Progressive Celebrities

10/9 Celebrate John Lennon's Birthday

Bob Fertik — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 01:16:36 -0400

October 9th 2007 is John Lennon's birthday, and Yoko Ono will celebrate it by unveiling the IMAGINE PEACE TOWER she built to honor him.

It is dedicated to peace and bears the inscription 'IMAGINE PEACE' in 24 languages.

Its construction and installation is a collaboration between Yoko Ono, the City of Reykjavik, Reykjavik Art Museum and Reykjavik Energy.

The work is in the form of a wishing well from which a very strong and tall tower of light emerges. The strength, intensity and brilliance of the light tower continually changes as the particles in the air fluctuate with the prevailing weather and atmospheric conditions unique to Iceland.

Every year it will light up between October 9th (Lennon's birthday) and December 8th (the day of his death).

In addition the IMAGINE PEACE TOWER will be lit on New Year's Eve, during the first week of spring and on some rare special occasions agreed between the City and Ono.

The electricity for the light comes entirely from the Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Plant.

The Creeping Right Wing Radio PUTSCH

thepen — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 03:48:24 -0500

First they tried to con everybody into thinking that nobody would listen to progressive talk radio. Then when it became apparent that there was in fact an robust audience they tried to con us into thinking that nobody would support it. Of course we later found out they were working behind the scenes at the same time to get advertisers to blacklist our favorite shows. And now that progressive talk is having real political impact they are desperately looking for a way to slow it down, corrupt it, chip away at it, anything.

ACTION PAGE:
http://www.peaceteam.net/goharrison.php (Los Angeles area residents only)

All over the country they are making deliberately bad business decisions by using ownership prerogatives to shut down outlets entirely, as in Madison, WI, where people rose up in revolt enough to beat them back, or in Boston where they got away with it. But they are not just attacking entire stations, they are working to replace individual personalities where they can with weaker voices.

That's what's going on in Los Angeles right now where the Harrison on the Edge show was canned with absolutely no advance warning yesterday. Harrison has been one of the most dynamic and effective activists in the country, generating thousands and thousands of citizen messages to the California legislature and our U.S. Congress with his nightly "Activism A-Go-Go" segment. This last October he was also instrumental in organizing a massive peace parade led by Arun Gandhi. If and only if you are within the signal range of KTLK in Los Angeles, please submit the action page above to complain to the station management.

Sure they are shuffling some other things around in the schedule, but the net result is they are bringing in 6 hours a day of Alan Colmes and some lukewarm moderate, Mr. KABC, who was barely being tolerated on the most conservative talk outlet in town, while they kick Harrison, a real progressive, out the door. That in and of itself is another story, in that what forced Mr. KABC out of where he had been was a push to give some of HIS air time to a full hard righty. So the net effect is an across the board shift to the right, and it is no accident.

Does it surprise you that Alan Colmes is being syndicated by Fox News?!? Are we to let Fox News tell us who our progressive talk personalities should be?! That Colmes is even a party to, that he would even sit in the same studio with the kind of sick-minded smears that Hannity traffics in on their joint cable show every day, makes him nothing but a right wing enabler, to give his weak excuse of a token protest as if that were some kind of fair balance.

So where they can't shut down an outlet entirely they are working to dilute it, to neuter it time slot by time slot, to pick us off one by one, as if we were too stupid to notice the difference. It's the Jerry Springer effect, and then when something like the Air America Radio bankruptcy takes place they jump up and say, "See, it doesn't work."

It's a right wing squeeze play, folks. It's nothing but a move to squeeze out one of our best progressive voices and see if we are chumps enough not to do anything about it. We need stronger voices not weaker ones. Well, KTLK has already had 500 emails of protest from L.A. locals just in the last 24 hours through the action page above. And if we the people will have anything to do about it there will be lots more, lots and lots more.

So if you do live in Los Angeles, and you do know what real activist radio is supposed to sound like, please submit the action page above, and let the people speak with the voice of thunder. We have just begun to speak out.

The Iraq Veterans Memorial

CactusPat — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 22:17:28 -0500

The Iraq Veterans Memorial

Gold Star Families Speak Out · Military Families Speak Out · Iraq Veterans Against the War · North Texas Vets · Veterans for Peace · Soldiers of Today and Yesterday · GI Special · United for Peace and Justice · Brave New Foundation

Inspired by the AIDS Quilt, the Vietnam memorial, and the New York Times biographies of the 9/11 victims, Robert Greenwald and Brave New Foundation, in partnership with numerous Iraq veterans groups, are creating a living online memorial to U.S. soldiers killed during the Iraq war. The Iraq Veterans Memorial will bear witness with the video testimonies of family, friends, co-workers, and military colleagues of those lost.....

