Debut Show: Progress In San Diego

Progress in San Diego, first show. Alyce Smith Cooper interviews Walter Davis on his first show. - SDCommunityCoalition@gmail.com Sent to you by SDCommunityCoalition@gmail.com using Google's sharing button Debut Show: Progress In San Diego Nov 22, 2008 Progress in San Diego is a show that covers good news and people doing positive things with regard to the environment, human rights, a... Here's what you can do next: http://www.google.com/s2/sharing/stuff?user=113763434483970067656 View everything shared by people you know Learn more about Google's sharing button

SNL BAIL OUT SKIT VIDEO

While Nancy Pelosi pushes for the Bailout of the Big 3, I ask myself what side of her BED OF NAILS she got up on. Let me explain. If the Big 3 gets bailed out business will continue same as usual until they need more (and they will need more). While bankruptcy doesn't mean loss of jobs, it simply lets companies undergo restructuring, trimming fat (overpaid CEO'S, EXCESSIVE BONUSES and the death grip of the UAW). This is why the laws of bankruptcy were put in place (to save the jobs). By going through this process, the Big 3 would be able to put their products out on the market cheaper giving Americans the opportunity to buy AMERICAN MADE AUTOS at competitive pricing. Isn't that the goal? Back to Nancy Pelosi. In Jan 2007 when the minimum wage went from 5.15 to 7.25, Pelosi had American Samoa exempted from the increase so Del Monte would not have to pay the higher wage. This would make Del Monte products less expensive than their competitor's. Pelosi's district is San Francisco StarKist (owned by Del Monte Foods) headquartered in San Francisco StarKist is the major employer in American Somoa employing 75% of the Samoa workforce. Paul Pelosi, Nancy's husband owns $17,000,000 in StarKist stock. So on one side she wants to shell out Billions of dollars to protect the policies of the UAW and BAD MANAGEMENT of the BIG 3, but on the other side she suppresses wages of workers making minimum wage for her personal gains. I guess Pelosi's outlook is keep t he minimum wage tuna packer with nothing and the UAW and CEO'S of the Big 3 out pricing their own products and employees giving foreign completion more advantages daily. She is the PERFECT reason why politicians are viewed as WHORES. If the people of her district re-elect her another term then I feel that whole district should undergo treatment. First and foremost, you will not read this in the paper or hear it on television. IF YOU HAVE A HIGH SPEED INTERNET ACCESS, THIS SNL SKIT IS WORTH VIEWING… (ALL THE WAY THROUGH) THE FORBIDDEN "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE" SKIT Apparently, SNL did a "Bailout" skit, which has created some incredible problems for NBC. They have pulled the video and apparently gone after anyone who put the video out there, because the video has all but disappeared off the internet. It was up on multiple sites and virtually all the copies are gone now. There are a few copies on the net. Now how much power would you have to have to pull something from the entire internet? Here is one copy still out there: http://msunderestimated.com/SNLBailoutSkit.wmv

[SDCPJ] Art for Peace Festival postponed

The Art for Peace Festival that was originally scheduled for December
7th in Hillcrest has been postponed until Spring 2009. Please see our
table at the Holiday Gift Bazaar on December 13th in North Park to
support SDCPJ's High School Leafletting project which helps to keep
our youth out of the military. SEE YOU IN THE SPRING!

The San Diego Puppet Insurgency

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Hands Off the Huntsville 3

Many of my friends and family were murdered in Alabama by these brutes. Walter Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. SECOND HSV3 CALL IN CAMPAIGN - DEMAND THAT ALL CHARGES ARE DROPPED! On June 29, 2008, Uhuru Movement members Dr. Aisha Fields, Kobina Bantushango (Thomas Buchanan) and Dr. Michelle Strongfields were brutalized and arrested in Huntsville, Alabama by Huntsville police for exercising their legal right to observe and document police as they harassed young Africans after a regional Black Arts Festival in the city. The HSV3 currently await trial on Friday, November 21 on charges of "obstructing justice" and "resisting arrest". InPDUM is calling on all freedom-loving people participate in this second HSV3 call-in campaign and help to defend the democratic rights of the African community! This campaign will coincide with a protest we will have at the city council. On Thursday, November 20th, from 8am-4pm CST, call and email each of the government officials below and demand that all charges be dropped against the Huntsville Three, Dr. Aisha Fields, Thomas Buchanan and Dr. Michelle Strongfields. Give your city, state and country (if outside of the US). After you have called and/or emailed the officials, please send a follow-up email to inpdum_huntsville@yahoo.com to let us know that you have called in. Call and email: 1)Mayor Tommy Battle (256) 427-5000 tommy.battle@hsvcity.com 2)Chief of Police, Henry Reyes (256) 427-7001 henry.reyes@hsvcity.com 3)Councilman Richard Showers (256)427-5011 richard.showers@hsvcity.com Send contributions to the legal defense. Make checks to "Uhuru" and mail to: Legal Defense c/o InPDUM P.O. Box 454 Huntsville, Al 35762 For more information, in the U.S., contact (256) 489-8715 To Sign our Online petition Click Here www.inpdum.org Community Involvement http://progressiveconcerns.meetup.com/5/

