Welcome to Bennett's Study

From the Author of No Land an Island and Unconscionable

Pondering Alphabetic SOLUTIONS: Peace, Politics, Public Affairs, People Relations

http://www.bennettponderingpeacepoliticssolutions.com/

http://www.bennettponderingpeacepoliticssolutions.com/author/

http://www.bennettponderingpeacepoliticssolutions.com/buy/

UNCONSCIONABLE: http://www.unconscionableusforeignrelations.com/ http://www.unconscionableusforeignrelations.com/author/ http://www.unconscionableusforeignrelations.com/book/ http://www.unconscionableusforeignrelations.com/excerpt/ http://www.unconscionableusforeignrelations.com/contact/ http://www.unconscionableusforeignrelations.com/buy/ SearchTerm=Carolyn+LaDelle+Bennett http://www2.xlibris.com/books/webimages/wd/113472/buy.htm http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/08UNCONSCIONABLE/prweb12131656.htm http://bookstore.xlibris.com/AdvancedSearch/Default.aspx? http://bookstore.xlibris.com/Products/SKU-000757788/UNCONSCIONABLE.aspx

http://todaysinsight.blogspot.com

Friday, May 31, 2013

Insularity ingrains, breeds “otherness,” paranoia, extremism, war ─ we are responsible

Dr. Hasan’s thoughts seem to complement my own:
No Land an Island No People Apart reflecting a progressive, broadmindedly liberal, nonpartisan philosophy of care, community, internationalism, unprejudiced acceptance, and nonviolence
Excerpt, minor editing, brief comment by 
Carolyn Bennett

Stop “state warmongering.” Stop “militant religious fundamentalism.… Concentrate on preemptive peacemaking.”   Dr. Usama Hasan’s lessons                                                                             

 Counter-extremism
Think tank
Challenging extremism is the duty of all responsible members of society ─ not least because cultural insularity and extremism are products of the failures of wider society to foster a shared sense of belonging and to advance liberal democratic values. London, England-based Quilliam Foundation

Usama HasanVoice of Reason
War on Terror
Generations of grievance-filled victims
Quilliam Foundation Senior Researcher Usama Hasan wrote last week in the Guardian: whether extremism rises “from Islamist fascists or right-wing fascists,” it is “democracy” that “must be strengthened” in order to unveil and defeat extremist thinking.

“… It should be clear that the war on terror has been very short-sighted and in many cases a failure,” Dr. Hansan wrote: “while al-Qaida has been defeated in Afghanistan, it has established other strongholds in parts of Mali, Yemen, Somalia and Syria.

There is no military solution, as exemplified by the drone strikes that kill civilians as well as terrorists and breed more generations of grievance-filled victims.

“There is a responsibility for all of us to learn lessons:

…for Muslims to take ownership of the fight against extremist ideology;

…for all of us to expand the opportunities for democratic participation, and

…for the United States to rethink its counter-productive war on terror

We need to stop state warmongering as well as militant religious fundamentalism; instead, concentrate on preemptive peacemaking.

U.S. War on Terror
These were Hasan’s “Lessons of Woolwich”

Fix relations among human beings  
Instead of fixing blame

…B
ritish society (including its Muslim communities), he said, “needs to move beyond the routine condemnation of terrorist attacks and plots – there have been dozens since September 11, 2001.
 
USA
UK
U.S. War on Terror
“We need instead to address the extreme Islamist ideology that al-Qaida and its sympathizers promote to incite attacks against soldiers and civilians worldwide ─ in war-torn and in peaceful countries. Muslim leaders need to take ownership of the specifically religious aspects of the problem, that is to say, the twisted theology that easily brainwashes vulnerable people, some of whom are intelligent university students and graduates.”

Insularity, Irrationality, War

Key planks of this extremist ideology, Dr. Hasan says, are:

U.S. War on Terror
…that the west is at war with Islam and Muslims;

…that Muslims cannot ultimately live in peace with non-Muslims or in ‘non-Muslim’ societies and

U.S. War on Terror
…that Muslims must live in an ‘Islamic state’ that enforces the narrowest and harshest interpretations of sharia law.

