund war and reconstruction, but are now missing. There is little accountability in Iraq and contractors are war profiteers of the most irresponsible kind.

Pictured above is President Bush at the Air Force Academy, his last speech as commander and chief to Air Force graduates, May 28, 2008. His speech declared that they could fight terrorism by sitting in a cubicle in the U.S. and pushing a button so that a drone thousands of miles away could bomb a “terrorist hideout”. I’m sure that’s exactly what the Air Force graduates were hoping did not happen to their careers. You can find the original photo and others here. The video is interesting too.

This episode also discusses what happens if Karl Rove ignores his latest subpoena, and how Congressman Wexler is still pursuing the impeachment of George Bush.

Byron Dorgan, U.S. Senator from North Dakota, from the U.S. Senate talking about waste fraud and abuse by the U.S. contractors in Iraq is played. If you want more of an in-depth interview with him, see this one by Anti-war Radio in which he discusses corruption within the al-Maliki government, the State Department corruption in Iraq, Halliburton Iraq contracts, the situation of Iraqi judge al-Radi and more.
You can download this episode here or subscribe on the right.

[tags]Memorial Day, Byron Dorgan, Waste Fraud and Abuse, government corruption, Iraq, war, spending, taxpayer fraud, Scott McClellan, Hillary, Obama, Democrats[/tags]

The main portion of this episode is a radio interview with Australian climate specialist Philip Sutton on climate change and the future. Sutton is the co-author of Climate Code Red and he tells us what we should expect in the next few years and beyond, and why it’s a cause for action, not despair.

The Senate did it again. Who voted for more war? Hillary Clinton voted NO on the $165 billion for more war and occupation. McCain didn’t even show up. Obama was there but didn’t vote. Nice showing for the two “presumptives”. I hope that’s not an indication of how hard they would “work” as president. See a list of the other senators who voted to continue the war here: Who voted to continue the war.

If you are interested in the Synthesis/Regeneration magazine I mentioned, I found the website for it here.

Oil Change International: Who does Big Oil donate to the most? Find out here.

The Obama direct mail piece about Kentucky Coal that campaigned in the state of Kentucky for him can be found here on Grist.org.

” . . . . Meanwhile, Obama may believe in clean Kentucky coal, (that doesn’t exist) but many residents of the state are more familiar with the dirty kind. According to activists on the ground, strip-mining “is turning Eastern Kentucky into a despicable latrine.” Hundreds of mountains have been leveled, leaving poverty and unemployment in their wake. The number of jobs created in Kentucky by coal has dropped by 60 percent in the last 15 years.”

Not good.

Download “The Future Part 2” here or subscribe on the right.

Thanks again to everyone who has donated and is sending me to the Media Reform Conference!

Climate Code Red: The Campaign for a sustainability emergency

“Climate policy is characterised by the habituation of low expectations and a culture of failure. There is an urgent need to understand global warming and the tipping points for dangerous impacts that we have already crossed as a sustainability emergency, that takes us beyond the politics of failure-inducing compromise. We are now in a race between climate tipping points and political tipping points.”

Download the report CLIMATE CODE RED here.

Music: Bombs by Faithless

[tags]Philip Sutton, Climate Code Red, Clean coal, Emergency, Obama, Hillary, Election 2008, environment, climate change, global warming, Kentucky, coal[/tags]

We know a few things about our future. A new president in 2009, ending the Iraq war, and restoring our rights. And the biggest challenge of all, a new way of dealing with energy so that we can stop climate change in its tracks. Sacrifices and concessions to nature are in our future so that we won’t succumb to climate change and so that we save numerous animals from extinction. The goal is survival of everyone, not just the rich, as the Cheney-Bush administration have set as their goal.

Scott Ritter and the Jerusalem Post think that Bush will drop bombs on Iran before he leaves office. That would unleash a disaster as we have never seen before, so we need to try to stop this from happening. Then while this podcast was uploading, the Senate passed more war funding; this time $165 billion. Don’t they have any willpower at all?

Also discussed: Big Oil testifies before Congress and offer excuses for their ginormous profits. The Democrats try again on the farm bill and funding the war, should the candidates run together on one ticket, and then Hillary and I, separately, discuss sexism in this campaign.

NPR talks to James Hansen and he lays out how we need to get up to speed on this climate change problem as soon as possible.

Do you know how much fuel war is using and how much pollution these wars are causing? The information is right here in A Climate of War

http://priceofoil.org/climateofwar/

James Hansen’s document on C02 goals, click here. (PDF)

For the extensive report on climate change, Climate Code Red is here.
From the site:

“We are facing rapid warming impacts: the danger is immediate, not just in the future

*Serious climate-change impacts are already happening, both more rapidly and at lower global temperature increases than projected (22-23). As the USA’s most eminent climate scientist, James Hansen, told 15,000 of his colleagues at a conference in December 2007, significant “climate tipping” points have already been passed (8) (note 1 below). These include large ice sheet disintegration, significant sea level rises of up to 5 metres this century (9-10) and devastating species loss (17). The Arctic will soon be free of summer sea-ice (2-4) and the Greenland ice sheet is in imminent danger”

You can download this episode here or subscribe on the right. Make sure to check out part 2 for the interview with Philip Sutton, specialist in sustainable living.