Water for Children Africa

News Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Date: Vickie Butcher November 17, 2008 (619) 647-4610 cell (619) 588-1906 (619) 263-9601 fax Email: water4childrenafrica@cox.net Web: www.waterforchildrenafrica.org z Water For Children Africa Presents: The 12th Africa Trade and Business Conference z An Honor Roll of Individuals and Organizations will be Recognized The twelfth Annual Africa Trade and Business Conference sponsored by Water For Children Africa will be held the weekend of November 21-23, 2008. The conference will be kicked off on Friday, November 21st with a free Community Forum open to the public held at the Malcolm X Library from 2-4 pm. Chuck Ambers of the Casa Del Rey Morro Museum in Old Town will lead a discussion on safe water in rural villages in Africa and in our own community. The conference workshops hosted on Saturday, November 22nd at the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park will culminate with a tour of the museum exhibit, 'H2O = Life' which is the motto of this non-profit organization. Presenters include Dr. Ronnie Lowenstein of Lowenstein & Associates from Washington D.C. and Mick Adkisson of Smart Technologies who co-chair the recently formed Water for Children Africa Technology Task force. Spotlighted will be emerging partnerships, eg., with SMART Technologies and Foshay Learning Center's NetGeneration of Youth Cyberjournalist Ambassadors representing Congresswoman Diane E. Watson's Los Angeles school district (eighteen students will interview participants and honorees); and with Panwapa, a program of Sesame Workshop and Merrill Lynch that cultivates global citizenship. A workshop presentation will be offered that highlights "Technology as a Tool of Transformation, Ensuring Economic, Educational Empowerment in Africa." Saturday's special guest luncheon speaker will be James Callan, Associate Administrator Risk Management Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture. The evening Maji Ni Maisha "Water is Life" Benefit Gala and Silent Auction will be held on the San Diego Maritime Museum's USS Berkley located next to the Star of India on Harbor Drive. The evening will be dedicated to the late Director of San Diego State University's International Student Center, Ron Moffatt. Individuals and organizations who have contributed to Africa as well as to our local community will be honored at the Gala and Silent Auction on the USS Berkley. Among them is Bishop George McKinney who will also serve as guest speaker at the Pray for Africa Day on Sunday, November 23, 2008 from 3 to 5 pm at Bethel AME Church on the corner of 31st and K Street. A candle light special ceremony with 54 flags provided by the United Nations Association representing the 54 Nations in Africa will be followed by a prayer for Africa by First Lady of Bethel AME Church, Rev. Dorisalene Hughes. Among those on the Honor Roll of Service to be recognized at the Gala are: Rev. John Ringgold of Bethel Baptist Church; Makeda Dred of the World Beat Center; Evangelist Mary Page of St. Paul's Church of God In Christ; Alemi Daba and Walter Lam of the Alliance for African Assistance; Marnyce McKell, Connect International and Tema Sister Cities Society; Mr. Roque Borros of the Jacob Center; Mr. Rudy Johnson, Neighborhood House; Rotary District 5340 and the Makau Family Foundation for building a clinic and an orphanage in Kenya. All past Water For Children Africa Team members will be recognized. A special salute of appreciation will be extended to David Massey, Education director at the San Diego Natural History Museum for the guidance he and his staff have provided. Kathy Loper Events has chosen Water For Children Africa as beneficiary of the 2009 Super Run on January 31, 2009. For more information visit our web site. Interest parties and invited to join us. Registration information is available at the Malcolm X Library and on line at www.waterforchildrenafrica.org or email water4childrenafrica@cox.net for further details or questions. Thank you for responding as soon as possible.

California Not So Golden

Less dramatic than the wildfires is
the foreclosure tidal wave that's
overtaking California.

* Over 700 families lose their home EVERY DAY

* "Nice" neighborhoods where every other house
is vacant

* Families walking away from their homes
leaving all the furnishings

It's mind boggling...

Here's what Ground Zero of the credit
collapse looks like:

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/459.html

- Brasscheck

P.S. Please share Brasscheck TV e-mails and
videos with friends and colleagues.

That's how we grow. Thanks.
- Brasscheck

P.S. Please share Brasscheck TV e-mails and
videos with friends and colleagues.

That's how we grow. Thanks.

==============================



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2380 California St.
San Francisco, CA 94115

