$720 Million a Day: Spent on the Iraq War; Or...?

I Should Like to Understand

I should like to understand how it happens that so many men, so many villages, so many cities, so many nations sometimes suffer under a single tyrant who has no other power than the power they give him; who is able to harm them only to the extent to which they have the willingness to bear with him, who could do them absolutely no injury unless they preferred to put up with him rather than contradict him. - Étienne de la Boetie

Celebrate the Life and Work of Martin Luther King Jr.

MLK had a vision for a better world. His vision is no less relevant in today's America than it was in 1967. Today I will be celebrating the life and the courageous work of this civic and spiritual leader, Martin Luther King Jr..

"I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered."

~ Martin Luther King Jr., From "Beyond Vietnam," an address delivered to the Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam, at Riverside Church, 4 April 1967 in New York City.

Another World is Possible

I met my friend, Elisa Davinca, on Flickr, the Yahoo! photo sharing site. She is an awesome advocate for another world - a peaceful world. link to her flickr photos

I want to share a couple of videos that she shared with me:

Naomi Wolf Spoke about her new book, The End of America, at the University of Washington. It is a plea to a young patriot... The time for resistance is now!


CBS Frontline program, "Cheney's Law." torture, David Addington and the Department of Justice as they relate to the Bush Administration and Vice President Cheney

Impeachment Video

[for more information about impeachment in WA State, please see Washington for Impeachment]

Kayla, a citizen activist and freelance videographer, talked with a few sign-holders (including me) before last Thursday's hearing about a bill that would request investigations into impeachable offenses committed by certain members of the Bush Administration. Here's the video:

I think I was nervous for some reason. I hope it went over okay.

Kucinich Speaks on Exclusion from Debate

SJM 8016: Requesting Investigations into Impeachable Offenses

[for more information about impeachment in WA State, please see Washington for Impeachment]

The Washington State Senate Committee on Governmental Operations and Elections had a hearing on a bill that would call on the US Congress to investigate Bush Administration Officials for impeachable offenses. more information: SJM 8016

For video and audio of the January 17, 2008 hearing, point your browser to www.tvw.org and enter "8016" into the search field.

Here are some more photos from yesterday:

Washington State Impeachment Hearing SJM 8016 2007 - 2008

[for more information about impeachment in WA State, please see Washington for Impeachment]

Senator Eric Oemig has introduced a memorial bill that calls on the US Congress to initiate investigation into alleged impeachable offenses committed by President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Tomorrow there will be a hearing on the Memorial in the Washington State Senate Committee on Government Operations & Elections. This is from the Washington State Legislature:

go to original [link to official information about SJM 8016]
Requesting an impeachment investigation into actions by President Bush and Vice President Cheney.

Here's video of Rep. Wexler discussing impeachment on the floor of the House:


Tomorrow's (Thursday, January 17th, 2008) hearing will be in the Cherberg Building (Capitol Campus, Olympia, Washington) at 3:30 PM.

Saudi Blogger Arrested

go to original

...Fouad al-Farhan is Saudi Arabia’s most popular blogger and last month he was arrested. His case has been taken up by over 200 Saudi bloggers. The Independent newspaper in the UK believes attempts by the Saudi authorities to intimidate their online critics is in fact had the reverse effect, and says ‘it will be fascinating to see where this online insurrection ends’. ...

and from the Independent:

go to original

Blogger who dared to expose Saudi corruption is arrested
By Claire Soares
Published: 03 January 2008
Fouad al-Farhan knew they were coming for him. A few days before Saudi security forces swooped on his offices, he sent a letter to friends telling them he was a wanted man. "They will pick me up any time in the next two weeks," he predicted.

His crime? Writing one of the most widely read blogs in Saudi Arabia.

Mr Farhan, 32, who describes his online mission as "searching for freedom, dignity, justice, equality, public participation and other lost Islamic values", had already broken ground by refusing to hide behind a pen-name as he vented his spleen about the rampant corruption blighting political life. Now he has clocked up another first – the first blogger to be arrested in the kingdom.

The blogger was picked up on 10 December from the offices of his computer company in Jeddah, but it was not until this week that the interior ministry finally confirmed his arrest.

...

Mr Farhan said he had been asked to issue an apology. "I'm not sure if I'm ready to do that," he said. "An apology for what? Apologising because I said the government is [a] liar when it accused those guys of supporting terrorism?" [emphasis mine]

...

It is interesting to note that the President of the USA, Mr. George W. Bush just made (January 2008) a $20 billion weapons deal with the Government of Saudi Arabia...

Dear President Bush, is this what you mean by promoting Democracy? It seems that the freedom to which you aspire is just the freedom to amass weapons. I am discouraged by your example.

Support Our Troops?

It's frustrating to hear people say how they support our troops, while at the same time supporting the Bush Administration, President Bush et al., and the 'wars' in Iraq, Afghanistan and 'against terror.'

Prominent members from within the Bush Administration, and associated interests, have led this nation into aggressive military conflicts. The 'wars' are based on lies. The 'wars' are exacerbating anti-American sentiment. Our troops are being sacrificed, not to defend our freedom or to provide for our security, but instead to protect the interests of, and to support the expansion of, Western Corporations and Corporatist Governments (e.g. the US Gov't under Bush and to be fair, Clinton before him.)

From Mr. Fish: