ONE Vote '08

Look, we really can all get along...

ONE members have been trailing the presidential candidates asking them to go on the record with their plans to fight extreme poverty for more than a year. And it's paid off. You can see the plans each candidate submitted to ONE members back in December on our "On The Record" site.

Add your voice to the millions of Americans coming together to make fighting poverty core to this year's presidential election.

A Woman Without Compassion

What a difference a day makes. It appears I wasn't the only one busy trying to put the word out about Gov. Sarah Palin. In 24 little hours, the picture that has emerged isn't pretty if you are a fan of women's rights, a believer in evolution, a defender of animal rights, or planetary resources. All these things, this web of life, our Mother Earth, my animistic philosophy, and social justice are the most important things to me.

I'm a member of at least 5 organizations that have contacted me with horrifying information that even I didn't find yesterday; NARAL, Planned Parenthood, NRDC, MoveOn.org, Defenders of Wildlife. I didn't put it together that Governor Palin was the one who reorganized the aerial killings of the wolves in AK. I can't comprehend how a woman could do that.

I'm truly stunned that anyone could claim to be a creationist, and not believe that the spirit of God dwells within every living creature and organism. Claim to believe in the right-to-life, except for a mother with a critical decision to make, her life or her baby's. A self-proclaimed feminist who is all for limiting a woman's right to plan (or not) to have a family. She's pro-life? Who's exactly?

She is exactly the type of woman I'm most frightened by...one who is completely run by ego and ambition, extreme enough to limit the rights of her own sex, even in cases of rape and incest. She wants to mandate compassion for others, while not actually having to go there herself. She is the embodiment of all the classic and colossal hypocrisy of the far-right extremists. What about the special needs child she had within the last year? Is she going to drag an infant around with her on the campaign trail? Is she really pro-life? Or just pro-Palin?

What this Presidential race is shaping up to be, for me, is a referendum on the truth of Oneness and compassion. Who will be able to find the openness and generosity of heart necessary to understand that each of us is inextricably connected to not only each other, but to the very Earth itself? Which mindset will stir the hearts and minds of America in November? Where will you put your energy (no pun intended)?

Can we really afford 4 more years?

Environmentally Conscious Voters, Beware

Or should I say BE AWARE?

John McCain has officially picked his Vice Presidential running mate...it's the 'real' maverick and rising Republican star, Governor Sarah "drill in ANWR now" Palin. Her expertise is in communications and media. For utilities. She's savvy, and good at political and administrative maneuvering disguised within the persona of a rebel. Just like Senator McCain, the 'maverick' who voted with George Bush over 90% of the time.

I think we all need to pay attention to what our Senators and Representatives support and how they vote, not to what they say, and how they present themselves. Vote however you want, but vote on facts...how things are actually affecting you, as opposed to how you want them to be. Click on the link below to find the Senate "report card".
http://action.defenders.org/site/VoteCenter?JServSessionIdr012=5tax2nt8m3.app20a&congress=110&location=S&page=congScorecard

Since this is a long post, and some of you aren't readers, I'll post a video here that pretty much says it all. Apparently, world domination through the plundering of natural resources still ranks #1 on the Republican agenda. Here's the new poster girl, prior to her nomination.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=809906073

It's not surprising that the McCain Campaign chose a woman, though he personally seems to have little respect for women's choice when it comes to their own bodies and reproductive rights. He still needs to make a play for the disgruntled Hillary followers, after all.

As much as the Republicans have criticized Barack Obama's alleged lack of experience, you might not expect them to pick a 44 year old who's only experience in politics is as Mayor of Wasilla, AK, and has only held a top government office since 2006. Especially since she would be next in line for the Presidency should something happen to the old coot, er..ahem, Senator. Not what I would have expected from the 'old boys' network. Except for that pesky oil and gas thing.

Governor Palin truly believes that drilling in the ANWR would leave such a "small footprint", and that it's proven the "caribou thrive" even with all of the oil development.
http://www.votesmart.org/speech_detail.php?sc_id=383538&keyword=&phrase=&contain=

As a member of the Alaska Miners Association, the NRA, and the Alaska Resource Development Council, it's not surprising she's agreed with and supported a Supreme Court decision to review "tailing", (disposal of mine waste on sensitive land), and was thrilled with the their NRA-inspired interpretation of the Second Amendment. Anything that benefits the 'people' of Alaska (read; utilities and corporations).