It will be unveiled on March 19th, 2007 all across the internet.

Contribute your video testimonial
Host video memorial on your site March 19th

A project of the Brave New Foundation
Email: info@iraqmemorial.org

Bill Moyers at NCMR 2007 -- PARTS 1 & 2

CactusPat — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 22:28:55 -0500

Update: Truthout's got the prepared speech transcript for those who'd like to read it...

Part 1 - 32 min.

Moyers: We ‘Lit a Fire’ in Washington From SavetheInternet.com, January 14, 2007 By Timothy Karr

Veteran television journalist Bill Moyers opened the National Conference for Media Reform Friday with praise for SavetheInternet.com’s grassroots campaign to keep the Internet open and fair. “You lit a fire under people to put Washington on Notice,” Moyers told a packed house of more than 3,000 activists and organizers. Net Neutrality, which Moyers dubbed the “Equal Access Provision of the Internet,” became a broad public issue “that once again reminded the powers that be that people want the media to foster democracy not to quench it.”...

Moyers called our campaign critical, as soon virtually all media will be delivered to homes via a single high speed broadband connection.

“This is the great gift of the digital revolution and you must never let them take it away from you,” he said.

“Without equality of access the Net will become just like cable television where the provider decides what you see and what you pay.”

Moyers highlighted SavetheInternet.com’s grassroots and online organizing efforts, saying that Washington “hadn’t reckoned with this movement.”

“Free Press and SavetheInternet.com orchestrated 800 organizations, a million and a half petitions, countless local events, legions of home-made videos, smart collaboration with allies in industry and a top-shelf communications campaign,” he said.

“Who would have imagined that sitting together in the same democratic broadband pew would be the Christian Coalition, Gun Owners of America, Common Cause and MoveOn.org. And who would have imagined that these would link arms with some of the powerful new media companies to fight for the Internet’s First Amendment.”

Speaking about the recent agreement by AT&T executive Ed Whitacre to adhere to strict Net Neutrality as a condition of his company’s $86 billion merger with BellSouth, Moyers said, “AT&T had to cry uncle.”

“The agreement marks the first time that the federal government has imposed true neutrality — oops equality — on an Internet Access Provider since the debate erupted almost two years ago.”

Regarding our prospects for 2007 and beyond, Moyers said this: “I believe you changed the terms of the debate. It is no longer about whether equality of access will govern the future of the Internet, it’s about when and how.

“It also signals a change from defense to offense for the backers of the open Net. Arguably, the biggest most effective online organizing campaign ever conducted on a media issue can now turn to passing good laws rather than always having to fight to block the bad ones.”

Part 2 - 30 min.

Cindy Sheehan Arrested at Smirk's Pig Farm! Plans More Action...

CactusPat — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 15:59:06 -0500

"We're the only people that can stop Bush now..."

Sheehan arrested outside Bush's ranch
Crawford, Texas (AP) -- Peace activist Cindy Sheehan and four other protesters [including Cindy's sister Dede] were arrested Thursday for blocking a road near President Bush's ranch, authorities said, snagging Vice pResident Dick Cheney's motorcade in the backup. Sheehan and the others lay or sat in the road about 20 minutes and didn't heed requests to move..., Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. R.T. King said.

"They weren't going unless they were arrested," King told The Associated Press. He said Cheney's motorcade was among the vehicles delayed by the demonstration.

Sheehan told the Waco Tribune-Herald that she and others were conducting a "peace surge" to address concerns that Bush may increase U.S. troop numbers in Iraq. Protesters said they had expected to be arrested.

Among those at the ranch Thursday were Cheney, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Earlier this month in New York, Sheehan was convicted of trespassing for leading a protest across the street from the United Nations.

A judge sentenced them to conditional discharge. Sheehan's attorney, Robert Gottlieb, said Thursday that meant they will not face any punishment as long as they lead a "law-abiding life" for the next year.

"There is nothing to say that what she was arrested for today means that she is not living a law-abiding life," Gottlieb told the AP. "She may in fact be innocent."

"I hardly doubt that anything that happened today would result in any problems in New York."

Sheehan, 49, of Vacaville, Calif., lost her 24-year-old son Casey in Iraq in April 2004. She has since drawn international attention after camping outside Bush's ranch.

Protesters have been arrested near the ranch in the past for violating a county ordinance forbidding camping out along the side of the road or blocking traffic.

