Tales of the Freewayblogger: Impeach is the Word: Jan. 8th & 9th

Impeach is the Word: Jan. 8th & 9th

The good people at Daily Kos have decided that January 8th will be the first nationwide action for the guerrilla impeachment drive, so you know what to do: make a sign, put it up where people will see it. You can get together with some likeminded patriots and have a signpainting party over the weekend or you can employ the special, unpatented freewayblogger method: Just Do It.

Although I'm all for organizing, I've travelled enough in grassroots circles to know it can also lead to paralysis and death. One of the chief advantages of the freewayblogging medium is that it can be done quickly, easily and effectively by just one person. You.

Remember that the right to post political opinion (safely) on public property is not only guaranteed by the first amendment, it's one of the most protected forms of speech we have: it's high time we started using it.

For more on the Impeachment drive go here:
http://impeach.kennyt.com/wiki/Main_Page

And some basic signhanging and How To tips can be found here:
http://www.freewayblogger.com click on "Do It Yourself"

Questions? Drop me a line at freewayblogger@yahoo.com

posted by Freewayblogger at 8:58 AM

in their own words: Vote to take government back to the people

Vote to take government back to the people

The genuinely strategic voter is what I have called the intentional citizen: someone who actually strives to think and act as if citizenship mattered.


>by Murray Dobbin
January 6, 2006

Every vote is a strategic vote.

I say that, even though I have attacked the advocacy of strategic voting coming from the CAW's Buzz Hargrove. But my quibble isn't with strategic voting. It is really a matter of whether or not you are following a good strategy. The trouble with Hargrove's call for strategic voting was that it was just lousy strategy for those with a social democratic vision for the country.

His early election call to vote Liberal, except in ridings where the NDP had a good chance of winning, ignored the fact that it simply played into the hands of the Liberals' use of scare tactics to scoop NDP voters. Last time around, it defeated at least five NDP candidates who, as MPs, would have given the party the real balance of power.

The main problem with this kind of too-clever-by-half strategic voting is that it assumes every voter has perfect knowledge of what is happening in the election, in general, and in their riding, in particular. That's a tall order. Most voters, unfortunately, simply don't or can't take the time to gain “perfect” knowledge.

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In my home province of Saskatchewan, for example, the Liberals successfully scared enough traditional NDP voters into voting for them so that three more Conservatives won seats. In Saskatchewan, the Liberals were not a factor except in one seat. People voted strategically (in response to the Liberals' scare campaign) to keep the Conservatives out — and instead, helped elect more Conservatives.

The genuinely strategic voter is what I have called the intentional citizen: someone who actually strives to think and act as if citizenship mattered. That it does matter should be self-evident if you examine popular democracy for what it really is: a centuries-old effort to achieve some measure of equality in a world whose economic systems, left on their own, have been catastrophically unequal.

While Americans define democracy as freedom (mostly freedom to do with their money whatever they choose, that is, property rights) Canadians have defined their democracy more in terms of equality. That is why such an overwhelming majority of citizens consider medicare — a powerful example of equality in action — as the defining characteristic of our nation. Canadians judge democracy not so much by process and institutions, but by outcomes: what does democracy, in the end, provide?

Rule number one guiding the intentional citizen is understanding power, and in this context that means appreciating that what happens in Parliament actually matters. If you doubt this, ask the wealthy, who under Finance Minister Paul Martin, received 77 per cent of the personal portion of $100 billion in tax cuts (over five years) he gave out in 2000.

Or the flip side: ask Bay Street if Parliament mattered when the NDP forced the Liberals to postpone $4.6 billion in corporate tax cuts.

Or ask those who benefited from the $4.6 billion in progressive spending that resulted. These are just recent examples. We tend to forget that everything that makes this country one of the best places in the world to live from medicare, to public parks, we got out of governments.

It's easy to forget. Because we are encouraged to forget it all the time. It has almost become cool not to vote, as if this is somehow a principled thing to do. The absenteeism among young people is particularly high, even amongst those who see themselves as anti-globalization and anti-corporate. How ironic. The only institution in the world with the power to challenge corporate dominance is government. It is government which makes the laws which define what corporations are and what they can do.

For the last 25 years, most governments in Canada (and all of them at the federal level) have been willing accomplices of corporations. But the point is to take government back, not abandon the only institution that has the potential to actually make a positive difference and enforce a measure of social and economic equality. The graveyards of history are littered with people who thought voting was worth dying for. Were they wrong?

