World Citizenship pledges allegiance to human family

 Matter of conscience

Excerpt, editing by Carolyn Bennett

From thoughts by “World Citizen” Ken O’Keefe

“I disagree with paying into a tax system that spends more than every other nation combined (more than 1 trillion dollars annually) at the behest of the ‘military industrial complex’ with a ‘global spectrum dominance’ agenda. I reject war except in legitimate self-defense (meaning the enemy is coming over your border). I would rather be imprisoned than pay for the murder of my brother and sister no matter how distant they may be.“

“I despise secret agendas and I am fully aware of the New World Order agenda seeking to establish a ‘one world government.’ I reject and denounce this agenda and want no part of any system that concentrates power in the hands of a minority at the expense of the majority. My goal is to effect a better world in which the will of the people is sacrosanct and the way of the world citizen is commonplace.“

“ Citizenship is a social contract. Within this contract, each person has rights and obligations.

“Citizenship is a reflection of one’s conscience, thus world citizenship (as I understand it) best reflects my ultimate allegiance to my entire human family and to planet Earth.

“World citizenship transcends rather than renounces the nation/state system which is inherently divisive. The philosophy behind world citizenship is a uniting force that respects one principle above all others: ‘The Golden Rule.’ You need only to understand the wisdom and necessity of ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’ to qualify as a world citizen..“

Sources and notes

http://www.worldcitizen.uk.net/index.html

World Citizen Ken O'Keefe (born Ken Nichols in the U.S. State of California) holds Irish, Hawaiian and Palestinian citizenship; and has worked as entrepreneur, marine conservationist, and Human Rights Activist. In 2002, he founded the Truth Justice Peace Human Shield Action to Iraq. Intended to ‘make it politically impossible for U.S.-led coalition troops to bomb’ Iraq by placing western civilians as ‘shields’ at non-military locations, about 75 activists traveled over land from London to Baghdad in two double-decker buses.

In 2004, he founded the P10K. His website and Wikipedia note that P10K founder Ken O’Keefe joined the Free Gaza Movement which intends to enter Gaza by sea in order to expose and ultimately break the siege of Gaza; that O’Keefe’s intention was to meaningfully contribute to the Free Gaza objectives and complement the goals of P10K.

“P10K Mandate:  Incessant Calls for International Observers”

“‘… The undersigned, citizens of the European Union, declare that we refuse to watch in impotence the atrocities against the Palestinian people that are taking place before our eyes. We demand from the European leaders a decisive action in the face of a crisis of these proportions. We demand urgent and efficient action, according to international law...’”

Also are these notes: “‘P10K: The Palestinian People’ — It is not an exaggeration to say that the Palestinian people virtually uniformly agree that a presence of 1000 International Observers in Palestine would improve conditions on the ground. But it is a long term presence that is needed most, a presence that remains until a ‘just’ peace becomes reality.… If ‘Free Gaza’ is successful, there can be no doubt that the chances of an international observer force within Gaza become more possible. For this reason P10K organizers encourage people to support the Free Gaza Movement in every way possible.” http://www.p10k.net/

 “…Both of these direct actions acknowledge the huge disparity in value placed on life — Western life versus  everybody else’s life: roughly 3,000 lives lost in the September 11, 2011, World Trade Center attacks; Western retaliatory aggression (based on false premises) has left well over a million Iraqis and Afghans dead. Disproportionate does not begin to describe this horrid hypocrisy and injustice.” http://www.p10k.net/

See also http://kenokeefe.wordpress.com/

Kenneth Nichols "Ken" O'Keefe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_O%27Keefe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_shield_action_to_Iraq

END THOUGHT

Who is a World Citizen?

Posted by Patrick Frost, creator, writer, and host of Great Power Politics, June 1, 2009, sourcing a World Public Opinion.org poll taken in the period July 15 - November 4, 2008

“…Most people when asked ‘who are you’ identify by family, friends, and or city/town of origin or are current city, town or state. But what of a higher level of identity: nation, region, world? How do people respond when asked, “Do you consider yourself more a citizen of country, more a citizen of the world, or both equally? In the July 15 - November 4 poll, World Public Opinion.org asked this question of identity (with country, world or both country and world) to 21,307 people in 21 nations (diverse countries with a variety of governments, cultures, sizes, etc.). Some of their findings were these:  