Now she plans more action. PEACE SURGE!

Peace Mom Aims to Ramp Up "Peace Surge" After Arrest Thursday
Waco Tribune-Herald - Crawford - Minutes before the "Peace Mom" was arrested Thursday for blocking a road near President Bush's ranch, Cindy Sheehan said she plans to become more "confrontational" and that it's time to "ramp up" peace efforts.

"We're the only people that can stop Bush now," she said, standing with about 30 other peace protesters at a barricaded Secret Service checkpoint outside the Crawford-area ranch.

Bush was meeting with top advisers to consider strategy in the Iraq war, including a possible surge in troop levels.

About 20 minutes after talking about her new plan, called a "peace surge" as a poke at Bush, Sheehan, 49, and four other protesters lay down in front of Secret Service barricades and refused to move. Texas Department of Public Safety troopers carried each one off the roadway and to a ditch along the side of the road - their hands tied with flexible nylon ties, a gentler handcuff police often use during protests.

It was Sheehan's first arrest at the Bush ranch in McLennan County.

The five protesters, including Dede Miller, Sheehan's sister; Gerry Fonsecca, Sheehan's boyfriend; Carl Rising-Moore; and Jeri Reed, were arrested on misdemeanor charges of obstructing a roadway. The group is expected to be bonded out of the McLennan County Jail today.

Among those at the ranch with Bush were Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Vice President Dick Cheney.

The protest briefly delayed state troopers who were to serve in escort motorcades for government officials meeting with Bush, Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. R.T. King said.

Terry Chapman, owner of Chapman Bail Bonds in Waco, said the overnight stay is typical, as justices of the peace often do arraignments once or twice a day; the judge had performed that duty twice Thursday before the group was booked.

Sheehan, who said her "surge" would address concerns that Bush may increase U.S. troop numbers in Iraq, said earlier in the day she expected to be arrested.

"He's a serial murderer," she said, just before being placed in a patrol car with her sister. "We just want the killing to stop."

Sheehan said she plans to camp in Crawford through New Year's Eve, when protesters are planning a vigil to honor the Iraqi citizens slain since the war began nearly four years ago.

Earlier this month in New York, Sheehan was convicted of trespassing for leading a protest across the street from the United Nations. A judge sentenced them to conditional discharge, which means they will not face any punishment as long as they "lead a law-abiding life" for the next year, Sheehan's attorney, Robert Gottlieb, said Thursday.

"There is nothing to say that what she was arrested for today means that she is not living a law-abiding life," he told the Associated Press. He said he doubted "that anything that happened today would result in any problems in New York."

Sheehan, of Vacaville, Calif., lost her 24-year-old son, Casey, in Iraq in April 2004. She has since drawn international attention for camping outside Bush's ranch.

Let's Impeach the pResident

CactusPat — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 07:25:59 -0500

Here's the Anthem for the Impeachment Movement. Amy Goodman has shown it on Democracy Now! and the INN World News Report has shown it repeatedly at the end of their broadcasts. Sing along - "Let's Impeach the pResident"... by Neil Young

YouTube video... (more)

Visit Neil Young's "Living With War" website where many songs and videos are free to view and/or download. I'd highly recommend for Neil Young fans, anti-war, and Pro-impeachment folks! Direct d-load of "Let's Impeach the pResident" (right-click/save - 19MB)

For those folks not so sure about impeachment, may I offer you a quote from a great American...

"Laws can embody standards; governments can enforce laws--but the final task is not a task for government. It is a task for each and every one of us. Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted--when we tolerate what we know to be wrong--when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy, or too frightened--when we fail to speak up and speak out--we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice." June 21, 1961 (ROBERT F. KENNEDY, attorney general, remarks before the Joint Defense Appeal of the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League of the B’nai B’rith, Chicago, Illinois)

WeDemocrats.org

wedemocrats — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 13:35:15 -0500

WeDemocrats In order to stimulate an active interest in government affairs, to restore TRUST of our government, to foster and perpetuate the idea of FREEDOM and principles of a Democratic Nation and to provide for our people through administration of the highest degree of justice, FAIRNESS and social welfare, do associate ourselves together as an official progressive grassroots organization, of the Progressives' Democratic Party. Auxilary groups on Democrats.org and BarackObama.com.
What will help Democrats win elections will be a surge in grassroots energy and a reengaged corps of activists who are working to take their party and country back. 6,236 - IN ALL 50 STATES AND DC!!! It’s a Fantastic Start.
Join this group!