Preston Manning was a master at demonizing government, implying again and again that politicians (other than him) were corrupt or self-serving, that government itself was suspect, that it had its hands in the pockets of “taxpayers'” (not citizens), that “You know better how to spend your money than government does” and that “A government job (nurse? teacher? cop? librarian?) isn't a real job.”

Supported by the corporate media, business think-tanks, and right-wing academics, this deliberate campaign to lower expectations of what government was and could be was extremely successful, so successful that our voter turnout is now almost as bad as it is in the U.S. The people most satisfied by this abandonment of democracy and the right to vote? That's easy: Bay Street CEOs, for whom democracy is a constant threat to their power and excess profits.

Another distraction is the protest vote, the “anti-establishment” vote. It is predicated on the notion that all the traditional parties are “the same.” The problem is, they're demonstrably not the same. In the last election the progressive protest vote went to the Green Party. But the notion that a vote for Jim Harris's party is somehow a more principled vote is dangerously flawed.

Even if you believe the party is strong on the environment and democracy (I argue it's not), if your principled vote actually gets you less — in terms of tangible results — than some other vote, then those considering voting Green where the NDP, which has strong green policies, might win, you may want to examine what they mean by principled.

If it doesn't mean actually voting to ensure that state power is used to make the world better and greener, then the principle is self-defeating.

The intentional citizen, whether fiscal conservative, environmentalist or social democrat, is deliberately strategic at election time and that means three things: being acutely aware of your values and the policies that reflect them, judging the trustworthiness of the various leaders and keeping foremost in your mind that Parliament, and who actually gets to vote there, actually matters. It's not rocket science. But it does mean keeping your eye on the prize and not getting distracted by the chatter and noise designed to knock you off track.

Murray Dobbin is a Vancouver journalist. His latest book is Paul Martin: CEO for Canada? This piece has appeared in The Tyee.

Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign: Entire Region of Norway to boycott Apartheid Israel!

Entire Region of Norway to boycott Apartheid Israel!
Worldwide Activism, Palestinian grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, December 16th, 2005

The regional council of the Sør-Trøndelag in Norway has passed a motion calling for a comprehensive boycott on Israeli goods to be followed up with an awareness raising campaign across the region. Sør-Trøndelag has a population of 270,000 out of Norway’s 4.6 million. Trondheim, Norway`s third largest city, forms part of the region and will participate in the boycott initiative. The council committed itself to this motion as a result of intensive work by Norwegian activists that had launched a national Boycott Israel campaign this June. The success of this motion has marked a massive move forwards for boycotts of Apartheid Israel.

Building from the region`s experience of support for the South African Anti-Apartheid struggle, the people and their representatives in Sør-Trøndelag have once again sided with the calls for justice and liberation.

The decision comes just weeks after a city in the Basque country, Arbizu, passed a similar motion in their solidarity with the Palestinian people. The news will give further boost to the campaigning efforts of other cities and campaigners across the globe and will help stimulate more initiatives to follow the Palestinian call for comprehensive boycott, sanctions and divestment campaign against Israel.

Full text of the motion (translation by the Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign):

Boycott Israeli goods

An international boycott campaign against Israel is now being launched. Apartheid in South Africa was condemned by the entire world and this contributed to the fall of the regime. Israel`s occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Syrian Golan Heights has been condemned by the UN. The Israeli settlements violate International Law. The construction of the Wall has been declared illegal by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the refugees still wait to return to their homes.

Sør-Trøndelag was the first [Norwegian] county to boycott South Africa. Upholding this good tradition, the County council, as the first in the country, has decided to boycott Israeli goods, by not buying Israeli goods and through awareness raising efforts. We call on the population to do the same.

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Democracy Now! | Russell Simmons, Larry Hamm and Julianne Malveaux on the Millions More Movement

Ten years after the Million Man march, the Millions More Movement is heading to Washington DC. This time around the event is open to women and is supported by a broad coalition of groups. We speak with grassroots organizer Larry Hamm, economist Julianne Malveaux and Russell Simmons, founder of Hip Hop label Def Jam records. ...

The Million Phone March To Impeach President Bush

IMPEACH PRESIDENT BUSH NOW. NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY, WHAT MATTERS IS WHAT WE SAY!sm
By now it is clear that anyone not locked in the basement of Fox News that president Bush and his entire administration lied us into a disastrous, unnecessary, illegal and immoral war in Iraq. Not only did they lie, as demonstrated by the Downing Street minutes, they knowingly conspired in those lies. And they did so maliciously, cynically, and with the intent of enabling their personal business cronies engage in no-bid war profiteering, in effect to embezzle hundreds of billions of dollars from the federal treasury.