Obama's Plans to investigate Bush

I say to remove all the current prisoners from Gitmo ..... but leave it open .... replace them with all those convicted of war crimes. defense contractor fraud there after they are disgorged of their profits .... http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/11/13/torture_commission/print.html
Obama's plans for probing Bush torturePresident Bush could pardon officials involved in brutal interrogations -- but he may also face a sweeping investigation under the new president.
By Mark Benjamin
Nov. 13, 2008
With growing talk in Washington that President Bush may be considering an unprecedented "blanket pardon" for people involved in his administration's brutal interrogation policies, advisors to Barack Obama are pressing ahead with plans for a nonpartisan commission to investigate alleged abuses under Bush.
The Obama plan, first revealed by Salon in August, would emphasize fact-finding investigation over prosecution. It is gaining currency in Washington as Obama advisors begin to coordinate with Democrats in Congress on the proposal. The plan would not rule out future prosecutions, but would delay a decision on that matter until all essential facts can be unearthed. Between the time necessary for the investigative process and the daunting array of policy problems Obama will face upon taking office, any decision on prosecutions probably would not come until a second Obama presidential term, should there be one.
The proposed commission -- similar in thrust to a Democratic investigation proposal first uncovered by Salon in July -- would examine a broad scope of activities, including detention, torture and extraordinary rendition, the practice of snatching suspected terrorists off the street and whisking them off to a third country for abusive interrogations. The commission might also pry into the claims by the White House -- widely rejected by experienced interrogators -- that abusive interrogations are an effective and necessary intelligence tool.
A common view among those involved with the talks is that any early effort to prosecute Bush administration officials would likely devolve quickly into ugly and fruitless partisan warfare. Second is that even if Obama decided he had the appetite for it, prosecutions in this arena are problematic at best: A series of memos from the Bush Justice Department approved the harsh tactics, and Congress changed the War Crimes Act in 2006, making prosecutions of individuals involved in interrogations more difficult.
Instead, a commission empowered by Congress would have the authority to compel witnesses to testify and even to grant immunity in exchange for information. Should a particularly ugly picture emerge, the option of prosecutions would still theoretically be on the table later, however unlikely.
In Obama's camp, there is a sense among some that such a commission would essentially mean letting Bush get away with crimes. "People have called for criminal investigations," one person familiar with the talks told me this summer as plans got under way. On Wednesday, a person participating in the talks confirmed that some people involved in the planning felt strongly that the commission would amount to "bullshit" and that Bush officials should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
But few think prosecutions are realistic, given the formidable legal hurdles and the huge policy problems competing for Obama's attention. Among them is the complicated task of closing down the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, which Obama advisors say is a priority. Some observers outside the Obama camp are also questioning how much Democrats really want exposed with regard to interrogation, since top Democrats in Congress were briefed in secret on some of the harshest tactics used by the CIA and appear to have done little, or perhaps nothing, to stop them.
Further complicating the Obama team's planning is uncertainty about what President Bush might do. On the one hand, a blanket pardon for anyone involved in the interrogations could be viewed by the public as a tacit admission of colossal wrongdoing -- after years of public denial -- which would do nothing to help Bush's tarnished legacy. Yet, if the administration fears an investigation will follow Bush out the door in January, they may not want to leave officials exposed to potentially revealing criminal proceedings. Bush might seek to frame a blanket pardon as a preemptive strike against wrongheaded, partisan retribution.
Constitutional scholars say a pardon of this kind would be an unprecedented move -- the prospective pardon of not just individuals but entire categories of people, perhaps numbering in the thousands, for carrying out the president's orders , which the White House has argued all along were legal.
Those scholars agree, however, that Article II of the Constitution gives Bush much latitude: There is no authority that can stop the president from doing so if he wishes, and there is no outside check or balance to revisit such a decision, however controversial it may be. "The president can do with pardoning power whatever he wants," explained University of Wisconsin Law School professor Stanley Kutler. "It is complete and plenary unto itself."
A blanket pardon from Bush could cover, for example, anyone who participated in, had knowledge of, or received information about Bush's interrogation program during the so-called war on terror. Not only are there potentially too many people to name without risking missing somebody, but some of the names are presumably classified.
"The classic pardon is an identifiable individual; here you are talking about potentially thousands of people involved in illegal activities," explained Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington Law School. A blanket pardon of this variety, Turley said, "would allow a president to engage in massive illegality and generally pardon the world for any involvement in unlawful activity."
There are, in fact, some constitutional scholars who believe a pardon might actually facilitate more complete participation in a fact-finding commission, by removing the threat of looming liability. "Holding people accountable is certainly nice, but in terms of healing the country and moving forward, so is actually getting a clear picture of what happened and letting the public make an informed decision," said Kermit Roosevelt at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. "If we had a pardon followed by something like a truth and reconciliation commission, that might not be such a bad outcome." (Roosevelt represents a detainee held at Guantánamo.)
The politics of it would be fraught with danger, however, and could so blemish Bush's legacy that some doubt he would go so far. "A pardon is an admission of guilt," noted Donald Kettl, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Bush has argued for years that his interrogation program was perfectly legal. With a pardon, Kettl said, Bush is essentially saying, "Gee, maybe we did not do the right thing."
It is not entirely unprecedented for a president to grant a pardon based on a category of behavior, rather than pardoning an individual by name. The day after his inauguration, President Carter pardoned all those who avoided the Vietnam draft by failing to register or by fleeing to Canada. George Washington pardoned participants in the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion. Andrew Johnson pardoned Confederate soldiers in 1865.
But these were pardons designed to foster reconciliation, handed out to categories of individuals who acted on their own conscience, rather than the president's own allegedly illegal orders. "This would be a different deal completely," explained Kettl. "It would be anticipating that people thought the official policy of the administration was wrong."
-- By Mark Benjamin

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens loses re-election bid

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens loses re-election bid

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD, Associated Press Writer Michael R. Blood, Associated Press Writer –

Featured Topics:
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Play Video AP – Begich takes lead in Alaska Senate race
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AP – Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, is pursued by members of the media on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, …
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest serving Republican in Senate history, narrowly lost his re-election bid Tuesday, marking the downfall of a Washington political power and Alaska icon who couldn't survive a conviction on federal corruption charges. His defeat by Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich moves Senate Democrats within two seats of a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority.
Stevens' ouster on his 85th birthday marks an abrupt realignment in Alaska politics and will alter the power structure in the Senate, where he has served since the days of the Johnson administration while holding seats on some of the most influential committees in Congress.
The crotchety octogenarian built like a birch sapling likes to encourage comparisons with the Incredible Hulk, but he occupies an outsized place in Alaska history. His involvement in politics dates to the days before Alaska statehood, and he is esteemed for his ability to secure billions of dollars in federal aid for transportation and military projects. The Anchorage airport bears his name; in Alaska, it's simply "Uncle Ted."
Tuesday's tally of just over 24,000 absentee and other ballots gave Begich 146,286, or 47.56 percent, to 143,912, or 46.76 percent, for Stevens.
A recount is possible.
Begich said the defining issue in the race was the desire for a new direction in Washington, not Stevens' legal problems.
Alaska voters "wanted to see change," he told reporters in Anchorage. "Alaska has been in the midst of a generational shift — you could see it."
Stevens' campaign didn't immediately respond to phone calls seeking comment.
Stevens' loss was another slap for Republicans in a year that has seen the party lose control of the White House, as well as seats in the House and Senate. It also moves Democrats one step closer to the 60 votes needed to overcome filibusters in the Senate. Democrats now hold 58 seats, when two independents who align with Democrats are included, with undecided races in Minnesota and Georgia where two Republicans are trying to hang onto their seats.
Democrats have now picked up seven Senate seats in the Nov. 4 election.
"With seven seats and counting now added to the Democratic ranks in the Senate, we have an even stronger majority that will bring real change to America," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a statement.
The climactic count came after a series of tumultuous days for a senator who has been straddling challenges to his power both at home and in his trial in Washington. Notwithstanding all that turmoil, Stevens revealed Tuesday that he will not ask President George W. Bush to give him a pardon for his seven felony convictions.
Stevens' future was murky at a time when newly elected members of both the House and Senate were on Capitol Hill for heady receptions, picture-taking sessions and orientation this week. Stevens, speaking earlier Tuesday in Washington, said he had no idea what his life would be like in January, when the 111th Congress convenes.
"I wouldn't wish what I'm going through on anyone, my worst enemy," he lamented to reporters. "I haven't had a night's sleep for almost four months."
Last month just days before the election, Stevens was convicted by a federal jury in Washington of lying on Senate disclosure forms to conceal more than $250,000 in gifts and home renovations from an oil field services company.
His defeat could also allow Republican senators to sidestep the task of determining whether to kick out the longest serving member of their party in the Senate.
When counting resumed Tuesday, 1,022 votes divided the candidates out of about 300,000 ballots cast. Most of the those votes came from areas that had favored Begich — the Anchorage vicinity and the southeastern panhandle around Juneau.
It is a testament to Stevens' popularity — he was once named "Alaskan of the Century" — that he won nearly half the votes, even after his conviction. He routinely brought home the highest number of government dollars per capita in the nation — more than $9 billion in 2006 alone, according to one estimate.
With Stevens gone "it's a big gap in dollars — billions of dollars — that none of the other members of the delegation, Begich, whoever, could fill," said Gerald McBeath, chair of the political science department at University of Alaska Fairbanks. "There is no immediate replacement for him."
Following the trial Stevens said he wanted another term "because I love this land and its people" and vowed to press on with an appeal. Professing his innocence, he blamed his legal problems on his former friend Bill Allen, the founder and former chairman of VECO Corp., the government's star witness.
In a state where oil and politics have always mixed, the conviction came as part of a long-running investigation into government corruption centered around VECO.
Begich will be the first Democrat to represent Alaska in the Senate in nearly 30 years. He is the son of Nick Begich, Alaska's third congressman, who died in a plane crash 1972 while running for re-election.
Stevens' lawyer demanded a speedy trial, hoping for exoneration in time to fight the first serious threat to his seat in decades. But the trial in Washington not only left Stevens a felon, it deprived him of time to campaign in his home state.
Stevens refused pleas from his own party leaders to step down after the verdict, including Sen. John McCain, the GOP presidential nominee who said the Alaska senator had "broken his trust with the people."
Stevens' fall came shortly after another Alaskan, Gov. Sarah Palin, emerged as a national figure on the Republican presidential ticket. She had called for Stevens to step aside at one point, but appeared to back away from that the day after the election when returns showed Stevens with an edge.
"The people of Alaska just spoke," she said.
___
Associated Press writers Jesse J. Holland and Andrew Taylor in Washington and Rachel D'Oro in Anchorage contributed to this report.