Respondents

AMERICAS

United States (most nationalistic of Western countries)

72 (Country), 5 (World), 22 (Both Equally) 

Mexico (highest “Both Equally” reply, 35; Country, 56; World Citizen, 9)

OTHER WESTERN NATIONS

France, Germany, and Italy (higher rates of World Citizen or Both Equally)

EASTERN NATIONS: China/India

China (Country, 35; World, 6; Both Equally, 44)

India (Country, 40; World, 14; Both Equally, 32)

OTHERS

Several nations with strong histories/cultures, young statehood or autocratic societies polled very high nationalism (e.g., Turkey, South Korea, Jordan, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Russia). http://greatpowerpolitics.com/?page_id=2

Images

http://greatpowerpolitics.com/?p=1417

Truth - Citizenship is a social contract, within this contract each person ... worldcitizen.uk.net

http://criticalthinking-mc205.wikispaces.com/Social+Contract

commons.wikimedia.org, Palestinian flag on the sail of the Free Gaza boat.jpg
Gaza youths celebrate Egypt revolution, uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com


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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
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Tulsa takes line from fictional “City Hall” mayor

Film "City Hall"

 Life imitating art imitating life — cynical sayings at city hall

Excerpt, minor edit by Carolyn Bennett

From WSWS

Tulsa, Oklahoma, Mayor Dewey Bartlett, in the face of street killings in a predominantly black American neighborhood “[reaches] out to local NAACP officials, a black city councilman from Tulsa’s north side, and local preachers, calling for ‘Operation Bridges of Faith’ to help youth on the north side [and] asking for ‘brainstorming for ideas to give kids something to do this summer once school is out…baseball, softball, cheerleading, whatever it might be.’”

In the 1996 film “City Hall,” the mayor (played by Al Pacino) visits the dead boy’s home and at his cleverly choreographed press conference later that day, he flanks himself with a choral yet silent presence of black preachers whom he introduces, clearly enunciating “Reverend” …. The mayor then instructs his staff to see that “their” neighborhoods were cleaned up. This NYC fictional mayor pushes theater even further with a ridiculous display of “preaching” at the dead boy’s funeral. 

City Hall Tulsa, Okla

Tulsa performance typical, vacuous Life imitating art imitating life

The mayor stole the lines from Pacino and I agree entirely with Fred Mazelis’s thoughts today at World Socialist Web Site. The Tulsa mayor’s “cynical move … [says] nothing about jobs for working class youth and the unemployed of all races or the protracted and increasingly desperate social crisis to which crimes like this are connected,” Mazelis writes.

 “While the precise motives and psychological states of both suspects in the shootings are not fully known or understood —

It is clear that this incident reflects the growing poverty, hopelessness and social tension that, in the absence of mass social movements, increasingly erupt in the form of social backwardness and tragedy.”

Source and notes

News report: “Two suspects confess in Tulsa, Oklahoma, shootings” (Fred Mazelis) wsws.org, published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), April 13, 2012, http://wsws.org/articles/2012/apr2012/tuls-a13.shtml

“City Hall” was a 1996 Harold Becker film starring Al Pacino, John Cusack and Bridget Fonda. The story surrounds an initial (accidental) death of a boy (with racial overtones) caught in the crossfire of a street shooting with wide-ranging connections between the mob and the mayor, big-boss party politics, corrupt government, payoffs, setups and cover ups in New York City; and an investigation by a deputy mayor with fallout, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115907/

Image City Hall, http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2326043904/tt0115907

Tulsa, Oklahoma's Official Governing Body and Services. City Hall Tulsa, foreclosurelistings.com

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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

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Speculators as bank robbers heisting food pantries must be 'cuffed

Food Speculation

Global BREAKDOWN continues in unchecked high crime in high places

Excerpts, editing by Carolyn Bennett

From Professor Michael Greenberger’s comments in interview today with The Real News Network’s senior editor Paul Jay: “Speculation and criminal manipulation of food and commodities prices — ‘Weak regulations on speculators swamping markets and lack of enforcement of existing laws on criminal intent, are driving up prices’”

RECAP: Al Jazeera report May 2011

Don't gamble with our food

“Glencore controls more half the global copper market and almost ten percent of the planet’s wheat trade [Reuters]. It is the world’s largest diversified commodities trader — now planning a $11billion share sale [2011 figures], likely the largest market debut ever seen on the London Stock Exchange.…”

The “rapid rise in food, fuel and commodities prices [though] a bonanza for multinational trading firms such as Glencore” has disastrous consequences for the world’s poor. Critics have charged that this singular commodities trader [unchecked] issuing stock causes spikes in food prices.