Moreover, when challenged on the biggest of those lies, that Iraq posed a nuclear attack threat to the United States, high level members of the Bush administration committed treason by exposing the identity of an important CIA operative whose dedicated life's mission was preventing the spread of the very weapons of mass destruction the Bush Administration had used against the American public as weapons of fear. And president Bush has protected the perpetrators of these acts, failing to remove them from their positions of trust as he represented he would do at the very minimum based on their manifest involvement.

Tell your Representative and both of your Senators it is time to impeach president Bush now!

See: http://www.millionphonemarch.com/impeach.htm

Mohamed Harkat really needs you NOW!!!

(please reply to this email or to Sophie Harkat at sophielamarche@hotmail.com)

Dear Friends and Supporters, (please share with your lists or post)

Many of you generously offered to help us on many occasions if we ever needed anything....well that time has come....we need your help NOW !!!

All of you are very familiar with our case and know that a negative ruling came down on March 22nd in regards to the validity of the Security Certificate under which my husband, Mohamed Harkat has been detained since Dec. 10th, 2002 (31 months) without any charges or access to the evidence. On March 22nd, Judge Dawson of the Federal Court of Canada ruled that there were ''reasonable'' grounds to believe that my husband was a threat to National Security...all based on SECRET EVIDENCE that CSIS provided. My lawyers never had or will never have access to that ''so called'' evidence.

The good news is...120 after the ruling, Moe is eligible to apply for a bail hearing. No date has been set yet, but my lawyers are looking into a hearing date at end of August. Most of you know that Adil Charkaoui from Montreal has been released on bail in February of this year...although his conditions are VERY harsh...he is now allowed to live with his wife and kids...something I have been longing for a VERY long time. Moe can't wait to come back home and taste ''some kind'' of freedom in the near future and enjoy the simple things in life like fresh air or enjoying a homemade meal...except for my couscous cause it is simply terrible !!!

WHY this email ??? Well this is when you come in !!! We need local supporters and friends to support Moe's conditions by signing bonds, sureties and affidavits. We also need help raising
$50 000 that will be needed for bail and legal expenses. Before you commit to this...we want you to be well informed. That is why we are having an information session:

WHEN: Wednesday, July 27th at 7pm
WHERE: University of Ottawa, Simard Hall, Room 125
WHO: The Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee and Yavar Hameed, Human Rights Lawyer will be there to explain the entire process and answer all your questions.

WHY: At the bail hearing for Adil Charkaoui, the Federal Court Judge noted being impressed by the massive local support and high profile folks which Mr. Charkaoui had received...we have to do better or surpass that in order to make this happen for Moe. We are looking for over 40 local supporters who are willing to help us out !...before you do...we want you to be well informed. Please come to our info. session. Time is limited....we need to make this happen in the next month or so in order to be prepare for a bail hearing date in the near future. All the paper work also needs to be filled with the Federal Court which is time consuming. Moe and I are very stressed, because this is are only chance at being reunited...please help us relieve some of this stress by helping us out !

Please reply if you can attend this information session !...please bring others who can help or need more information. Join our committee for the next few weeks...help us raise the necessary funds and support !!

Also...Moe's birthday is coming up on Aug. 6th...please take a minute to send a birthday card, letter, poem or pictures ! (no gifts or books allowed) Your words of encouragement and support DO make a difference !

Mohamed Harkat
Ottawa Carleton Detention Center
OCDC
2244 Innes Road
Ottawa, ON
K1B 4C4

If you wish to visit Moe...let me know !

Hope to see you on July 27th at 7pm !
Thanks for your continued support and dedication to the cause.
Sincerely,
Sophie Harkat

Weekend 9/11 Events & News from 911Truth.Org

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9/11Truth.Org News
September 8, 2005, Thursday

Included in this issue:

I. Statement on Katrina & Ways To Help from our 9/11 New Orleans Group
II. 9/11 Fourth Anniversary Calendar
III. Other Upcoming Events
IV. New at the Website
V. 911Truth.Org Organizational Changes

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Dear 9/11 Truth Warriors:

We wish to take a moment to thank every one of you who has worked to find and expose the truth of 9/11 during these last four years. Every day brings us one step closer to our ultimate goals of exposing the truth, demanding justice, and restoring the power to the People, from whom it continues to be stripped as a result of this "New Pearl Harbor." Every person's role in this is critical--whether you've talked to a neighbor or organized a regional event, whether you've just begun to see the big picture or you're a walking encyclopedia of the facts--if we are to see justice carried out, we must all participate. We thank you for your fortitude, sacrifice and relentless courage.