Blobal Warming and Modern Capitalism

Dear Friends- I have just read one of the most vivid messages about the dangerous state of our world and how it is intertwined with the system we are living under from James Speth, Co-Founder, in 1970, of the National Resources Defense Council. The palliatives that we have been using to contain this problem in recent years have clearly not been working. Instead, fundamental change is in order. One of the things he calls for is a cooperative response from environmental, social justice, democracy, and peace activists. This is something that we have been talking about in San Diego for some time. I pass it on to you for your consideration. The following is an excerpt that includes prescriptive recommendations that the new Obama Administration needs to hear about:: "There are many steps to slow growth while improving social and environmental well-being, such as: shorter workweeks and longer vacations; greater labor protections, job security and benefits; restrictions on advertising; a new design for the twenty-first-century corporation; strong social and environmental provisions in trade agreements; rigorous environmental and consumer protection, including full-cost pricing; greater economic and social equality, with progressive taxation of the rich and greater income support for the poor; heavy spending on public services and environmental amenities; a huge investment in education, skills and new technology; and initiatives to address population growth at home and abroad." http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081006/speth Yours for a more positive future, John _______________________ John P. Falchi ___________________________________________________________________________ GLOBAL WARMING & MODERN CAPITALISM By James Gustave Speth ________________________________________________________________________ This article appeared in the October 6, 2008 edition of The Nation. It is adapted from James Gustave Speth's The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing From Crisis to Sustainability (Yale). In 1970 James Gustave Speth co-founded the Natural Resources Defense Council, which has become one of America's most well-endowed and high-profile environmental organizations. He worked in the White House under President Carter, chairing the Council on Environmental Quality; when Bill Clinton and Al Gore were elected in 1992, Speth was a senior adviser to their transition team. He spent the 1990s as the administrator of the United Nations Development Program, where he integrated environmental sustainability into the agency's poverty-fighting mission. Thus, what follows--his call for a radical departure from the movement's current strategy--comes from the ultimate environmental insider. --The Editors _______________________________________________________________________ Environmentalists must learn to join forces with other agents of change. By James Gustave Speth ________________________________________________________________________ I grew up in a small town on the Edisto River in South Carolina in the 1940s and '50s. As a boy, I often swam the Edisto, though at first I could not buck the river's current. But as I grew older and stronger, I was able to make good headway against it. In my environmental work for close to four decades, I've always assumed America's environmental community would do the same--get stronger and prevail against the current. But in the past few years I have come to the conclusion that this assumption is incorrect. The environmental community has grown in strength and sophistication, but the environment has continued to deteriorate. The current has strengthened faster than we have and become more treacherous. It is time to consider what to do besides swimming against it. It is no accident that environmental crisis is gathering as social injustice is deepening and growing inequality is impairing democratic institutions. Each is the result of a system of political economy--today's capitalism--that is profoundly committed to profits and growth and profoundly indifferent to nature and society. Left uncorrected, it is an inherently ruthless, rapacious system, and it is up to citizens, acting mainly through government, to inject human and natural values into that system. But this effort fails because progressive politics are too feeble and Washington is more and more in the hands of powerful corporations and great wealth. The best hope for change in America is a fusion of those concerned about the environment, social justice and strong democracy into one powerful progressive force. This fusion must occur before it is too late. Sadly, while environmentalists have been winning many battles, we are losing the planet. Half the world's tropical and temperate forests are gone. The rate of deforestation in the tropics is about an acre a second. Half the planet's wetlands are gone. An estimated 90 percent of the large predator fish are gone and 75 percent of marine fisheries are overfished, fished to capacity or depleted, up from 5 percent a few decades ago. Twenty percent of the corals are gone; another 20 percent severely threatened. Species are disappearing about 1,000 times faster than normal. The planet has not seen such a spasm of extinction in 65 million years, since the dinosaurs disappeared. Each year desertification claims a Nebraska-sized area of productive capacity worldwide. Toxic chemicals can be found by the dozens in essentially every one of us. Earth's ozone layer was severely depleted before the change was discovered. Human activities have pushed atmospheric carbon dioxide levels up by more than a third and have started the most dangerous change of all--planetary warming and climate disruption. Earth's ice fields are melting. Industrial processes are fixing nitrogen, making it biologically active, at a rate equal to nature's; one result is the development of hundreds of dead zones in the oceans because of overfertilization. Withdrawals of fresh water consume more than half of accessible runoff, and water shortages are multiplying here and abroad. The following rivers no longer reach the oceans in the dry season: the Colorado, Yellow, Ganges and Nile, among many others. The United States--responsible for about 30 percent of the carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere--is, of course, deeply complicit in these global trends, and four decades of environmental effort have not stemmed the tide of decline. The United States is losing 6,000 acres of open space every day, and 100,000 acres of wetlands every year. Forty percent of US fish species are threatened with extinction, a third of plants and amphibians, 15 to 20 percent of birds and mammals. Half of US lakes and a third of the rivers still fail to meet the standards that the 1972 Clean Water Act said should be met by 1983, and a third of Americans live in counties that fail to meet EPA air-quality standards. We have done little to curb our wasteful energy habits or our steady population growth. All we have to do to destroy the planet's climate and biota and leave a ruined world to our children and grandchildren is to keep doing exactly what we are doing, with no growth in the human population or the world economy. Just continue to release greenhouse gases at current rates, impoverish ecosystems and release toxic chemicals at current rates, and the world in the latter part of this century won't be fit to live in. But human activities are not holding at current levels--they are accelerating dramatically. The world economy has more than quadrupled since 1960 and is projected to quadruple again by mid century. At recent rates of growth, it will double in fifteen to seventeen years. It took all of human history to grow the $7 trillion world economy of 1950. We now grow by that amount in a decade. Societies face the prospect of enormous environmental deterioration just when they need to be moving strongly in the opposite direction. The escalating processes of climate disruption, biotic impoverishment and toxification--which continue despite decades of warnings and earnest effort--are a severe indictment of capitalism. Capitalism as it is constituted today produces an economy and politics that are highly destructive to the environment. An unquestioning commitment to economic growth at any cost, powerful corporations whose overriding objective is to grow by generating profits (including profits from avoiding the environmental costs they create, from amassing deep subsidies and benefits from government and from continued deployment of technologies designed with little regard for the environment), markets that fail to recognize environmental costs unless corrected by government, government that is subservient to corporate interests and the growth imperative, rampant consumerism spurred by sophisticated advertising and marketing, economic activity so large in scale that it alters the fundamental biophysical operations of the planet--all combine to deliver an ever growing world economy that is undermining the ability of the planet to sustain life. Mainstream environmentalism has proved largely incapable of coping with these forces. It works within the system--raising public awareness, offering responsive policies, lobbying and litigating. America has run a forty-year experiment on whether this environmentalism can succeed, and the results are in. The full burden of managing accumulating environmental threats has fallen to the environmental community, both in and outside government. But that burden is too great. The system of modern capitalism will grow in size and complexity and will generate ever larger environmental consequences, outstripping efforts to cope with them. Indeed, the system will seek to undermine those efforts and constrain them within narrow limits. Working only within the system will, in the end, not succeed. Transformative change in the system itself is needed. The fundamental questions thus are about transforming capitalism as we know it. Can it be done? If so, how? And if not, what then? The good news is that there are a variety of prescriptions to take the economy and the environment off a collision course and to transform economic activity into something benign and restorative. The most important of these prescriptions range far beyond the traditional environmental agenda. Market failure can be corrected by government, perverse subsidies can be eliminated and environmentally honest prices can be forged. The laws, incentives and governance structures under which corporations operate can be transformed to move from shareholder primacy to stakeholder primacy. But even more vital is the need to challenge economic growth and the consumerism it depends on. This challenge is as relevant to addressing social problems as environmental ones. The never-ending drive to grow the economy undermines families, jobs, communities, the environment, a sense of place and continuity, even national security--but we are told that, in the end, we will somehow be better off. America has not applied its growth dividend to meeting social and environmental needs. There is good evidence that increased incomes do not lead to greater satisfaction with life. In affluent countries we have what might be called uneconomic growth, to borrow Herman Daly's phrase, where, if one could total up all the costs of growth, they would outweigh the benefits. Overriding commitment to economic growth--mere GDP growth--is consuming environmental and social capital, both in short supply. Affluent countries must become postgrowth societies where jobs and work life, the environment, communities and the public sector are no longer sacrificed to push up GDP. There are many steps to slow growth while improving social and environmental well-being, such as: shorter workweeks and longer vacations; greater labor protections, job security and benefits; restrictions on advertising; a new design for the twenty-first-century corporation; strong social and environmental provisions in trade agreements; rigorous environmental and consumer protection, including full-cost pricing; greater economic and social equality, with progressive taxation of the rich and greater income support for the poor; heavy spending on public services and environmental amenities; a huge investment in education, skills and new technology; and initiatives to address population growth at home and abroad. James Gustave Speth, dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, is the author of The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing From Crisis to Sustainability (Yale)