“All of these arguments,” Hasan concludes, “are utterly simplistic and are destroyed by any in-depth study of religious texts, history, or Islamic jurisprudence.…”

We are responsible but will we act responsibly? The time has long past for seating progressive leadership at the helm of nuclear-powered nations and to end perpetual war. 




Sources and notes

“The lessons of Woolwich ─ Condemnation isn't enough. Muslims must take ownership of the problem in their midst, and the war on terror must be rethought” (Usama Hasan, guardian.co.uk), Thursday May 23, 2013 12.12 EDT, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/may/23/lessons-of-woolwich

Agenda at Deutsche Welle: May 28 the edition of Agenda: examining HOMEGROWN TERROR in Britain, multinationals and their tax avoidance strategies and software maker SAP to recruit hundreds of autistics.… “Homegrown Terror - How to Fight Radicalization” ─ Guest: Usama Hasan, Senior Researcher, Quilliam Foundation, http://www.dw.de/agenda-talk-show-2013-05-28/e-16800399-9798

Quilliam Foundation

Quilliam Foundation “is the world’s first counter-extremism think tank set up to address the unique challenges of citizenship, identity, and belonging in a globalized world. Quilliam stands for religious freedom, equality, human rights and democracy.

Challenging extremism is the duty of all responsible members of society ─ not least because cultural insularity and extremism are products of the failures of wider society to foster a shared sense of belonging and to advance liberal democratic values.

“With Islamist extremism in particular, we believe a more self-critical approach must be adopted by Muslims. Westophobic ideological influences and social insularity needs to be challenged within Muslim communities by Muslims themselves whilst simultaneously, an active drive towards creating an inclusive civic identity must be pursued by all members of society.

“Quilliam seeks to challenge what we think and the way we think. It aims to generate creative, informed and inclusive discussions to counter the ideological underpinnings of terrorism, whilst simultaneously providing evidence-based recommendations to governments for related policy measures” (Quilliam Foundation: PO Box 60380, London, WC1A 9AZ, UK), http://www.quilliamfoundation.org/about/

Usama Hasan

Dr Usama Hasan is Senior Researcher at Quilliam and in 2008 was a founding advisor to the organization.  As Quilliam Senior Researcher, Dr Hasan engages in ongoing reform, outreach and media work. He aims to address key questions on gender rights, minority rights, personal freedoms, penal codes; seeking to harmonize tradition and reason, faith and science, and developing the Sharia in keeping with the original Prophetic spirit of mercy, and away from rigid ritualism. He is regularly in a variety of international news media. Before joining Quilliam, Dr Usama was a Senior Lecturer in Engineering at Middlesex University (2003-2012).

He is credentialed in Physics and Artificial Intelligence (Ph.D., MSc and MA, Universities of Cambridge and London) and is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. Fluent in English, Urdu and Arabic, Dr Hasan completed memorizing the entire Qur’an by the age of 11; and has served as a part-time imam since his teens and is a certified transmitter of the Qur’an and Hadith scriptures; he has translated a number of Islamic texts into English, including The Islamic Foundation’s “Way of the Prophet” (2009).

As a teenager Usama Hasan became a radical salafi activist and,whilst still a Cambridge undergraduate he briefly took part (1990-1991) in the ‘Jihad’ against Communist forces in Afghanistan. However, following the July 7 bombings in London (The July 7, 2005, London bombings, often referred to as 7/7, were a series of coordinated suicide attacks in London which targeted civilians using the public transport system during the morning rush hour), Hasan took it upon himself to start campaigning against extremism and for religious reform within Muslim circles. http://www.quilliamfoundation.org/about/staff/usama-hasan-senior-researcher/

Woolwich

May 22, 2013, in Woolwich ─ a district in South East London, England, located in the Royal Borough of Greenwich ─ two British men armed with machetes and meat cleavers killed soldier Lee Rigby close to his base at the Royal Artillery Barracks. The attackers asked bystanders to take pictures of them and made efforts to justify their actions to the crowd, making no effort to escape.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolwich
_____________________________________________________

Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy

_____________________________________________________

Thursday, May 30, 2013

When is enough enough ─ How many did Washington kill today?