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I. Hurricane Katrina

First and foremost, our hearts go out to the millions suffering from the events of Katrina and this bureaucratic disaster that has destroyed so many lives. It is immediately clear that, once again, our brothers’ and sisters’ well-being was the very last consideration of the elitist cabal that has taken over our country. Questions must be answered immediately, and criminal charges must be filed against those responsible—beginning with FEMA and Homeland Security leaders and ending with the White House and Congress. We must NOT allow a compromised group of so-called investigators to hamper a thorough and complete accounting of fact, or to allow the very parties guilty of crimes to “investigate” themselves this time, as happened with the 9/11 Commission. We must demand legal proceedings against those who have caused such death and destruction. We call on every Congressperson today--represent your constituents by hearing our demands and acting upon them, immediately; those who don’t must be removed from office. We call on attorneys across the land to immediately respond—find the best vehicle for recourse and begin preparing the Case For the People NOW! And we call on every person, We the People, to rise up and DEMAND a full accounting and criminal proceedings. We will not let this pass quietly into the annals of history as “just another event in the Rise of American Fascism about which the people did nothing.”

A few Katrina-related links at 911truth.org:
Les Jameison, "The Real State of the Union After Hurricane Katrina"
Bryan Sacks, "It's Not Just New Orleans That Needs Rebuilding"
Paul Craig Roberts, "Impeach Bush Now"

A bit of good news, too...We've heard from Marty Romar, 9/11 activist from New Orleans:

Janice,
Thanks for the email. I got out on Sunday night, but I have friends who are sticking it out successfully in the French Quarter.

Please send out a notice to the 9/11 community that Andrea Garland needs funds for her activities related to bringing in supplies to our friends still in the city. It is very important politically that we have people NOT evacuated so as to be witnesses against the coming police state that Chertoff wants to create there. Visit GetYourActOn to make contributions and read her blog.

Also, Veterans for Peace is another related group. They're setting up shop in Covington, LA. VFP has a paypal feature you can use. They'll be needing money and warm bodies (if you can go down and help them) for many months.

Thank you and God bless.
Marty
[more from Marty at the end of this newsletter]

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II. 9/11/05 Events

As 911Truth.org continues to evolve, our objective remains clear--offer an umbrella under which everyone who shares this mission can join together to support each other's efforts and thereby exponentially increase the power each of us wields. In line with that goal, following is a list of the 9/11 events scheduled for this weekend that we know about. If your group's event is missing, please post it at the 911Truth.Org calendar. Thanks to all of you who are organizing these important actions.

Jan Hoyer, Art Director, asks readers to submit photographs of these events, so she can put together an online photo album documenting our efforts! Please send to jan@911truth.org.

In case you were thinking about staying home this weekend . . .
"Activists from the epicenter of NYC who are in the streets throughout each week talking to people from all backgrounds report that the groundswell of awareness is gaining momentum. Now with the McKinney Hearings, which cast serious doubt on the 9/11 Commission Report, being aired in prime time on C-SPAN twice this week, we have further indication that the foundation for an awakening of critical mass proportions is emerging. All we have to do is stay the course." Les Jamieson, 9/2/05

San Francisco, Colorado, Toronto, previously announced on the site

Portland, OR
Morgan Reynolds, Chief Economist for Labor Dept. during G.W. Bush's first term speaking.
Saturday, 9/10, 1:00, Main Library, 801 SW 10th Ave.
Sponsored by Portland911
Contact: Richard Frager, science@zzz.com, 503-740-6776

Kansas City, MO
9/11 Rally & Speak-Out
Sunday, 2:00-4:00, 47th & Main at the Fountain, Kansas City, MO
Sponsored by 9/11 Visibility Project-Kansas City & community groups
Contact: Janice Matthews, janicematthews@sbcglobal.net, 816.444.3249

Columbia, MO
Protest Rally and Teach-in
Sunday, 3:30-7:30, Courthouse Square
Sponsored by Mid-Missouri September 11 Inside Job Awareness Campaign (SIJAC)
Contact: Abe Haim, ah0e7@mizzou.edu, 573-256-8633

Phoenix, AZ
9/11 Truth Investigation Seminar
Saturday, 9:00-5:00 at Glendale Public Library, Main Branch Auditorium, 19th Avenue
Sponsored by 9/11Truth of Arizona
Contact: 911cd@cox.net