[SDCPJ] Cheney/Gonzales indicted in South Texas; chanrged on abuse of prisoners in federal detention

Let this be the first of many.....

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6119459.html

Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzales indicted in S. Texas

Charges related to alleged abuse of prisoners in federal detention

Associated Press

Nov. 18, 2008, 4:59PM

McALLEN, Texas — A South Texas grand jury has indicted Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on charges related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in Willacy County's federal detention centers.

The indictment criticizes Cheney's investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers. It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and "at least misdemeanor assaults" on detainees by working through the prison companies.

Gonzales is accused of using his position while in office to stop an investigation into abuses at the federal detention centers.

Another indictment charges state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. with profiting from his public office by accepting honoraria from prison management companies.

The indictments were first reported by KRGV-TV.

[SDCPJ] leafleting later this week

Calling all activists!

We still need help leafleting high school students this week.

We need help at the following schools at the following times. We especially need help at Crawford and Grossmont.

Crawford high - 1 block south of El Cajon at 54th street. Leafleting time 6:30 - 7:15 am

Grossmont high - 1100 Murray Drive in El Cajon Leafleting time 6:30 - 7:15am

Oceanside high - Seagaze Dr. & Horne St. - Oceanside Leafleting time 6:45 - 7:30 am

If you can join us please contact me asap and I'll let you know the date and connect you to a team of activists.