Transparency concerning U.S. extrajudicial killings, assassination drone attacks, is important; but the practice must end. No debate. No equivocation. No tap dancing  No flowery oratory.
Excerpts, editing, brief comment by Carolyn Bennett

“Over the past several years,” recalls a Press TV report this week, “Washington has been launching drone attacks on Muslim countries ─ including Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen ─ and claiming that militants are the targets. But casualty figures clearly indicate that civilians are the main victims.”

This week Wednesday

At least seven people died, according to local officials, when a U.S. assassination drone hit Pakistan’s northwestern tribal region.

Pakistan 

The deaths were the results of two missiles fired on at a house in Chashma village near Miranshah, a town in the North Waziristan district. This strike is the first of its kind since Pakistan’s recent general elections seated former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League. “U.S. assassination drone kills seven in northwest Pakistan,” Press TV May 29, 2013, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/05/29/305992/us-drone-raid-kills-in-pakistan/

Afghanistan
hit by U.S.-led attack
Today in Afghanistan

“F
our women and a child were among Afghanistan's dead when U.S.-led NATO forces struck an area in northeastern Kapisa Province. More than twelve people were reportedly injured. The attack on this residential area of northeastern Afghanistan left an estimated death toll of six civilians.  “Six Afghan civilians killed, 12 injured in US-led air strike,” Press TV May 30, 2013, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/05/30/306309/six-afghans-killed-in-usled-air-strike/

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has suspended operations across Afghanistan after a deadly attack on its office in the volatile eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad.

‘As a consequence of the attack… all our activities have been frozen and our office in Jalalabad is closed,’ said the statement of the humanitarian organization

Pakistani women
“Red Cross halts work in Afghanistan after deadly attack,” May 30, 2013 http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/05/30/306315/red-cross-halts-work-in-afghanistan/
.
Drones kill callously without care, count or accounting

Covert Drone War - Casualty Estimates - The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

CIA Drone Strikes in Pakistan 2004–2013

Total US strikes: 369
Obama strikes:
317
Total reported killed:
2,541-3,540
Civilians reported killed:
411-884
Children reported killed:
168-197
Total reported injured:
1,174-1,479

US Covert Action in Yemen 2002–2013

Confirmed US drone strikes: 46-56
Total reported killed: 240-349
Civilians reported killed:
14-49
Children reported killed:
2
Reported injured:
62-144
Possible extra US drone strikes: 78-96
Total reported killed: 275-442
Civilians reported killed:
25-48
Children reported killed:
9-10
Reported injured:
76-98
All other US covert operations: 12-76
Total reported killed: 148-366
Civilians reported killed:
60-87
Children reported killed:
25
Reported injured:
22-111

US Covert Action in Somalia 2007–2013

US drone strikes: 3-9
Total reported killed: 7-27
Civilians reported killed:
0-15
Children reported killed:
0
Reported injured:
2-24
All other US covert operations: 7-14
Total reported killed: 47-143
Civilians reported killed:
7-42
Children reported killed:
1-3
Reported injured:
12-20
 http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/category/projects/drones/
http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/01/11/obama-2012-strikes/

Law Professor Naureen Shah writes “Rhetoric or reality on drones? President Obama’s recent speech on national security fell short when it came to addressing drone”

Yemenis protest
U.S. drone attacks
The trouble is that, to the American public, these deaths are nearly invisible. While photos of torture at Abu Ghraib shook the country’s consciousness and helped bring the Iraq war to an end, the public is unlikely to learn details about civilian deaths from drone strikes without government disclosure. Few journalists have access to the parts of Pakistan and Yemen where drone strikes occur; and clear and incontrovertible evidence of civilian deaths is hard to come by.

Naureen Shah is a lecturer in law at Columbia University Law School’s Human Rights Institute. She is also coauthor of the report “The Civilian Impact of Drones.” Her article posted at Al Jazeera, May 26, 2013, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/05/2013526224110408976.html

Wikipedia-collected
Drone Statistics
U.S. Drone Strike Statistics estimate according to the New America Foundation
(As of April 17, 2013), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drone_attacks_in_Pakistan#Statistics
  

YEAR
Number of
Attacks
Number Killed
Minimum
Number Killed
Maximum
2004
1
5
8
2005
3
12
13
2006
2
90
102
2007
4
48
77
2008
36
219
344
2009
54
350
721
2010
122
608
1,028
2011
72
366
599
2012
48
222
349
2013
12
62
73
Total
354
1,982
3,314
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drone_attacks_in_Pakistan#Statistics