Milwaukee, WI (2 events)
2nd Annual Marathon 9/11 Truth Teach-In
Sponsored by MUJCA-NET, Muslim-Jewish-Christian Alliance for 9/11, http://mujca.com
Friday 9/9/2005, 9:00am-11:00pm, U.W.-Madison Library Mall
Contact: Dr. Kevin J. Barrett, kevin@mujca.com, 608-583-2132(weekends); 608- 238-6472 (weekdays)

The Unanswered Questions of 9/11, Four Years Later
Sunday, 7:00pm, Peace Action Center, 1001 E Keefe, Milwaukee
Contact: Rob Steinhofer, 414-964-5158

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III. Other Upcoming Events

September 24-26, Washington, DC -- Massive March, Rally & Festival

We hope many of you can join us at the historic September mobilization to End the War in Iraq (see details at United for Peace and Justice and International ANSWER). We are a major force in the anti-war movement and hope to be extremely visible at this event, as we have been in the past at national events. Please bring your 9/11 signs, banners and educational outreach materials for tabling. Gabriel Day has agreed to network with others coming and to assist in coordinating 9/11 activities there - contact him at sharethetruth911@yahoo.com, 831-325-3135 for more information. We will later have updates for you on specifics for a gathering Friday or Saturday night, tabling and a concerted outreach effort during events that weekend. We look forward to seeing you there!

Information on solidarity demonstrations in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and hundreds of cities nationwide, as well as Ride Boards available United for Peace and ANSWER websites. Statements regarding the weekend at Iraq Veterans Against the War :
* Elected Representatives Decide Now to Bring the Troops Home
* We Take Care of Them When They Get Here
* We Never Again Send Our Loved Ones to War Based on Lies!
Veterans For Peace Statement on Bring Them Home Now

Letter from Cindy Sheehan, Sept. 7, 2005, at UFPJ:
In case you have not already made plans to be there, I want to encourage you to join me in Washington, DC that weekend. I'll be marching on Saturday, September 24 with United for Peace and Justice, and later that same day will be speaking at the "Operation Ceasefire" free concert at the Washington Monument.

OCTOBER 28-30, 2005 Emergency Truth Convergence—Midwest in Kansas City
Speakers Dr. Robert Bowman, Jim Thompson, Charles Key and many others, on 9/11, Oklahoma City, the Iraq Invasion and ensuing loss of our civil liberties, PATRIOT Act... Workshops on what we can DO about it!
Details at ETC--Midwest

Related: The DC-Emergency Truth Convergence, cosponsored by 911Truth.Org, was a great success. Photos, audio, and video are now available at www.truthemergency.us

MID-OCTOBER
Dr. David Ray Griffin will be speaking in New York City. Details to be announced soon, at NY911Truth.org

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IV. New on the Website

Rounding out the 14 new articles posted the end of August, the Able Danger article is now finished!

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V. Organizational Changes at 911Truth.Org

We are pleased to announce some exciting changes within 911Truth.Org, including the addition of several Steering Committee members. More information to come on this in the next email, but in the meantime, please check out our evolving About Us page! We believe these changes will enhance our ability to serve the needs of 9/11 activists worldwide and achieve the justice necessary to bring about the end of our organizational existence! Toward that end, and

Toward peace through truth,

Janice Matthews, Executive Director, Kansas City, 816-444-3249
David Kubiak, International Campaign Advisor, Kennebunkport, ME
Gabriel Day, Outreach Director, Santa Cruz, CA, 831-325-3135
Jan Hoyer, Art Director, Kansas City
Les Jamieson, East Coast Program Coordinator, New York City
Bryan Sacks, Content Editor, Philadelphia
Nick Levis, NY Correspondent, New York City

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More from Marty Romar, New Orleans:
Hey,
Please pass this around. C3 member Mike Howells wanted the blogosphere to know the political importance of having residents stay in the city during martial law. There are many jobs during the current rebuilding effort that could be worked by people like Mike and others who are still there. There's no reason to move everyone out. In fact, others should be allowed in preferentially for just that purpose.

We cannot allow our city to be sterilized by a foreign culture of Halliburton contract help.

As long as C3 has a member in the city, C3 has standing in the issuance of demands such as guaranteeing that elections in the spring of 2006 go as planned, with the entire New Orleans diaspora voting with their drivers licenses, or the fact they have been processed in the many shelters around the country.

We cannot allow the post-Katrina New Orleans government to go back to business as usual, where the poor were being systematically driven from their homes, black youth killed by police, and our educational system driven into mayhem through sinister political operatives. We have to rip off the ugly face of racist/classist New Orleans....dead bodies floating in canals is nothing to what was going on every day in pre-Katrina New Orleans, and that New Orleans HAS to change.

Marty

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