Stephanie Jennings

for SDCPJ high school leafleting project

619-237-8870

[SDCPJ] Meeting, Monday, November 3, 7 p.m. Let's get going!!!

The next meeting of the San Diego Coalition will be on Monday, November
17, 7 p.m. at the First Church of the Brethren, 3850 Westgate Place, SD
92105. All are welcome.

The agenda will include continued discussion on major themes discussed
at the last meeting: fleshing out what we want to be doing politically
post-Obama election, developing our strategy for addressing these
issues, addressing infrastructure/capacity issues and planning for
Spring activities.

www.sdcpj.org

_______________________________________________
Sdcpj mailing list
Sdcpj@lists.quantumimagery.com
http://lists.quantumimagery.com/listinfo.cgi/sdcpj-quantumimagery.com

[SDCPJ] Celebration of Hope, Peace and the Beatles 11/22/08

Mariposa Ice Cream invites you to
A Celebration of Hope, Peace and the Beatles
with The Dave Humphries Band and the Baja Bugs

Saturday, November 22, 2008
12 noon until ???

Mariposa Ice Cream
3450 Adams Avenue
San Diego, CA 92116

www.mariposaicecream.com
info@mariposaicecream.com
Phone (619) 284-5197
_______________________________________________
Sdcpj mailing list
Sdcpj@lists.quantumimagery.com
http://lists.quantumimagery.com/listinfo.cgi/sdcpj-quantumimagery.com

[SDCPJ] Anti-militarist Web site recently updated

This is to let you know that NEW articles and updated content have recently been posted at http://www.comdsd.org/, the Web site of the San Diego-based Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (COMD).

Included in the current update are three articles from the latest issue of COMD's printed newsletter, Draft NOtices:

- "Free Beer and Dog Tags at Family-Oriented Conference," by Jorge Mariscal, notes how the National Council of La Raza has drifted away from its progressive political roots and now embraces militarism and commercialism at its national conferences.

- "A Setback for Militarism in San Diego Schools," reports on the recent success in getting San Diego schools to address misleading and illegal tactics used by JROTC to fill its student ranks.

- "Surprise Attempt to Force Military Training into High Schools Fails — for Now," Rick Jahnkow describes a recent failed attempt in the Senate to sneak through legislation that would have forced high schools to accept and maintain JROTC classes.

To order the complete printed version of Draft NOtices, visit the Web site's Draft NOtices page. In addition to the above three articles, the current printed version includes:

- a commentary on the San Diego school superintendent's position (or lack thereof) regarding high school military training;

- coverage of the growing protests at San Diego school board meetings; and

- news of recruiting-related legislation in California.

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[SDCPJ] high school outreach - Novemeber

Student Activists continue their work to eliminate weapons training and to advocate for a college education instead of the no choices option of JROTC.

We will be reaching out to more students on the week of November 17th at:

Crawford high school in east San Diego

Oceanside high school

Grossmont High School in El Cajon

Please reply if you are available for one of these schools next week. I'll get all the information to you on date, time and meeting place once we have a team of volunteers assembled.

If you'd like to do another school as well please let me know and if we have enough volunteers we'll add another location.

Stephanie

for SDCPJ high school leafleting project

619-237-8870

[SDCPJ] - Socialist Salon - Sunday, November 16, 4:30 - 7 pm, What Now For The Left?

Socialist Unity Network
In collaboration with other socialist organizations and individuals to present this Socialist Salon.


- Socialist Salon -
Discussions with Lefties
on Burning Issues
Sunday, November 16, 4:30 - 7 pm

Location: 6142 Romany Drive, SD 92120 Home of Herb Shore & Virginia Franco 619-287-5535

Exit Fwy. 8 at College Ave. North on College, left on Del Cerro Blvd, right on Theta Place, left on Romany Drive. 6142 is third house on the right. (Bring light, potluck snacks if you wish)

San Diego Socialist Unity Network is holding a series of forums to encourage deeper political discussions, which look strategically at our movement, the path to social transformation & a new social order. We use this opportunity to tackle many major issues of our times from a non-sectarian, left perspective in a challenging yet relaxed setting.

What Now For The Left?

The election of Barack Obama as President of the United States is a dramatic development that will change the political environment of the U.S. Many of us campaigned in the election and feel great joy in the result. The new situation will create new opportunities but also new dangers for the left. Will Obama govern as another FDR or as another Bill Clinton? A mass progressive movement helped to elect Obama. Will that movement be able to influence the new administration on the economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, civil liberties, etc., or will that movement be demobilized and dissipated once Obama takes office? The names being discussed so far as participants in an Obama administration are not a good sign.

In this Salon we will discuss the possibilities of a renewed left in an environment so different from the Bush years, and what we can do now. In preparation for the discussion, we suggest the following materials:

The web site of Progressives For Obama, initiated by Bill Fletcher, Barbara Ehrenreich, Danny Glover and Tom Hayden: http://progressivesforobama.net/ . In particular, they have an initial Call that puts forth a platform that is worth discussing: http://progressivesforobama.net/our-call-initial-text/ .

Bill Fletcher's post-election editorial in the Black Commentator: http://www.blackcommentator.com/298/298_aw_obama_history_possibilities.html .