“President Barack Obama said (in a recent speech) that he will engage Congress in exploring a number of options for increased oversight of lethal drone strikes outside of war zones like Afghanistan.” But routinely “official U.S. figures of number of strikes and estimated deaths (have remained) classified. According to a New America Foundation database of strikes carried out by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. military “estimates 416 drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen ─ resulting in 3,364 estimated deaths including militants and civilians. The United States CIA and the military have executed 69 (est.) strikes in Yemen, reportedly with the permission of the Yemeni government.”

Campaign to stop Killer Robots
 UK
Assassination drones to “killer Robots”
  
“Unmanned aerial vehicles were intended initially only for surveillance,” says a news piece in yesterday’s edition of the Guardian; “and their use for offensive purposes was prohibited. .But once strategists realized their perceived advantages as a means of carrying out targeted killings, all objections were swept out of the way.”

Now, Ed Pilkington writes, “Drone technology has … moved a step closer to a fully autonomous state in the form of the X-47B, a super-charged UAV developed by the U.S. Navy that can fly itself, and which last week completed the first takeoff from an aircraft carrier.” Though this  “drone is billed as a non-combat craft, its design includes two weapons bays capable of carrying more than 4,000lbs.” Other nations are following the development and use of this lethal, remote weaponry. 


Apart from drones,” he says, “several states are known to be actively exploring the possibility of autonomous weapons operating on the ground.

 (U.S. ally) South Korea has set up sentry robots known as SGR-1 along the Demilitarized Zone with North Korea that can detect people entering the zone through heat and motion sensors; though the sentry is currently configured so that it has to be operated by a human, it is reported to have an automatic mode, which, if deployed, would allow it to fire independently on intruders.

State’s militaries “‘are looking to develop autonomous weapons’… (and) given its dominance as the world’s leading military power, the United States is likely to set the pace.”
Women's International League for
Peace and Freedom
Protest

UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva this week is expected to “call for a worldwide moratorium on ‘lethal autonomous robotics’ – weapons systems that, once activated, can lock on and kill targets without further involvement of human handlers.” Heyns’ is quoted saying:

‘Machines lack morality and mortality, and as a result should not have life and death powers over humans.’

“‘Killer robots’ pose threat to peace and should be banned, UN warned ─ Human rights investigator Christof Heyns to call for moratorium on weapons that can kill targets without human involvement” (Ed Pilkington in New York, The Guardian, Wednesday 29 May 2013 08.42 EDT), May 29, 2013, http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/may/29/killer-robots-ban-un-warning



_______________________________________

Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy

_______________________________________

Monday, May 27, 2013

Represent dot us has interesting ideas, questionable board of advisers

Felon Jack Abramoff with
Former U.S. President George W. Bush
Jack's on
Represent us Board of Advisers
“End government corruption.” Absolutely! The sooner the better, but with unsullied activists, advisers, leaders
Excerpt, minor edit, brief comment by 
Carolyn Bennett


W
hile the ideas and stated concerns of this group or movement self-labeled “Represent dot us” seem well and good, what I found  particularly telling was the makeup of its board of advisers. The members are limited essentially to the two entrenched, sullied U.S. political parties. Advisers' work histories are the “same ole” attachments to technology, finance,
More foxes?
investment, entrenched government office holders, past and present, some are even felons. And of the 21 advisers, only two are women. 

Thus begging a similar question I have asked often about the “Take back America” folks ─ “Who really is the ‘us’?”

Entrenched
Corrupt
Bipartisan
Their stated ideas

Across the United States of America, citizens are disappointed in their government. While the nation grapples with historical debt, a recession, energy dependence, inflation, terrorism, and unaffordable wars ─ U.S. politicians are asleep at the wheel.

The system is broken.
Government is corrupted by money.

America needs Members of Congress engaged in solving the nation’s problems, out raising money for re-election.

The country is run by lobbyists - fighting on behalf of sundry industries, companies, professional clubs, unions: Big Oil, Big Pharma (pharmaceuticals), defense/military materiel/contracting, labor, lawyers, insurance, Big Ag (food corporations), and the like.