[tags]future, oil, coal, energy, clean, sexism, Congress, Democrats, Obama, Hillary, McCain, Election 2008, Climate Code Red, Philip Sutton[/tags]

Think it is possible to keep your anti-war idealism and back a non-anti-war candidate? Maybe, maybe not (see below). Making concessions for politics is what most people end up doing but it doesn’t necessarily mean you lose your principles. We need to be goal-oriented and defeat McCain, and in this podcast I make a case for it. I think even Republicans might agree, McCain isn’t really what they want either. The most important thing is to keep Republicans far away from the White House and if that happens, real change will happen.
After admitting he approved torture, Bush has made us less safe. The torture may continue, the uncharged prisoners in Guantanamo Bay may continue to be held, but in the meantime, the ACLU has obtained important documents through the FOIA. This is from the ACLU:

“NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union has obtained previously withheld documents from the Defense Department, including internal investigations into the abuse of detainees in U.S. custody overseas. Uncensored documents released as a result of the ACLU’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit shed light on the deaths of detainees in Iraq and internal disagreement within the military over harsh interrogation practices used at Guantanamo Bay.”

False Pretenses: Following 9/11, President Bush and seven top officials of his administration waged a carefully orchestrated campaign of misinformation about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Doug Feith, Architect of the Iraq War, and head of the Office of Special Plans, appeared on the Daily Show, and hear some of his cut interview.

Environmental news: The Guardian reports that we have reached levels of 367 ppm C02 in the atmosphere. This is not good news. The levels are rising to dangerous levels while our “leadership” doesn’t do nearly enough.

*MEDIA REFORM CONFERENCE info here*.

Phillipe Sands — the Green Light

TORTURE: Prisoner 063 and the Keith Olbermann Special Comment of May 13.

This podcast also contains a large part of the last Keith Olbermann Special Comment on Bush. It’s a scorcher!

You can Download Podcast #53 here.

U.S. is continuing to bomb homes Sadr City: Hospital was accidently bombed as neighborhood house was bombed, no ‘terrorists’ inside.

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed’s crimes confessed to under waterboarding, now he’s one of five that will probably be given the death penalty, even though their “evidence” of crimes was obtained under torture. He confessed to over 30 (some outrageous) terrorists attacks, and if he was tortured (he was) none of it is admissible in court.

DON’T TAKE this to mean I won’t change my mind about the “Democrats”. I always reserve the right to change my mind about politics, politicians and election topics.

[tags]political, progressive, podcast, Civilianism, Civilianism, Countdown, Olbermann, special comment, Daily Show, Feith, interview, anti-war, anti-torture, torture, campaign 2009, election[/tags]

Looking for Donors/Sponsors so I can attend the National Media Reform Conference
June 6-8 2008, Minneapolis

Update: Amount raised so far: $ 400 — I have reached my goal — Thank you to everyone who donated!

The Civilianism podcast is back . . . . Meanwhile, I’m seeking donations/sponsors so I can attend a major media conference with the pros in Minneapolis. I’ve been podcasting and blogging about news and political issues for 2-1/2 years, yet have never gone to a media conference, mainly because they’re very expensive. Everything I do is volunteer work or freelance, so I would need to raise at least $350 in order to go to this conference. It’s very expensive and even that will not cover the cost of the conference (3 days) and hotel, but it sure would help a lot.

I will really be thrilled to meet Amy Goodman, Bill Moyers, and Naomi Klein, Laura Flanders, (maybe Helen Thomas?) and many more progressive media people, and be able to hear them speak about media — real media — and what we can do to fix it, or fix the problem, will be fantastic. Read more about it here and see who was there last year!
The donation button and link to the conference information now works.

Donors sending me there so far:

$100 from Steve T. — Thank you!

$ 50 from Darin A.. — Thank you!

$ 50 from Carlos B. — Thank you!

$ 50 from Katherine S. — Thank you!

$ 50 from Thomas S. — Thank you!

$ 40 from Jason K. — Thank you!

$ 40 from Mac B. — Thank you!

$ 10 from Alvin — Thank you!

$ 10 from John M. — Thank you!

The goal has been reached, thanks to you, and I really looking forward to going! I sincerely appreciate the help I got to attend this.

“But if American democracy is to survive, we must all participate.

Whether it’s standing in a vigil like the Ukrainians did, joining a political party, sending money to your favorite reader-supported websites and groups, or forwarding articles to friends and speaking out in our homes and workplaces, we all must all “consider the end” and “resist the beginnings.” And we must do so now, today.”

– Thom Hartmann, author and radio show host