‘Stability is to be prized’ but that is ‘the last thing Glencore wants, as it is instability that is most profitable — for those who have the inside knowledge to exploit it’ [David Green of Oxfam].

“To make money betting on food, metals and energy, Glencore – like other trading in houses and hedge funds – relies on one crucial commodity: Information.

‘[Glencore has] offices all over the world and unique access to information about production and distribution. When the people who have that information are also the ones speculating, there is grave cause for concern; they can purchase forward contracts when they know prices are going up’ [Food security researcher Devlin Kuyek with GRAIN, a non-profit international organization working on food security].

The Real News Network 2012

There are two kinds of speculation, Professor Michael Greenberger told Senior Editor Paul Jay, that the Dodd–Frank law (in the U.S. Senate, July 2010) intended to limit and constrain “but the place that there is vulnerability is in the futures market, where you actually hold a contract for future delivery rather than own the underlying commodity. If that market is overwhelmed by speculators, it will drive up the price of the commodity and therefore not only will people benefit from having futures contracts that pay off big-time; but if they correspondingly hold the physical—the aluminum, the copper, the wheat, the oil — that price goes up as well.

Stock Market

Dodd–Frank recognized that speculators in extreme can overwhelm these markets and asked the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to limit the participation of speculators so that those markets adhered to supply-demand fundamentals.  Unfortunately, in the implementation process, that rule was weakened to almost no effect, and then, once the rule — the weak rule — was finalized, it was challenged by the banks in court. So the limits on speculation have essentially been wiped out despite Congress’s best efforts.

White collar crime

High Crime

ANOTHER PROBLEM is that “some of these participants … adversely affecting the price — are actually not just swamping the markets with investments but are working with each other to drive the price up. That is a criminal problem.”

The crime is criminal manipulation of prices. “That is why the president of the United States — once in April 2011 and once in March 2012 — asked the Justice Department to investigate these markets to see if there is criminal wrongdoing. Those of us who watch these markets believe, despite the innocent flooding of these markets of speculators … there are speculators out there who, with a criminal intent, are driving the price up.

“One remedial process, limiting speculation to a reasonable part of the market, failed because of Wall Street lobbying.  The second part is failing because of prosecutorial laxity, the failure to go after people who are criminally working with each other to drive the price up.”

[Jay: Is part of the problem the political power … paralyzing this process?]

Greenberger continues: “The banks have already checkmated one of the principal limits in Dodd–Frank, which did not require showing criminal intent; [the legislation] just said speculators’ participation in these markets should be drawn down from 80 percent of the markets to about 30 percent of markets, the historical average.” The lobbyists on Wall Street (together with an inattentive public) have run roughshod over that but you cannot run roughshod over a prosecutor. What is missing is “serious investigation” by the U.S. Justice Department.

Speculators as bank robbers

“My view and the view of many academic experts,” Greenberger said, “is [that] if the Justice Department would seriously investigate the criminal manipulation, the price would come down dramatically — not just the price of oil, not just gasoline, not just of heating oil, but the price of agricultural products as well, because the same things are happening in those markets.…

“If we did not investigate bank robbers, there would be a lot of profits made from going in and holding up banks. But we enforce burglary laws and theft laws in bank robberies. The same thing is happening in the commodity markets, and the prosecutors and de facto police have blindfolded themselves, stuffed their ears, and held their noses, and appeared to the public as if nothing is going on.

“If there were a serious investigation undertaken, if the FBI was called in, if records were subpoenaed, if market participants were interviewed and the Justice Department at least gave an indication, as they did when they went after the Enron conspirators in the early 2000s, if they were serious about this — just the appearance of a serious investigation would cause the criminal speculators to scatter like cockroaches scatter when lights are turned on. If indictments were brought down, the public would be educated about this.” 