Though the United States may never rid its elective office and elections’ processes of lobbyists and big financial donors, Americans generally agree that citizens should come first.

Government in the United States is corrupt.

We need to fix it.
We have a plan.
We need everybody’s help.

Thus ─ the “American Anti-Corruption Act”
W
HAT it does
Executive BranchFor sale

Shines a light on dark money groups and their secret donors

Outlaws members of Congress from taking donations from the entities they regulate

Closes the revolving door between Congress and K Street so that politicians (and their staffs) are not trading their power in exchange for cushy jobs when they leave office

Fosters small-donor contributions through citizen-funded elections (Shut out all the corrupting money, enable clean money; … it costs money to run for public office)
Legislative Branch
For sale

Stops Super PACs and dark money groups from coordinating with campaigns

 Disempowers Super PACs, while protecting free speech rights of America’s people
Expands the definition of lobbying to include all types of influence peddlers

Judicial Branch
For sale
“American Anti-Corruption Act”
W
HY it works

It goes beyond piecemeal reforms: as comprehensive legislation of historic proportions, it completely reshapes the current system to eliminate undue influence of money

Millions of people are ready to rally behind the same proposal, including all of the issue groups being beaten by big money lobbyists

This movement is neither progressive nor conservative. It is American. From Occupy to the Tea Party, Democrats to Republicans to Independents; more than 80 percent of Americans (indentified as liberal, independent and conservative) want to get money out

Not asking politicians to fix the problem, the movement forces their hand ─ this only way to force the fox (politicians) out of the henhouse or clamp a lock on it (the cache of campaign corruption): oppose the movement, lose seat in office.

  
Sources and notes

“Represent Us, Not the Money ─ Support the Act”

“Represent.Us is a fresh campaign to support the American Anti-Corruption Act: a law that would overhaul campaign finance; impose strict lobbying and conflict of interest laws; and end secret political money. We are mobilizing millions of Americans — conservatives and progressives, young and old, every issue group fighting K Street, online and offline — to join this campaign.”

“Represent dot us Reshape American Politics”

“Represent.Us is not just building a movement in support of the American Anti-Corruption Act; we are going to use our collective power to stand against those who stand for corruption. If it becomes law, the Act will completely reshape American politics and policy-making and give people a voice.”


W
All men and women are
created equal
Who is the
"us"? 
hile the ideas and stated concerns of this group or movement, “Represent dot us,” seem well and good, what I found  particularly telling was the makeup of its board of advisers: the members are limited essentially to the two entrenched U.S. political parties; their work histories are the “same ole” attachments to technology, finance, investment, entrenched government office holders past and present; some are even felons; and of the 21 advisers, only two are women.

