Happy Fourth Of July!!!!!

I’ve always been a history buff, even before I went to Vietnam.

Reading history was one of the reasons, I went from a supporter of the war, even so far as to become a US Army NCO to a dissident speaking out and even a criminal committing civil disobedience in opposition.

Some reasons that are overlooked in US War of Independence revolve around ‘The Proclamation Line of 1763’ and the unwillingness of the colonists to pay taxes for current and past wars against the First Nations.

When the colonists refused to pay current and past wars, the Brits made ‘The Proclamation Line of 1763,’ which was the limit of colonial expansion West. This was based on the simple proven theory that if you didn’t invade another’s land, they won’t attack you. This displeased two sets of colonists, the rugged frontiersman looking to steal land to own and more importantly the land speculators, the Banksters of the day. The main problem in turning a claim to cash was ethnically cleansing the natives. One of the most notable of the speculators was George Washington, who had been trading in First Nations land for decades. He made and lost several fortunes trading and finally gave up...

Suncoast Sierra Club's Gulf Truth Forum Did Not Speak Truth--Scientists on Their Panel Have Studies Funded by BP
November 19, 2010
By Anita Stewart
This event was held on November 16, 2010 at the Fish and Wildlife Center in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida from 6 until 830PM.

EVENT NOTICE:

First statement on the invitation to this event is this:
"What do scientists say about how the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster affected the fish, wildlife and people in the Gulf of Mexico?"

People? The Human Impact in relation to the Catastrophe and Crime Scene in the Gulf was never mentioned in this forum. Not ONCE!..

The Wall Comes Tumbling Down

Greg Kaufmann | October 18, 2010 It was an unlikely place to hear Abraham Joshua Heschel quoted, and the rabbi’s words came from an unlikely messenger.

At a news conference on a farm outside of Immokalee in southwest Florida, Jon Esformes, operating partner of the fourth-generation [1], family-owned Pacific Tomato Growers—one of the five largest growers in the nation with more than 14,000 acres in the US and Mexico—declared, “In a free society, few are guilty, but all are responsible.”

And with that he announced an agreement with the 4000-member Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to implement a penny per pound pay raise — which stands to increase workers’ annual earnings from about $10,000 to as much as $17,000 — and establish a code of conduct that includes an external complaint resolution system, shade and protective equipment in the fields, and a worker-to-worker education process on their rights under the new agreement....

Well, here we are at the Old Capital in Tallytown. All five of us. It's a beautiful evening to protest the sixth anniversary of the Iraq War and Occupation.

YOU shoulda been here, we are... Oh well, we'll light a candle for you anyway.

CONGRESSMAN ALLEN BOYD: Will He Stand Up to Special Interests on Budget Vote

Representative Allen Boyd
Phone: 202-225-5235

District Offices:
Panama City: 850-785-0812
Tallahassee: 850-561-3979

Lake Ella War Commemoration March 19th

A group of Tallahassee citizens advocating an end to U.S. involvement in Iraq, are inviting the community to come to Lake Ella at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 19, 2009, to commemorate the start of the nation’s 7th year in Iraq.

[This is not to mourn the start of our nation’s 7th year of laying waste to Iraq and its people. Tom]

We ask that each person come to the lake with a candle or flashlight. At 8:00 p.m. the candles and flashlights will be illuminated; fifteen minutes later “Taps” will be played.

Meredith McMackin, who lost her son, Marine Cpl. Julian M. Woodall in Iraq in May 2007, hopes that the community will participate in these events in recognition of the on-going war and its effects.

FMI
Meredith McMackin at mlmcmackin(at)aim.com or 544-0506.

Operation Iraq Liberation 6th Anniversary Candle Light Vigil - March 20, 2009
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

American Friends Service Committee, Gold Star Families for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, National Organization for Women, Military Families Speak Out, Pax Christi, Tallahassee Network for Justice and Peace, Veterans for Peace, Vietnam Veterans Against the War members and friends will join again to mourn the tortured, the hundreds of thousands of war dead, the destruction of Iraq society and humankind's historical legacy.
Candles will be provided.
Donations accepted.

East of the Florida's Old Capitol's steps.
Apalachee Parkway and South Monroe
Tallahassee, FL
Park behind the flag off Calhoun. :
850-322-1509

“Cut and Glue Party” for 2nd annual ”Peace in the Park" March 22nd

“Cut and Glue Party” to make flags to honor those US soldiers, sailors, marines and airman who have died or were wounded in the Iraq War. We will be displaying them at Railroad Square for the “Peace in the Park” event which is April 19th.in Railroad Square Art Park. We are going to install 4,300 purple flags-each flag representing one American life lost in Iraq or Afghanistan as well as 10 wounded Americans [Each flag could also represent 50 murdered Iraqis and 100 Iraqi children that suffer from ACUTE MALNUTRITION over and above the rate under Saddam because of our destruction of Iraq’s infrastructure since 2003], but they don’t] .

“Cut and Glue” Party will be at Anne Allen’s home
Sunday, March 22nd, 2:00 PM
FMI
Jeannie Lancaster at lancaster996(at)gmail.com

JOIN FARMWORKERS AS THEY ASK GOV. CHARLIE CRIST TO TAKE A STAND AGAINST SLAVERY

Immokalee Workers to Stage Theater Re-enacting Slavery Case on Steps of Old Capitol, Deliver Petitions to Governor Crist

WHO: Farmworker members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers; religious, student, human rights, and community leaders from across the country.