She has fought strongly for compensation of residents and victims of the Exxon Valdez case, criticizing the plaintiff award reduction by the Supreme Court, and even going so far as to encourage Exxon Mobile to end the case after 19 years, and pay up now. Or maybe it was so that she could still hold her head up while advocating for Exxon Mobile to go ahead with their development of Alaska's North Slope natural oil and gas reserves?

Seems to me Governor Palin has been super helpful to the Bush administration's continued attempts at reissuing and overwriting Federal guidelines (including the Endangered Species Act) dealing with habitat protection, and the balance between the natural environment, native peoples, and oil and gas development. Like when she moved the Habitat Division from the Department of Natural Resources to the (toothless) Alaska Department of Fish and Game. From the press release:

Governor Sarah Palin today praised the work of state officials in completing the transition of the Habitat Division from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). The move, initiated by Governor Palin earlier this year in Executive Order 114, reversed a decision by the prior administration. After extensive discussions with community leaders and after hearing the concerns of numerous Alaskans, the Governor decided that the division belonged in what had been its traditional home at ADF&G.

Earlier this month, she signed Administrative Order 242, directing the State Department of Natural Resources (no longer being burdened by the pesky Habitat office), and the Department of Revenue to work together to commercialize Alaska's North Slope natural gas.
http://www.scandoil.com/moxiebm2/gas/politics_and_policy_gas/alaska-north-slope-natural-gas-to-warm-fairbanks.shtml

This is from the press release:

Specifically, the Administrative Order instructs the two departments to provide specific kinds of support to those pursuing development of an economically and technically viable liquefied natural gas project. That support includes permitting coordination, fiscal and economic analysis, and facilitation of meetings with federal agencies.

No mention of any environmental impact analysis, or of the effects of drilling on the land owned by indigenous tribal Alaskans?

This might make more sense if there were enough undiscovered, recoverable oil and gas reserves in and around the ANWR, except that the US Geological Survey says there is only a limited amount; much less than what we have already developed and in reserve.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2005/3043/

On 7/14/08, Governor Palin announced sanctioned development in the Beaufort Sea and OCS (Outer Continental Shelf). This may result in a barely significant 5 million barrels of oil over the life of the project. This is where the beluga and bowhead whale live, and where the polar bears hunt. The indigenous Inupiat people spoke of their way of subsistence being disturbed, the circle or 'web' of life, their medicine and spirituality. That and the fact that there is no current technology in existence that can clean up an oil or toxic spill on broken ice. There is mention of this being included within the Marine Mammal Protection Act, gutted earlier by Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne. Here is a link to the results of an Environmental Impact Statement.
http://www.mms.gov/alaska/cproject/ArcticMultiSale/scoping_rpt.pdf

When the Congress went to recess without voting on this issue, Gov. Palin sued in US District court to have the polar bear's status as 'threatened' overturned. Let's not forget to mention that the decision by Secretary Kempthorne should have been 'endangered', and he straddled what he could. But why not throw yet another lawsuit out there to delay the process long enough for potential drilling to start? I mean that the NRDC, and Defenders of Wildlife have only limited, donor funding, whereas the government, well, need I say more? Can't someone from PETA get on this? Really, you guys could have a field day with this one!
http://www.votesmart.org/speech_detail.php?sc_id=399653&keyword=&phrase=&contain=

Or better yet, how about buying loyalty? Among the governor's most recent accomplishments was the State Legislature passing Senate Bill 4002. Using revenues generated from state resources to provide a one-time special payment of $1,200 to each eligible Alaskan, it returns part of a substantial budget surplus, provides energy relief and a rollback of gas taxes. How nice to be a state so rich in natural resources. How might this affect the decision of voters as they go to the polls in November?

So be aware. Be very aware. I'm invested in an open discussion and public debates about our energy policy, drilling, ANWR, animal rights, Native land rights, sovereignty, responsibility to future generations and to the Earth. I believe there is a responsible way to make it work. I take serious issue with political operatives on any level involved in subverting and circumventing the legal processes put in place to protect us from the short-sighted policies of the current demagogic Bush administration, and it's would-be Republican heirs.

Haven't we had enough lies already?

How Many of Me?