Represent dot us Board of Advisers

  1. Trevor Potter: Former Chairman, Federal Election Commission: Mr. Potter served as General Counsel to John McCain 2008 and 2000 presidential campaigns. He also served as Deputy General Counsel to the George H.W. Bush 1988 campaign. He is the founding President and General Counsel of the Campaign Legal Center, a Washington, D.C.- based nonprofit that focuses on campaign finance issues in the courts and before the FEC. Mr. Potter now represents Stephen Colbert and his SuperPAC and 501C-4. He advises Mr. Colbert on campaign finance issues on The Colbert Report. 
  1. Theodore Roosevelt IV: Investment Banker: Theodore Roosevelt IV is a prominent Republican conservationist, the great-grandson of former President Roosevelt; and serves on boards of the Alliance for Climate Protection, the Wilderness Society, the American Museum of Natural History (Trustee), and the World Resources Institute. He is the chair of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. 
  1. Lawrence Lessig: Harvard Law School Professor: Professor Lawrence Lessig is the director of the Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics at Harvard University as well as a professor of law at Harvard Law School. He is founder of Rootstrikers, an organization dedicated to ending corruption in government; and sits on advisory boards of the Sunlight Foundation and Americans Elect. 
  1. Richard Painter: Former Ethics Advisor to former President George W. Bush: Professor Richard Painter is a Professor of corporate law at the University of Minnesota. He served as the chief ethics lawyer for George W. Bush and has also been active in law reform efforts aimed at deterring securities fraud and improving ethics of corporate managers and lawyers. 
  1. Cecelia Frontero: Occupy Wall Street: Cecelia Frontero is an active participant in the Occupy Wall Street movement with a focus on ending the undue influence of special interests in politics. She is an accomplished actor with credits that include numerous theater, television and audio book productions and recordings. 
  1. Buddy Roemer productions: Former Governor of Louisiana: Buddy Roemer (R-LA) is a former four-term U.S. Congressman and one-term Governor of Louisiana. He is the CEO and President of Business First Bank and a former GOP candidate for U.S. President. 
  1. Tom Whitmore: DC Tea Party Patriots: Tom Whitmore is the head of the D.C. Tea Party Patriots; a retired C.E.O. of three small businesses now working to create an environment that encourages new activists to step up and become involved in the electoral process. 
  1. Hadi Partovi: Investor: Hadi Partovi is an entrepreneur and angel investor. As an entrepreneur, he was on the founding teams of Tellme and iLike. As an angel investor and startup advisor, Hadi’s portfolio includes Facebook, Zappos, Dropbox, OPOWER, Flixster, Bluekai, and many others. The Harvard graduate is a strategic advisor to numerous startups including Facebook, Dropbox, OPOWER, and Bluekai. Hadi Partovi serves on the board of TASER International and is also an active angel investor with a wide range of investments. 
  1. Jack Cogan: Jack Cogan is a former chairman and managing partner of Hale and Dorr (now Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP) and a former chairman of that firm’s Corporate Department. Cogan remains active in the financial services industry as non-executive chairman of Pioneer Investment Management USA, Inc., and as president of the Pioneer Family of Mutual Funds (USA). He is a vice president and Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a life-trustee of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and chairman emeritus of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Cogan previously served as trustee of Boston Medical Center and was a chairman of University Hospital (Boston). 
  1. Douglas E. Schoen: Democratic Campaign Consultant: Douglas E. Schoen is an influential campaign consultant with a client list that includes Bill Clinton, Michael Bloomberg, Evan Bayh, and AT&T. He was a founding partner and principle strategist for Penn, Schoen & Berland, and is widely recognized as one of the co-inventors of overnight polling. Credentialed by Harvard Law School and Oxford University, Schoen has authored numerous books and is a regular contributor to the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and FOX News. 
  1. Todd Dipaola: Co-founder of Vantage Media and its CFO and VP for Strategy. During his tenure, Vantage became #31 in the Inc 500 list. In addition to angel investing and new online ventures, he serves on several public interest boards. He is credentialed by UC Berkeley and the Goldman School. 
  1. Mark McKinnon: GOP Strategist: Mark McKinnon has been helping to solve complex strategic challenges for causes, companies and candidates, including George W. Bush, John McCain, Ann Richards, Charlie Wilson, Lance Armstrong and Bono. McKinnon has helped engineer five winning presidential primary and general elections. He co-founder of No Labels, a non-profit organization dedicated to bipartisanship, civil discourse and problem solving in politics, and is co-chair of Arts+Labs. He serves on the boards of the Lance Armstrong Foundation and Change Congress. 
  1. Dennis M. Kelleher: Better Markets: Dennis M. Kelleher is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Better Markets, Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization that promotes the public interest in the U.S. and global financial markets. He has held several senior staff positions in the United States Senate, most recently as the Chief Counsel and Senior Leadership Advisor to the Chairman of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee. 
  1. Jack Abramoff: Former Lobbyist:  Jack Abramoff is a former Washington super-lobbyist who became a master of exploiting the lobbying system, and later served three years for breaking lobbying laws. Abramoff authored Capitol Punishment: The Hard Truth about Corruption from America s Most Notorious Lobbyist and continues to make media appearances to ‘educate’ citizens on the corrupt practices in government. 
 Brandeis University graduate
Jack Abramoff
[Profiting from his crime]