Sources and notes

Al Jazeera 2011

 “Glencore: Profiteering from hunger and chaos — The world’s largest commodities trader is issuing a stock sale, and critics say the firm causes spikes in food prices” (Chris Arsenault), May 9, 2011, Al Jazeera and agencies, http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2011/05/20115723149852120.html

Jay and Greenberger 2012

“Speculation and Criminal Manipulation of Food and Commodities Prices (Michael Greenberger: ‘Weak regulations on speculators swamping markets and lack of enforcement of existing laws on criminal intent, are driving up prices,’” April 13, 2012 [Watch full multipart Speculation and Criminal Manipulation of Food and Commodities Prices]

In Washington Paul Jay, Senior Editor, interviewer, The Real News Network, Transcript Site DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy. http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=8134

MICHAEL GREENBERGER

Michael Greenberger is Technical Advisor to the United Nations Commission of Experts of the President of the UN General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System. He has recently been named to the International Energy Forum’s Independent Expert Group that provided recommendations for reducing energy price volatility to the IEF’s 12th Ministerial Meeting of March 2010. Professor Greenberger was a partner for more than 20 years in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Shea and Gardner. There he served as lead litigation counsel before courts of law nationwide, including the United States Supreme Court.

Professor Michael Greenberger is on the University of Maryland School of Law faculty where he teaches a course entitled “Futures, Options and Derivatives.

PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR CONCLUDES:  “… Commodity traders and big banks are making such fabulous profits out of all this. The top commodity traders are making more money than the biggest telecoms’ netting more profit than the Microsoft/s and the Apple/s. … Unless you read the financial press, where you see some of this, reading the popular press would give you no sense of the extent of money being made by the big banks, commodity traders, on commodities and speculation, the two together.”

DODD-FRANK overview excerpt [July 2010]

“BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DODD-FRANK WALL STREET REFORM AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT: Create a Sound Economic Foundation to Grow Jobs, Protect Consumers, Rein in Wall Street and Big Bonuses, End Bailouts and Too Big to Fail, Prevent Another Financial Crisis

Years without accountability for Wall Street and big banks brought us the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the loss of 8 million jobs, failed businesses, a drop in housing prices, and wiped out personal savings.

The failures that led to this crisis require bold action. We must restore responsibility and accountability in our financial system to give Americans confidence that there is a system in place that works for and protects them. We must create a sound foundation to grow the economy and create jobs.”

http://banking.senate.gov/public/_files/070110_Dodd_Frank_Wall_Street_Reform_comprehensive_summary_Final.pdf

Images

Food speculation, recent food price volatility has been linked to the ..., theecologist.org

Stop betting on hunger, eco-storm.com

“Don’t gamble with our food” ... 100 million people into extreme poverty. I also said that G20 does not ... actionaid.org

No land no food” Woman and child with a sign saying No land, No food

foecardiff.co.uk

Stop bankers betting on food, by. Alex Milan Tracy, demotix.com

A suspect in an armed bank robbery in South Carolina is apprehended in ...

palive365.com

White+Collar+Crimes+Law.png, thelaw.tv, 425 × 282 - White+Collar+Crimes+Law

stockpic.jpg, wired.com, 660 × 438 - ... connected to a high-frequency, stock-and-commodities trading platform

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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

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ACLU urges VOTER VIGILANCE, action

ACT 

ACT 

ACT 

 ACT 

ACT 












http://www.aclu.org/let-people-vote/infographic/?emsrc=Nat_Appeal_AutologinEnabled&emissue=votin
g_rights&emtype=advocacy&s_subsrc=120411_LPV_infographic_C

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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

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“France and Race: A Question of identité”

Colonialism, Consequences: Conflict, War-made migration, fallout — one example in the West

Excerpt, minor edit by Carolyn Bennett 

From BBC Radio 4 April 10-15

“Julian Jackson explores the central issue in the current election campaign for the Presidency of France: race, religion and what it means today to be French.

“Clichy-sous-Bois [majority population Muslims of North African heritage situated a few miles from Paris’s center] is a notorious Parisian ghetto. …

“The wooded, gently rolling slopes of this borough to the northeast of the capital are stacked with residential blocks, no burned-out blocks or abandoned lots. Clichy is kempt.

“In 2005, in this almost wholly immigrant community, the deaths of two Muslim youths fleeing police sparked some of the worst and most widespread race riots seen in Europe for generations.

“There are today 5 million Muslims in France, the largest population in western Europe, largely as a result of the country's colonial past in north Africa. Since the 2005 riots, their presence has increasingly been a central issue in French society.