This cute little thing was sent to me by my friend Judy. :)

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 33 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

John McCain- Lies, deception and flip-flopping

I've recently wondered whether John McCain has short-term memory loss, or that he's just forgotten his own positions, and how he's voted on most issues in the past. Hey, it's possible. He is 72.

This video on YouTube shows him on Meet the Press, 60 Minutes and MSNBC admitting that he is deliberately deceitful when it suits him, or whenever the current situation warrants it. Not very often you get an admitted, unapologetic and repetitive liar running for President (well, the admitted part, anyway) under the guise of being a 'straight talker'. It would be laughable if it weren't so disturbing and ignored in the MSM.

Women's Equality Day

Or should I say inequality? How come there's not a Men's Equality Day? I mean, really, would we even need a Women's Equality Day if there was true equality between the sexes?

In any event, today we are celebrating the passage of the 19th Amendment, giving women the vote on this day in 1920. I'm thankful for the women (suffragists and suffragettes) who, 88 years ago fought hard and won the right for women to vote equally in the eyes of the law. Women like Alice Paul, Sara Bard Field, Ernestine Kettler, and many others went from tea rooms to prison in order to secure the equal right for women to vote. Read their stories here:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/projects/suffragist

You can also watch the HBO version of their story, Iron Jawed Angels.
http://www.hbo.com/films/ironjawedangels/

I honor their sacrifice, and vow to continue to keep secure the rights of women in this century, despite obstacles and seriously misguided women like this former Hillary Clinton supporter.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/26/former-clinton-backer-wro_n_121429.html

Debra Bartoshevich, who is apparently clueless that John McCain doesn't recognize the same woman's right to choose that Hillary does, went from being a pledged democratic delegate to pariah in less than 24hrs. Way to go Deb!

Apparently she was confused by the 'mixed messages' (aka flip-flopping or outright deceit) of the McCain Campaign, who are pandering to prior Hillary backers with a wink and a nod about not overturning Roe v. Wade. Despite the fact that John McCain himself has publicly stated that he is (now) pro-life, and believes that life begins at conception.

This stance on the origin of life, in effect, completely denies any validity of a woman as a separate being, nurturing and hosting a growing child within her womb, seeing her only as some sort of controllable and unfortunately necessary, egg-producing incubator. Sound harsh? I don't think so. If life begins at conception, then the only role a woman has is in donating her egg. I wonder if McCain has seriously considered exactly what hard-line dogma he's buying into? I think this is a bit of projection on the part of the male run neo-con movement, and wanting to control the right to a woman continuing or not continuing a pregnancy after being raped, or if her life is in jeopardy negates the life of the very person necessary to birth a child in the first place. This kind of religion based, fanatical belief system is insulting and infuriating. All women should take notice and be aware that these attitudes become pervasive, and then become law.

Someone seriously needs to talk some sense into this Debra Bartoshevich, pronto, before she does something stupid, like vote against her own beliefs. Geez, what an idiot.

But I'm off topic myself now. Where was I? Before the right to decide whether or not you want to bring a child into the world, or whether doing so would be too great a risk to life and health? The right to vote.

Here's the statement that Barack Obama put out today. It's posted on his blog:
http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/hqblog
***************************************************
Sen. Obama issued a statement today honoring Women’s Equality Day...

Beginning with a meeting in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848, women organized themselves and worked to secure the right to vote so they could make their voices heard through the ballot box. On this day in 1920, the 19th Amendment passed and women could no longer be denied that right.

As we honor the heroic women who would not accept the world as it was, we are reminded that we hold the ability to remake the world as it should be. That belief drove women like Hillary Clinton and Speaker Pelosi to shatter myths and breakdown barriers. That belief drives me today as I think about the kind of world I want for my daughters and future generations.

Now, 88 years later, women's voices make up a majority of the electorate but women are still fighting for change - equal pay, affordable child care, sick days, retirement security, and the sort of programs that help women balance work life and home life- and as President, I will lead that fight.

The Perception Personality Image Test

I thought this was pretty cool. I love taking personality tests, and this pretty much nailed it, for me...

Your result for The Perception Personality Image Test...