Further notes not cited by “represent.us”: Brandeis University graduate Jack Abramoff is a convicted felon who was involved “The Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal,” “a United States political scandal relating to the work performed by political lobbyists Jack Abramoff, Ralph E. Reed, Jr., Grover Norquist and Michael Scanlon on Indian casino gambling interests for an estimated $85 million in fees. Abramoff and Scanlon grossly overbilled their clients, secretly splitting the multimillion-dollar profits. In one case, they were secretly orchestrating lobbying against their own clients in order to force them to pay for lobbying services. In the course of the scheme, the lobbyists were accused of illegally giving gifts and making campaign donations to legislators in return for votes or support of legislation. Representative Bob Ney (R-OH) and two aides to Tom DeLay (R-TX) have been directly implicated; other politicians have various ties. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Abramoff_Indian_lobbying_scandal

Fox in Henhouse
  1. Nick Penniman: Fund for the Republic: Nick Penniman is the executive director of Fund for the Republic, a catalyst fund bringing new resources to efforts that confront the undue influence of moneyed interests over U.S. politics. Before working with Fund for the Republic, Penniman was Executive Director of the Huffington Post Investigative Fund; and was a publisher or editor of several good-government magazines and newspapers and blogs on the issue of money in politics. 
  1. David Levine: American Sustainable Business Council: David Levine is co-founder and CEO of the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC), a growing coalition of business networks and businesses committed to advancing a new vision, framework and policies that support a vibrant, equitable and sustainable economy. Founded in 2009, ASBC and its organizational members represent more than 150,000 businesses and more than 300,000 individual entrepreneurs, owners, executives, investors and business professionals across the United States. 
  1. Susan McCue: Progressive Strategist: Susan McCue is a political strategist and President of Message Global LLC, a strategic public affairs firm founded to advance progressive campaigns, global non-profit advocacy, grassroots activism and corporate social responsibility. McCue served as the Chief of Staff for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. She later became founding President and CEO of The ONE Campaign and elevated ONE into a national force. GQ Magazine named her one of the 50 most powerful people in Washington. Washingtonian Magazine named her one of the 100 most powerful women in Washington. 
  1. Albert Wenger: Partner, Union Square Ventures: Albert Wenger is a partner at Union Square Ventures, a venture capital firm that specializes in internet/tech ventures. He is also founder or founder of five companies and has managed a broad range of technology projects. 
  1. Ethan Beard: Until recently Ethan Beard was Director of the Facebook Developer Network. Before that he was Director of Business Development at Facebook and led the team responsible for creating and managing strategic partnerships. Ethan joined Facebook from Google, where he was Director of Social Media and Director of New Business Development. Prior to Google, he spent several years as Director of Business Development for MTV Online. He is credentialed in Economics by the Wharton School of Business and in business by New York University. 
  1. Joe Greenstein: Co-founder and CEO, Flixster: He is co-founder and CEO of Flixster. Previously he was part of a startup team and head of product management at Edusoft, bought by Houghton-Mifflin in 2003. He is credentialed in computer science by the University of Pennsylvania and in economics by the Wharton School. 
  1. Jonathan Haidt: Professor, NYU: Professor Haidt is a social psychologist whose research examines the foundations of morality. His most recent book and New York Times bestseller is The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are divided by Politics and Religion. The book helps explain the American culture war between left and right. Professor Haidt is credentialed (Philosophy) by Yale and (Psychology) the University of Pennsylvania. http://represent.us/about/ 
Bryant’s American Anti-Corruption Act: Bryant wants support for a new law co-authored by Democrats and Republicans, designed to fix our political system and end corruption.
American Anti-Corruption Act; info@represent.us
 855.585.8100 x29, P.O. Box 60008, Florence, MA 01062 http://unitedrepublic.actionkit.com/event/cosponsor/8889/

http://represent.us/


________________________________________

Bennett's books are available in New York State independent bookstores: Lift Bridge Bookshop: www.liftbridgebooks.com [Brockport, NY]; Sundance Books: http://www.sundancebooks.com/main.html [Geneseo, NY]; Mood Makers Books: www.moodmakersbooks.com [City of Rochester, NY]; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center: www.enlightenthedog.org/ [Buffalo, NY]; Burlingham Books – ‘Your Local Chapter’: http://burlinghambooks.com/ [Perry, NY 14530]; The Bookworm: http://www.eabookworm.com/ [East Aurora, NY] • See also: World Pulse: Global Issues through the eyes of Women: http://www.worldpulse.com/ http://www.worldpulse.com/pulsewire http://www.facebook.com/#!/bennetts2ndstudy

________________________________________