Ron McBride

http://www.WeDemocrats.org

ron@wedemocrats.org

Join WeDemocrats at: http://www.wedemocrats.org/dadamail/mail.cgi/list/maillist/

The Arrogant, the Misguided, and the Cowards

davidswanson — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 10:19:22 -0400

By Sean Penn

The following is a statement by actor Sean Penn given on October 2, 2006 at the Great Hall of Cooper Union, New York City. It was read by Mark Ruffalo (his co-star in "All the King's Men") at an emergency meeting of World Can’t Wait—Drive Out the Bush Regime held in response to passage of the Torture Bill and in preparation for protests happening on Thursday, October 5 in over 190 cities nationwide. http://www.worldcantwait.org

The arrogant, the misguided, the cowards would argue that an immediate pull-out of our troops from Iraq would inspire lack of confidence and the lost credibility of the United States. President Bush and his functionaries indeed have lost enormous credibility for the perception of our country internationally. Perhaps more damaging than that, they have created the greatest cultural, religious, and political divide domestically since our own Civil War.

We the people of the United States have a unique opportunity. We can show each other and the world that what the Bush administration claims is their mission is not ours. And, by leading our country as a citizenry and demanding of our government an immediate end to our own military and profit investments in Iraq, display for the entire world that democracy is a government of the people. What more powerful message to send the world than that we ourselves can choose – in policy, in peace, and in humanitarian support.

In fascism, one serves the State. Let’s show the world that with democracy, we can make the State do our bidding, and that such bids would not be the blind ones, given exclusively to the friends of power. But rather, the domain of the people of freedom everywhere. This is an administration that advocates torture, deceives the public, spends billions of dollars on a failed war. This is an administration where in the year of Katrina, Exxon Mobil claimed the highest profit margin in the history of world business. It is an administration that belittles, demeans, deceives, and indeed kills our brothers, our sisters, our sons, and our daughters.

At the U.S./Mexico border, we panic at the notion of illegal entry, without blinking an eye as our elderly line up every Saturday morning with wheelchairs, walkers, canes and joint pain, queued up in the desert heat to enter Mexico where they can purchase affordable medication. In the human family, this President is indeed pushing his wheelchair-bound grandmother down the stairs with a smile on his face. Everyone knows that these are true statements. Everyone. Some are ashamed of where they’ve put their support in the past, their passivity in the present, with the courage of their minds and hearts at bay. What an exciting thing to reverse this as one America and show the world who wears the pants in this house.

Stand up as an American and join World Can’t Wait and those demonstrating this Thursday, October 5th.

Out of Iraq. And out with Bush.

Pink's Dear Mr. President

Bob Geiger — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 21:48:43 -0400

For those of us who have long believed in the undeniable parallels between Bush's Iraq war and our nation's Vietnam mistake, the recent rise of new protest music is no surprise -- indeed, I find it to be a very encouraging sign.

Someone turned me on to this over the weekend… It's 'Dear Mr. President' from Pink's I'm Not Dead CD and you'll be blown away if you watch this video showing a live performance of the song.

Some lyric excerpts:

Dear Mr. President
Were you a lonely boy
Are you a lonely boy
How can you say
No child is left behind
We're not dumb and we're not blind
They're all sitting in your cells
While you pave the road to hell

What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You've come a long way from whiskey and cocaine

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye
How do you walk with your head held high
Can you even look me in the eye

Unbelievable. Please watch it here.

Meadow Soprano on George W. Bush

Bob Geiger — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 13:23:57 -0400

Here’s Meadow Soprano – mob-boss Tony’s whip-smart daughter – on last night’s episode of The Sopranos, giving her opinion of George W. Bush at the breakfast table:

“9/11, 9/11. Bush is using it as an excuse to erode our Constitutional protections and you’re falling for it.”

Before any of you ask if I’m trying to turn Democrats.com into People Magazine, let me tell you why I’m posting this. It’s a sad and discouraging thing for me to say, but I actually have high hopes that mainstream entertainment mentions of reality like this – along with the wonderful closing-argument scene from Boston Legal a couple of weeks ago – will hit a much wider audience between the eyes than we or the stenographer media are capable of reaching.

Maybe if the 35 percent of Americans dumb enough to still approve of Bush hear this stuff from a pretty actress, they’ll pay more attention.

But then, Carmela Soprano follows up on Meadow’s slap at Bush by dimly saying “Well, I voted for him.”

And to think, I used to like Carmela.

Big thanks to my friend Steve O. at Bring it On for passing this along. Please go there to see the video clip (Quicktime 7 required).