HBPS - The Optimist

Humanity, Background, Big Picture, and Shape

You perceive the world with particular attention to humanity. You focus on the hidden treasures of life (the background) and how that fits into the larger picture. You are also particularly drawn towards the shapes around you. Because of the value you place on humanity, you tend to seek out other people and get energized by being around others. You like to ponder ideas and imagine the many possibilities of your life without worrying about the details or specifics. You are in tune with all that is around you and understand your life as part of a larger whole. You prefer a structured environment within which to live and you like things to be predictable.

The Perception Personality Types:

Take The Perception Personality Image Test at HelloQuizzy

Listening in stillness

Silence

http://www.lunaea.com/tarot/

Endangered Species Act Under Assault...

...as well as any democratic rights we thought we still had.

In the next 6 months prior to Bush the younger exiting office, he and everyone in his cabinet are going to try to green-light long term goals and pet projects held dear to them, their contributors and supporters. Paying off favors in the last few months of office is traditional cronyism, and is a NON-PARTISAN activity. Every elected president does it. It's all politics and it is bullshit.

The Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne is particularly egregious in his complete and utter disregard for federal law, endangered species, flora, fauna and seemingly all of nature. He has previously used other administrative loopholes to attempt to exclude several species (think polar bears) from receiving any protections under the Endangered Species Act. When that failed, he broke the law and allowed the sale of drilling rights to oil and gas companies to proceed without oversight in a federally protected environment.

Environmental Agencies such as the NRDC, Biogems and The Center for Biological Diversity teamed up, pooled their limited, donation-based resources and won successful lawsuits and prevented this administration from trampling all over our federal laws. Of course, this hasn't stopped the ongoing attempts to weaken or overwrite the law, current regulations, limit public knowledge and any response time.

The end goal here is to exempt federal activities from any Congressional or independent oversight. Not much different from overwriting the NSA laws about spying and wire-tapping American taxpayers, or EPA laws on clean air and water, but I digress. Let's just say this won't come as a surprise to any thinking person in this country.

Now, since selling all of those illegal drilling rights in February, the pressure is on to find a way to either get the public on the side of the oil and gas companies, or to effectively 'overwrite' the federal protections by creating brand spanking new administrative regulations that, since they are not legislative in nature, won't need the approval of the Congress. It's an ingenious, if underhanded plan. (Cue the moustache twirling.)

And that got me thinking today...isn't it awfully convenient timing that the sale of these drilling rights was directly concurrent with the steep increase in gas prices, and a sudden push by the White House (and certain individuals in Congress) to drill for oil in ANWR? The place in and around where the spaces were sold and leased to the oil and gas companies? Why else would our administrative and congressional leaders be so absolutely sure that the price of gas would drop the moment offshore drilling begins, even though there is no realistic way that could actually happen?

I know some will not agree with me, and that's OK. If you believe that drilling is the answer to our energy crisis, then we can agree to disagree. I have no problem with putting it all on the table, and coming to a collective vote on an energy policy that holds our government accountable to public opinion. The whole point of environmental law is to protect the environment and to prevent any major changes without scientific and congressional oversight. Whatever your personal beliefs are, I think we can agree any new regulations are in need of independent scientific review.

What I want is to get people thinking, speaking, acting. Let's begin a discussion. Isn't our government supposed to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of the needs of big business, creation of new jobs, land rights, energy costs, cheap gas, clean air and water, the protection of endangered species before creating arrogant, dismissive and revisionist regulations that exclude any feedback from US citizens?

Send a letter to Kempthorne by clicking here.

Read below for content of letter received from the Center for Biological Diversity.

___________________________________

This week Dirk Kempthorne, secretary of the Interior, announced devastating changes to the Endangered Species Act, signaling the end of protection for thousands of imperiled species.

The Center for Biological Diversity is rallying an immense surge of opposition to prevent these changes from taking effect.
Tell Secretary Kempthorne what you think of his plans to pillage the Endangered Species Act.

Under the current regulations, federal agencies must consult with scientists at the Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service to determine whether a project is likely to harm endangered species or habitat.

The new regulations would:
- Exempt thousands of federal activities from review under the Endangered Species Act;

- Eliminate checks and balances of independent oversight;

- Limit which effects can be considered harmful;

- Prevent consideration of a project's contribution to global warming;

- Set an inadequate 60-day deadline for wildlife experts to evaluate a project in the instances when they are invited to participate -- or else the project gets an automatic green light;

- Enable large-scale projects to go unreviewed by dividing them into hundreds of small projects.