Katrina Vanden Heuvel's editorial in The Nation: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/381701/the_first_100_days?rel=hpbox .

We hope to see you on Sunday.

San Diego Socialist Unity Network regular meetings alternate with Socialist Salons on the 3rd Sunday of each month. The regular meetings are at the Activist Center, 4246 Wightman St., from 4:30-7 pm. You are invited to attend.

Each Salon will focus on a topic with a short presentation from a socialist perspective. After that, an informal discussion will open to all who attend. With most topics, we will send out a reading or two as background.

[SDCPJ] THIS FRIDAY (11/14) Oaxaca Benefit @ the Free Skool / Vegan Somalian Food / The Take!

please forward / por favor, manda por todos lados

Hey people,

We'd like to invite you all to come over this Friday (Nov. 14th) for our first Free Skool Cafe!

You will probably be hungry on Friday night...so you should come eat the delicious vegan Somalian food for sale ($4 or $3 if you bring your own bowl).

What happens if you get thirsty? You can get some tea that'll be for sale from a local vendor.

We'll also be showing a documentary called The Take.

All proceeds go toward videocameras for collectives in Oaxaca.

Detailed Description

This Friday, November 14th, we'd like to invite you to the City Heights Free Skool Cafe, a dinner and movie that will benefit grassroots projects in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Food starts at 6:30 pm. There will be bowls of amazing vegan Somalian food for sale $4 (or $3 if you bring your own plate.) The woman who is going to be making the food is named Amina and sets up a food stall at the City Heights Farmers' Market on Saturdays. There will also be different kinds of teas for sale, provided by Kooky of the Casas Saludables Cafe. Come support affordable, healthy vegan food in City Heights!

We'll be showing The Take at 7 pm, a documentary about workers who took over and collectivized their factories in the aftermath of Argentina's 2001 economic crisis.

All proceeds from the event will go toward purchasing video cameras for Proyecto Autogestion, which collaborates with the Comité de Defensa de los Derechos del Pueblo (CODEP, Committee Organized in Defense of the People's Rights) in Oaxaca, Mexico. During the popular rebellion in Oaxaca in 2006, the City Heights Free Skool raised funds for cameras that were used during the making of the documentary, "El Machete", which was filmed and edited by indigenous women and youth from communities in Oaxaca. It documents a more profound look at the day to day struggles for land, water, transportation, culture, dignity, justice, liberty, and peace.

City Heights Free Skool
4246 Wightman St, SD
(619) 528-8383
cityheightsfreeskool.org
cityheightsfreeskool@riseup.net

The San Diego County Community Coalition Summit November 2008

The San Diego County Community Coalition

and

San Diegans for 911 Truth

Will be conducting our monthly Summit at Joyce Beers Community Center Hillcrest

On Vermont Street, 1.5 Blocks north of University Across from Ralphs and Trader Joe's

16 November 2008

@6PM

Featuring:

The second hour of the movie Zeitgeist Addendum

(This will start at the very beginning of the summit)

Participants assembled in a circle to discuss their feelings on the Zeitgeist Addendum

Discussion on where we go from here after the election

Discussion of the development of our new Public Access Shows

Briefing on how to get our movies on Cable TV and Webcasts

Announcements

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Norms:

1. Time is limited. Each participant is requested to keep comments brief and to the point so that all may contribute.

2. All participants must demonstrate respect for others feelings.

3. We must avoid lengthy discussions of religion ......we all have our own beliefs and this is a point of conflict which is not germane to the discussion.

(invite INTERESTED participants to your activities during networking)

4. Please do your homework....view the movie before you come if you have not seen it......go to our blog at http://sdmegacoalition.blogspot.com/ and click on Zeitgeist on the left side of the screen near the bottom of topics or go to http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/

5. Please print the 72 page Venus Project .pdf file if you can and bring it. I will be displaying it via projector.

6. Be aware that feelings are strong on the topics of Zeitgeist, government, the economy and people have differing opinions..........the objective is not to make others agree with YOUR point of view....it is to reach a concensus....a community agreement on EFFECTIVE courses of action to foster justice, the environment and peace.

7. We will not solve ALL the problems in one or two meetings......this process will take time........we will be successful if we can be patient with one another.

8. Our movement will only be successful if as many of us as possible participate....we need you and your ideas there!

9. Bring at least one person with you.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Next Summit 21 December 2008.

Next Public Access TV Training and Recording: 21 November 2008...

Progress in San Diego: Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things

5 December 2008: Alyce Smith Coopers' Community Issues: A Tapestry of Concerns

(one interview slot still available as of today......could it be filled by you and your organization?)

________________________________________Watch Video Below!!!_________________________________________________

Bring a Friend! - SDCommunityCoalition@gmail.com
Sent to you by SDCommunityCoalition@gmail.com using Google's sharing button

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The San Diego County Community Coalition Summit November 2008 Nov 12, 2008 We will be discussing where to go from here with the new administration. How to further develop our own media and the Zeitgeist Addend...

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Here's what you can do next:
View everything SDCommunityCoalition@gmail.com has shared publicly

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Walter Davis

760-917-1251

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-6117868764697651115&hl=en&fs=true