“In 2009, the government instituted a national inquiry, with town-hall meetings and debates that resulted in much handwringing over what it means today ‘to be French,’ not least in the light of the country’s ban on wearing the full Islamic veil in public.

“Now there is widespread belief that with the far-right National Front led by the charismatic Marine le Pen, there may be a rerun of the 2002 shock elimination by the party of one of the main contenders in the first round of voting.

“In this program, Julian Jackson, Professor of modern French history at Queen Mary, University of London, visits Clichy and meets the men and women who are at the heart of the debate — Jean-Francois Copé, chief of [French President Nicolas] Sarkozy’s UMP [center-right political party, Union for a Popular Movement (Union pour un Mouvement Populaire)], Harlem Désir, Socialist MP and founder of SOS Racism and Marine le Pen to discuss what being French is all about and how they reconcile the fraught arguments over race and religion.”

Sources and notes

“France and Race: A Question of Identite”

Producer: Simon Elmes; Broadcasts Tuesday April 10, 2012, 20:00, BBC Radio 4

Sunday April 15, 2012, 17:00, BBC Radio 4, http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01fhysd

Wikipedia notes

Clichy-sous-Bois (formerly Clichy-en-Aulnois), located 15.8 km (9.8 mi) from the center of Paris, is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. The vast majority of its population is made up of Muslims of North African heritage. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clichy-sous-Bois

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_for_a_Popular_Movement

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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

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Why vote and for whom ...

I vote my hope

Commentary by Carolyn Bennett

 Ralph Nader is an independent, a U.S. political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney concerned with consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic governance. He ran in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008 for the office of U.S. President.

I have voted for Ralph Nader repeatedly, not because I was voting “against” — but because I was voting “for.”  Never taking the luxury of sitting out an election, I always vote my own hope and, in the act of voting my hope, I create hope.

·         I vote my hope for an inclusive democracy of many and varied voices, a democracy in which all voices are heard, not just voices and ideas mass media and entrenched power permit to air their voices and ideas.

 

·         I vote my hope for good governance, courageous leadership that is, in the words of former presidential candidate and U.S. Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm — “unbought and unbossed.”

·         I vote my hope for officials who are incorruptible.

·         I vote my hope for a new breed of honesty that keeps faith with the people, instead of pandering to moneyed interests, and keeps the oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America.

·         I vote my hope for officials who are nonviolent in domestic and foreign policy and practice.

·         I vote my hope for officials who retain a sensibility for and are constructively responsive to the needs of all humanity, the environment, the world.

When I voted for Ralph Nader, I was voting my own hope. Ralph Nader is not running for the U.S. presidency this year but he has endorsed Rocky Anderson.

Yesterday in Portland, Oregon, the Progressive Party of Oregon announced Rocky Anderson as its nominee and Ralph Nader endorsed Anderson for the 2012 U.S. presidency. Later in the day, Rocky Anderson spoke to an enthusiastic gathering at Portland State University; and in the evening, he accepted the Oregon Progressive Party nomination.

Sources and notes

Nader biographical brief, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Nader

“Ralph Nader throws his support behind Rocky Anderson” (For immediate release April 10, 2012; for more information, contact Charlotte Scot: 505-603-2739, cscot.justice@gmail.com

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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

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Year of INDEPENDENT voter…?

Rocky Anderson Update, multiple parties, independent thinkers on road to U.S. Presidency 2012

Excerpt, editing, new material by Carolyn Bennett

Forty percent of U.S. citizens consider themselves “independents.”  Fifty-four percent of U.S. voters want to see a new political party.

“Is 2012 the Year of the Independents?”

U.S. presidential candidate Rocky Anderson left the Democratic Party in 2011 after which he received an e-mail [query] from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to which he responded in these words —

How dare you send an email with the subject line ‘Standing Strong.’ 

You did not [stand strong] on Iraq. You didn’t do it on torture. You didn’t do it on ‘Signing Statements.’ You haven’t done it on Afghanistan. You haven’t done it on defense spending. You haven’t done it on real health care reform. You haven’t done it on energy policy and the climate crisis. You haven’t done it on the evisceration of our system of checks and balances through the invocation of the state secrets doctrine. And you haven’t done it on the debt ceiling fiasco. 