In addition, last week Kempthorne and Bush tried to slip another proposed rule change under the radar that would limit protection of a species only to where it is currently found.

Under the current rule a species has protection in its entire historical range. However many endangered species have lost substantial portions of that range. For example; under the proposed changes, prior to being reintroduced, the California condor would only have been listed in zoos.

And, because these regulations are administrative and not legislative, they won't need the approval of Congress.

_________________________________

Boycotting the Beijing Olympics (alone, seemingly)

It is apparently not as popular a stand as I'd hoped. And for whatever reason, most people just stare at me blankly when I relay this fact.

**(Except for my family, who not only didn't need to ask why, but willingly turned off the TV, changed the channel, or waited until I was asleep to watch. I sometimes forget what a great bunch of people they are.)**

Don't misunderstand; I don't bring it up. It is my standard response to the good-natured and excited chattering about the Olympics, the fan-fare and pageantry, the great feats and prowess of the athletes, etc.

My "that sounds lovely, but I'm not watching the Olympics this year" response is usually met with an uncomfortable and stony silence. No one has even dared to ask why, but I relay it anyway. I figure if I have to excuse myself from a conversation or a room where it's being shown, I might as well explain.

China is one of the scariest regimes in the world to me. Not because they are the worst, but because they are the most powerful and accepted despite their grave record of human and social injustice. Pun appropriate, but not intended.

The very hypocrisy of their hosting the Olympics, arguably the best collective effort of both dignity and humanity, is more than I can bear. They have a government that controls and micromanages the lives of everyone in the country. (Think forced abortions and population control). They control everything seen and heard within their demesne. They control the media, press, Internet...all communications are monitored. The poverty rate is staggering, despite their rising economy and having plenty of work. A country full of the working poor.

China is one of the biggest polluters on the planet. The air quality is beyond poor; they're having to monitor it daily during the Olympics to see if it is harmful to human life! Can you imagine?

There is video on YouTube of Chinese soldiers with sniper rifles randomly killing Tibetan monks during a mountain crossing. They have imprisoned and killed any activist opposed to them "moving" the residents along the Yangtze, anyone opposing the giant dam project that will alter the face of the land and sea, in addition to displacing hundreds of thousands of people from their ancestral homes.

China, along with their buddy Russia, has blocked nearly every resolution by the UN to assist in halting the genocide in the Sudan, and the murderous assaults of Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe. They are also aiding this directly by sending arms to Mugabe's thugs. (Last I checked, no port in Africa would accept this shipment, so it eventually went back to China. It's only a matter of time before it gets through, though.)

There's just too much more to write here..it would take me hours.

Let's just say it's about unchecked power and greed, corruption and arrogance on a level that the US has no authority, little power and even less morally correct standing to even address. If we hadn't made such a mockery of our own Constitutional rights (goodbye habeus corpus and the Geneva Convention, hello congressionally sanctioned spying on Americans and torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay) then our President making a bold statement to the Chinese rulers about their deplorable human rights record may have meant more than just the empty and laughable gesture than it was.

So, it's not just about the Olympics, it's about human life, personal dignity, social justice and integrity. Every time I think about China, the faces of those affected by their evil (yes, I did just say that) deeds rise up in my vision.

And I just can't bring myself to watch it.

Oh, and one final thought-

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to go shopping and not buy something made in China?

________________________

"There is no salvation in becoming

adapted to a world which is crazy."

--Henry Miller

'Keeping It Rielle', or maybe not exactly

Dowd: Keeping It Rielle

Maureen Dowd is whip-smart, perceptive, feisty, progressive and non-partisan. She's a fantastic writer, and tells it like it is. In this brief column, she skewers John Edwards, Bill Clinton, George W., and Eliot Spitzer, all within one tiny sentence.

She points out very effectively the masks politicians wear and the emerging shadow aspects that plague them in their quest to become famous, rich and powerful. In other words, to get elected, and stay popular.

She is my favorite writer and journalist at the moment, and I think I have a girl-crush on her. ;)

In case above link doesn't work:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/opinion/10dowd.html?ex=1234238400&en=9b7f748e1dbef0e6&ei=5087&excamp=NYT-E-I-NYT-E-AT-0813-L4&WT.mc_ev=click&WT.mc_id= NYT-E-I-NYT-E-AT-0813-L4