WHAT: Members of the CIW will travel to Tallahassee this March 9th to stage a creative protest designed to bring the reality of 
human rights violations in Florida's fields to the governor's doorstep. 
The CIW and allies will re-enact the facts of a recently prosecuted brutal slavery operation in "popular theater"
 presentation "so Governor Crist can no longer turn his back on the crimes against human rights in this state's fields." The farmworker delegation will also deliver petition signatures gathered from the community of Immokalee and across the country to the governor's office calling on Governor Crist to take a stand against slavery and to meet with the CIW.

WHEN: Monday, March 9 at Noon

WHERE: Steps of the Old Capitol, 400 S. Monroe Street, Tallahassee, FL.

For more information: www.ciw-online.org

Stalinism Inside The DCCC-- Beware The Red To Blue Program
Howie Klein - DownWithTyranny August 10, 2008
The DCCC's hopelessly corrupt and widely discredited Red to Blue Program, co-chaired by the ambitious and venal Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL), who is working vigorously for the re-election of far right Republican fanatics in South Florida, has declared for 45 candidates so far in this cycle. Very few grassroots donors give to this project but it is a veritable stamp of approval for wealthy and institutional Democrats who don't pay much attention. Savvy activists learned long ago that the DCCC is entirely untrustworthy and that many of their hand-picked candidates are the mirror image of brainwashed or brain-dead Republican rubber stamps and that, in fact, way too many support Republican principles and values.

Typically, the DCCC advises Democratic candidates to disguise their stances on controversial issues that separate the two parties. With ABC News reporting today that the lines are starting to blur between which party is pro-choice and which party is anti-choice, socially conservative candidates are meticulous in hiding their anti-choice and their homophobic manias from voters. There will always be one or two like Chris Carney (PA) who will actually lie about it when asked, but most just refuse to discuss it. Take a look at "courageous" Ohio Democrat John Boccieri tap dancing around these two issues.

Last year many of the Red to Blue candidates got into Congress and immediately started voting like Republicans-- but just on crucial issues like the war in Iraq, warrantless wiretaps, immigration reform, trade policies...

Obama, interrupted
Posted: Friday, August 01, 2008 11:21 AM by Mark Murray

From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli and NBC's Lauren Appelbaum
ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- About seven minutes into his remarks here, Obama was interrupted by a handful of African-American demonstrators, who stood up in the last row of a section of bleachers behind him and held up a sign that said: "What about the black community, Obama." It had a link to a Web sitewhich calls itself the "Online Voice of the International African Revolution."

As in 4000 too many dead US soldiers during the Iraq invasion and occupation. Local activists and concerned citizens responded to the American Friends Service Committee's call to action by assembling in front of Florida's old Capitol in Tallahassee to commemorate 4000+ dead US soldiers.

More pics on the flip...

5 Years Too Many Tallahassee Iraq War 5th Anniversary observation

To commemorate the beginning of the sixth year of the illegal, immoral, and unjust war of aggression against the people of Iraq, local political activists and citizens of all stripes gathered at Lake Ella in Tallahassee on Wednesday March 19th as evening fell.


The names names of Florida's war dead were read to the tolling of a large Buddhist bell echoing through the neighborhoods surrounding Lake Ella.




Groups represented included TNJP, Tallahasseans Who think Its Time To Come Home, Vets for Peace, Vietnam Vets Against War, CodePINK, MoveOn.org and regular citizens including at least two active-duty members of the military.

Turnout was lower than expected due to a driving rainstorm. Still, approximately one hundred turned out to raise voice and witness to the disastrous (pick your adjective) misadventure in Iraq.

See the full photo album on Picassa

More below the fold...

Go to www.WexlerWantsHearings.com and join Congressman Wexler's call for Cheney Impeachment Hearings

Sign the petition here...

Rigid voter law still being enforced
Posted on Thu, Dec. 20, 2007 BY GARY FINEOUT
TALLAHASSEE --
Despite a federal judge's order, state election officials have told Florida's 67 election supervisors to keep following a controversial voter registration law.

U.S. Judge Stephan Mickle earlier this week ordered state officials to stop enforcing the 2-year-old law that requires information filled out on voter registration forms to match numbers maintained in state and federal databases.

But Sarah Jane Bradshaw, the interim head of the state Division of Elections, told election supervisors to maintain their current procedures for verifying voter registration forms while the state prepares an appeal of the ruling. ''We will advise you as soon as we have determined whether the Supervisors of Elections will need to take any action to comply with this injunction. Please do not change any of your procedures until further notice,'' Bradshaw wrote in an e-mail that was sent out late Tuesday.

A spokesman for Secretary of State Kurt Browning contended that state officials were not defying the judge's order.

''I would disagree with that statement,'' said Sterling Ivey.

Art meets protest at the Peace Crane installation that Tallahasseeans Who Believe It’s Time to Come Home have set up at Tallahassee's Railroad Square. Nearly 4200 origami peace cranes have been displayed and strung up lining the street and winding through the trees. On Friday evening Dec. 7th hundreds and hundreds of folks passed through the display during visits to the local arts enclave.



The local CBS affiliate graced the event with a 22 second report on Friday...

more pics below the fold...