Those who have stood strong in Congress can be counted on one hand - and they have faced nothing but opposition by Nancy Pelosi and most of the rest of the so-called Democrats.

Rocky Anderson, his campaign says, feels the Constitution of the United States has been ripped apart, and neither political party [Republican nor Democratic] has stood up to fight for the rights of Americans.

Democrats have stood by with nary a whimper.

It is a gutless, unprincipled party, bought and paid for by the same interests that buy and pay for the Republican Party.

In December 2011, Rocky Anderson co-founded Justice Party USA, a political party that welcomes all disenfranchised voters — liberals, conservatives, Independent voters and members of other political parties. The goals of Justice Party USA are clear: Economic Justice, Environmental Justice, and Social Justice.  Anderson again:

“I believe that all of us together can help make a better world — individually and collectively.

“I believe in the equal application of the laws, rather than the two-tiered system of justice promoted by Bush and Obama.

“I believe in not burdening later generations with our reckless spending and I feel that it is outrageous to spend trillions of dollars for unnecessary wars and, while they are being fought, give massive tax cuts to the wealthy.

“I believe government has a vital role to play in improving education, maintaining and improving the nation’s infrastructure, providing transit opportunities, and building peaceful relations with other nations.

“I also believe that our government has a vital duty to provide international leadership to avoid the most catastrophic consequences of climate disruption.

If my fighting for the restoration of the rule of law and the bolstering of our most fundamental constitutional values makes me a conservative, a liberal or a patriot — you can use whatever term you like.”

Sources and notes

April 9, 2012, press release

ROCKY ANDERSON CAMPAIGN

Rocky Anderson will be in California April 14-22, 2012:

• Peace and Freedom Party Debate (Santa Cruz, April 14
• “The Year of the Independent” Hammer Forum (UCLA, April 19)
• Maggie Phair Institution debate with third party candidates (Los Angeles, April 21
• Peace and Freedom Party debate (Culver City, April 22) 

For More Information or to schedule an interview:  Charlotte Scot (505) 603 2739/cscot@comcast.net.

314 West 300 South, Suite 225 Salt Lake City, UT  84101

 P.O. Box 3868   Salt Lake City, UT  84110

In addition to being a former Salt Lake City, Utah, two-term mayor, Rocky Anderson is founder of High Road for Human Rights and co-founder of the United States’ newest political party, Justice Party USA. On Americans Elect, he is a Declared Presidential Candidate.

Anderson is recipient of Bill of Rights Defense Committee Patriot Award • The Progressive Democrats of America Spine Award • One of Top Twenty activists in the world on climate change - Business Week • Top ten straight advocates in the United States for LGBT equality - Human Rights Campaign • EPA Climate Protection Award • The Sierra Club Distinguished Service Award • Respect the Earth Planet Defender Award • National Association of Hispanic Publications Presidential Award • The Drug Policy Alliance Richard J. Dennis Drugpeace Award • League of United Latin American Citizens Profile in Courage Award • Morehouse University Gandhi, King, Ikeda Award • World Leadership Award for environmental protection.

PEACE AND FREEDOM PARTY

Founded June 23, 1967, “by people who wanted to vote for something they could support …, the Peace and Freedom Party is committed to socialism, democracy, ecology, feminism and racial equality.”

The Party “represent[s] the working class, those without capital in a capitalist society [and organizes] toward a world where cooperation replaces competition, a world where all people are well fed, clothed and housed; where all women and men have equal status; where all individuals may freely endeavor to fulfill their own talents and desires; a world of freedom and peace where every community retains its cultural integrity and lives with all others in harmony.

In 1967 when the Peace and Freedom Party was founded “the Democrats were leading the nation in the war against Vietnam. As the military drained the domestic economy, Republicans and Democrats called for ‘law and order’ to repress Americans who wished to improve their own lives. Black militants were rising up angrily in the cities, while Filipino and Latino farm workers were organizing labor unions in the fields. Women were agitating for full equality with men. These forces of discontent united to create an electoral arm of ‘The Movement.’

