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Revive U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

This country has made remarkable progress on civil rights over our history. We’ve moved from slavery to segregation to equal rights under the law. African-Americans have gained the right to vote, the right to equal employment opportunity. Open racism has become increasingly unacceptable. Gays and lesbians have progressed toward equal rights. Same-sex marriage is increasingly accepted in law and in practice.

Yet in the past years we’ve been presented with inescapable evidence of continuing systemic discrimination. Ferguson and many other abuses sparked the Black Lives Matter movement that exposed the systemic and too often deadly bias of our criminal justice system.

Liberals and conservatives alike have criticized mass incarceration of nonviolent offenders, disproportionately people of color.

The wealth gap between the races has increased dramatically, as African-Americans and Latinos were disproportionately targeted and victimized by the systemic fraud that led to the financial collapse.

Another Call for a New Independent Commission to Re-investigate the Controlled Demolitions of WTC Towers 1, 2 & 7 on 9/11/01

Yesterday, on April 11, 2016, constituents of Minnesota US Congressperson Rick Nolan were informed of a 2015 House Resolution (HR 14) that 41 House Congresspersons signed onto (26 Democrat/15 Republicans). Among the co-sponsors were 3 Minnesotan DFLers Rick Nolan, Collin Peterson and Tim Walz. A nearly identical resolution had been introduced in the US Senate on June 2, 2015. Neither of Minnesota’s Senators, Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, signed onto that one.

 

Nolan’s letter concluded: “The time for secrecy is over.The American people and the families of the victims of 9-11 deserve the truth.”

Here is the essence of the resolution:

House Resolution 14, in the US House of Representatives, January 6, 2015:

Resolved, that

(1) the President should declassify the 28-page section of the Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks of September 2001; and

Comfest Member Meeting

Mandala logo

The Community Festival
Thursday, May 5, 7:30 PM - MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Goodale Park Shelterhouse Building
(come at 7 for a meal - bring your own plate and utensils)
www.comfest.com

 

it's her Politics I don't like

s Hillary Qualified? Is Bernie Qualified? Who Decides?

o what happens if a campaign tries “disqualification” as a tactic?

Hillary Clinton and the Clinton campaign hinted and hinted and hinted that Bernie Sanders is not qualified to be president, but they may never have actually said it. No matter. Some news media believed them, took the hints for facts, and reported that Hillary said Bernie was not qualified. In response, Bernie openly and loudly said Hillary is not qualified to be president. New York media predators had a grand time chewing on all this raw meat. And that was just last week.

Are You Ready for President Paul Ryan?

 

The Democratic party is teetering on the brink.  The green/peace/social justice community needs a Plan C.  The Republicans have one.  The Democrats don’t.  The impacts could be catastrophic.  

 

Consider:

 

  • Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have serious handicaps for reaching the presidency.

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  • By her own admission, Hillary is an ineffective campaigner, with serious negatives among young activists and the general voting population.

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  • Long considered an “ace in the hole” for her campaign, Bill’s presence on the stump has been problematic at best.

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  • There are continual rumors of a pending Clinton indictment.  About what remains unclear.  But such an event could seriously impede or destroy a Clinton candidacy.

  • Bernie has proven to be a spectacular campaigner, catalyzing an amazing outpouring of activist energy, mostly young, but with a remarkably broad base that reflects the serious problems our nation faces.     

Socialists, progressives demand $15 minimum wage at City Hall

$15 minimum wage supporters at Columbus City Hall.

On April 4, the same day that California and New York State raised their minimum wage to $15 an hour, supporters from grassroots organizations spoke in Columbus City Hall to remind City Council members of  their campaign promises and push for a clear commitment to raising the minimum wage to $15 in Columbus.

“We’re a city where children go to bed hungry because their parents have to decide whether to buy food or pay rent,” said Jordan Patton, a Capital University law student and member of Socialist Alternative. “We’re a city where the corrupt grow richer, while people working multiple jobs struggle to pay their rent on time.”

 “The wheels of commerce turn, quickly and often,” Patton said.  “But without the working people of this city, those wheels would grind to a halt. The people of this city keep her breathing. They deserve better. Not because of charity, but because this is payment for a job well done.” So far 14 U.S. cities have passed a $15 minimum wage.

Kurt Vile, at the Newport

Guy with long hair playing guitar

  In the great energy field called the universe, there are many energies. When a musician expresses his, we can use any number of hoary old cliches to describe what they do. Hendrix's was fire; the Stones, sex; the Beatles, melodic rainbows; Black Sabbath, devil's feces; Tori Amos, cramps; Allman Brothers, southern rivers; Bon Jovi, hairspray; Pink Floyd, hallucinatory drift; the Grateful Dead, burning braided armpit hair.
    Et cetera.
   With relative newcomer 36-year-old Kurt Vile of five albums to his name, the word 'vibe' comes up a lot. And I must concur. I spent the evening with him recently, Saturday, April 3, to be exact. It was in a nice-sized room, the ageless Newport specifically, but it could have been a broom closet. I haven't felt closer while standing farther from an artist. Something about that boy, I must admit, makes it easy to breathe the same air he does.

Oh Frack, President Obama

A new film called Dear President Obama that is narrated by Mark Ruffalo begins very gently, sympathizing with President Obama's supposed need to please his funders and corporate lobbyists.

Hillary Clinton Is No Barbra Streisand

Streisand supports Clinton with unwarranted grievance

n her essay “Sexism in American Politics,” Barbra Streisand has written (or had ghostwritten) the sweeping and quite false claim that Hillary Clinton is “held to a pernicious double standard” only because she’s a woman, a claim that Streisand fails to support with any relevant, substantive evidence.  

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