A massive voter registration drive placed the Peace and Freedom Party on the California ballot in January 1968. On both the state and national level, [the Party has] shown a willingness to work with other like minded groups, trying to build a mass based socialist party throughout the country.”  http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/home/about-us/about-peace-and-freedom 

On April 14, 2012 (Saturday at 7:00 .p.m., Ocean Street in Santa Cruz), the Peace and Freedom Party holds a Presidential candidate Forum

Participants in the forum: Stewart Alexander, nominee of the Socialist Party USA; Ross C. (Rocky) Anderson, nominee of the Justice Party USA; Stephen Durham, nominee of the Freedom Socialist Party; Peta Lindsay, nominee of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.The Peace and Freedom candidate for U.S. Senate, Marsha Feinland, will also speak. See www.peaceandfreedom.org

http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/home/apr-14-santa-cruz-candidate-forum 

On April 22, 2012 (Sunday at 1:00 p.m., Peace Center West, 3916 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City), the Peace and Freedom Party sponsors “The Political Party of the 99%: The Candidates and Issues.” Participating are all four candidates for President (as 14th) and Senate candidate Marsha Feinland. http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/home/apr-22-los-angeles-candidate-forum

HAMMER FORUM [UCLA]

Hammer Forum offers an ongoing series of lectures, conversations, performances, and panel discussions, timely, thought-provoking events addressing current social and political issues.

Hammer Forum is moderated by Ian Masters, journalist, author, screenwriter, documentary filmmaker, and host of the radio programs Background Briefing Sundays at 11a.m. and The Daily Briefing Monday-Thursdays at 5 p.m. on KPFK 90.7 FM.

All hammer public programs are open to the public without cost. Hammer members receive priority seating, subject to availability. Reservations not required.

Hammer Forum is made possible, in part, by Bronya and Andrew Galef. Public programs are made possible by Hammer Members and the generosity of Susan Bay Nimoy and Leonard Nimoy, Bronya and Andrew Galef, Good Works Foundation and Laura Donnelley, and an anonymous donor. http://hammer.ucla.edu/programs/detail/program_id/1164 

On April 19, 2012, Hammer presents “The Year of the Independents — Can a Third-Party President Get Elected?” 

With more Americans registering as independents than as Democrats or Republicans, can an outsider make it to the White House in 2012?

Joining this discussion of the changing electoral landscape — Rocky Anderson, Kellen Arno, and Buddy Roemer.

Former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson is running for president with the newly formed Justice Party USA; his citizen-financed campaign rejects special interest and corporate funding.

Arno is National Field Director of AmericansElect.org, an online presidential nominating process aimed at providing a competitive, nonpartisan ticket.

Former Louisiana governor Roemer is a conservative Democrat who served four terms as a U.S. congressman and never accepted special interest money. His current presidential campaign limits donations to $100. http://hammer.ucla.edu/programs/programs/cat/7

MAGGIE PHAIR INSTITUTE

The Maggie Phair Institute participates in several broad-based programs among them “the Martin Luther King Coalition for Jobs Justice and Peace.”  In 2011, the Maggie Phair Institute sponsored a playwriting contest on the “Palmer Raids” which were engineered to advance the careers of aspiring politicians and to bolster the power of the FBI as a national police state apparatus. These were serial attacks on immigrant communizes of the United States after World War I.

On April 21, 2012, the Maggie Phair Institute will hold a Presidential Debate, “Education for Equality,” educator@phairinstitute.org

Maggie Phair

Maggie Phair is a peace activist whose opposition to war began with the dropping of the atom bomb and has included opposition to the Korean War, Vietnam War and to U.S. intervention in Central America and the Middle East. In August 1990, Maggie Phair helped organize the first demonstration in Los Angeles opposing a U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf.

Born just before the stock market crash of 1929 and growing up in the shadow of the Great Depression, Maggie Phair’s human rights activism began at San Fernando High School when she brought in the director of the Urban League to challenge racial slurs made by a teacher against Japanese who had just been released from relocation camps. Maggie opposed the discriminatory standards that enrolled all Chicano students in only agriculture or home economics majors.

Soon after enrolling at UCLA Maggie Phair joined the Congress on Racial Equality, helping to desegregate Bullock’s Tearoom, and Bimini Baths, a popular swimming pool. Anti-racist work convinced her of the need for full employment — and for democratic socialism.

In 1967 she became a founding member of the Peace and Freedom Party of California to provide a viable alternative for voters who support civil rights and oppose war. She is a strong advocate for free speech — even for the bad guys. http://phairinstitute.org/phairinstitute2_005.htm

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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
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