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Author Topic: Profiles in Courage  (Read 25937 times)

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AGelbert

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Re: Profiles in Courage
« Reply #120 on: May 16, 2018, 05:14:34 pm »
A WIN TODAY FOR NET NEUTRALITY – The Senate today PASSED our resolution to restore net neutrality –

May 16, 2018

Quote
Senator Leahy <Senator_Leahy@leahy.senate.gov>
4:41 PM (31 minutes ago)
to me
 
 
Dear Mr. Gelbert:

Today, by a vote of 52 to 47, the Senate approved a congressional resolution of disapproval that would reverse the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s misguided decision late last year to repeal the 2015 Open Internet Rules.  I was proud to join 29 other Senators to sign the discharge petition forcing a vote on this critical resolution.  As a longtime advocate for strong net neutrality rules, I cast my vote for this resolution because Vermonters expect and deserve a free and open Internet.

The FCC under the leadership of Chairman Ajit Pai has made clear time and time again that the voices of the American people are irrelevant in its blind pursuit of regulatory reform, even when those reforms are poised to detrimentally affect millions of people across the country and benefit only large Internet Service Providers (ISPs).  Millions of Americans contacted the FCC ahead of the 2015 vote, and then again before the vote last year, and urged it to protect the pillars of freedom and openness upon which the Internet was built.  Instead, Chairman Pai and the other Majority Commissioners disregarded their duty and obligation to act on behalf of the public and repealed these pro-consumer, pro-small business rules.

Vermonters have spoken loudly and clearly.  They want an Internet free from corporate control, where they are the ones who decide what they can see online.  Businesses in Vermont have been just as outspoken.  For our entrepreneurs and business owners, net neutrality rules provide the certainty that they can compete on an equal playing field with the largest companies in the world.  They should not be held hostage by the prospect of being relegated to a slow lane, where they either pay a toll or lose customers due to slow loading times.

I encourage you to read my statement on this resolution and the FCC’s actions.  The Congressional Review Act established procedures by which Congress can pass a Joint Resolution of Approval or Disapproval of a rule issued by an executive agency.  If passed and signed by the President, the rule is repealed, and nothing substantially similar can be promulgated again in the future.  From here, this resolution will go to the House of Representatives to await further action.  You can be sure that I will continue to fight for a free and fair Internet for all, including by urging passage of this resolution by the House of Representatives.

Sincerely,

PATRICK LEAHY
United States Senator
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Profiles in Courage
« Reply #121 on: June 20, 2018, 02:34:41 pm »

Army Discharges West Point Grad Who Promoted Communism

by Tyler Durden

Wed, 06/20/2018 - 12:33

Authored by Commie Bishop via Campus Reform,

The West Point graduate who promoted communism in social media posts last year has officially been discharged from the U.S. Army.

According to Fox News, Spenser Rapone’s resignation was accepted Monday, and he will be leaving the military with an other-than-honorable discharge.


Rapone’s social media posts, including a picture of him wearing a Che Guevara shirt under his military attire, sparked outrage last year, with officials blasting the West Point graduate for his radical political activism.

"The U.S. Military Academy strives to develop leaders who internalize the academy's motto of Duty, Honor, Country, and who live the Army values,” the military academy said in a statement at the time.

“Second Lieutenant Rapone's actions in no way reflect the values of the U.S. Military Academy or the U.S. Army.

“As figures of public trust, members of the military must exhibit exemplary conduct, and are prohibited from engaging in certain expressions of political speech in uniform,” West Point continued.

“Second Lieutenant Rapone's chain of command is aware of his actions and is looking into the matter. The academy is prepared to assist the officer's chain of command as required.”

According to The Daily Caller 🦕, former Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania, Jason Altmire, who nominated Rapone for the elite military institution, also disavowed the former cadet’s actions, calling them “abhorrent.”

“While I strongly support the rights of American citizens to express their opinions, the actions of 2nd Lieutenant Rapone are abhorrent and appear to be in clear violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, in addition to being inconsistent with the values of the United States Military Academy,” the former lawmaker said last year.

“I have no doubt that the U.S. Army will take appropriate action.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) welcomed the decision to discharge the West Point graduate, noting that Rapone’s pictures suggest that he supported U.S. enemies.

“While in uniform, Spenser Rapone advocated for communism and political violence, and expressed support and sympathy for enemies of the United States,” Rubio said, as reported by Fox News.

I’m glad  to see that they have given him an ‘other-than-honorable’ discharge.”

According to the news network, Rapone said that he “knew there could be repercussions,” to his actions and that his “military career is dead in the water.”

“On the other hand, many people reached out and showed me support,” he said.

“There are a lot of veterans both active duty and not that feel like I do.”


Quote
"I would encourage all soldiers who have a conscience to lay down their arms and join me and so many others who are willing to stop serving the agents of imperialism and join us in a revolutionary movement," Rapone added.   

Rapone also posted a picture on Twitter Monday showing him giving the middle finger to the sign outside Fort Drum, along with the caption, “One final salute.”


https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-06-20/army-discharges-west-point-grad-who-promoted-communism


This took me back to the days when I wore those uniforms. Shining that tiny breast plate (a token symbol of an ancient large breastplate) was always a chore. You also had to be very careful when you attached it to the white canvas straps that attach to the dummy powder box (a token symbol from the Revolutionary War) because the Brasso polish you used on the breastplate, which comes in contact with the 4 bent metal clasps underneath the breastplate, might stain the white straps (a lot of cadets got demerits for that when we had to wear the full dress gray uniform for parades) :P . You put everything on and THEN carefully positioned the breastplate. Full dress gray is the one with that ridiculous three lines of round gold colored fake buttons in the front. The military just LOVES shiny objects.

I admire the this brave man of conscience, Spenser Rapone 🌟, for realizing the ethical and moral value of Communism and its vast superiority over our ethically and morally bankrupt Capitalist System Cruelty.

I salute him.  

But, I ain't done yet.




This is MY CONSTANT SALUTE to anyone who thinks Capitalism is "the best system".

 
Have a nice Brainwashed Capitalist day.
« Last Edit: June 20, 2018, 04:28:20 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Profiles in Courage
« Reply #122 on: June 26, 2018, 08:55:27 pm »
What Does It Take to Excel in Archery?


American archer Matt Stutzman holds the Guinness World Record for the longest accurate shot with a bow and arrow. In 2015, Stutzman broke his own 2011 record by accurately hitting a target 310 yards (283 m) away using a compound bow, and no one has bettered that mark since -- not even archers with arms. Stutzman was born without arms and grew up using his feet for nearly every task imaginable, including using a bow and arrow. Stutzman originally began shooting arrows in order to hunt and provide food for his family, before ultimately taking his archery skills all the way to the podium at the Paralympic Games.


Take a bow, Matt Stutzman:   


At the 2012 Paralympic Games in London, Stutzman won a silver medal in the men's individual compound event. At the 2016 Paralympics in Rio, he lost in the round of 16, and he is now preparing for the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

How does a person without arms shoot arrows? He picks up an arrow with his left foot, maneuvers it onto the bow’s string and then pushes his right foot away from his chest. He’s now locked and loaded.

To release the arrow, Stutzman uses a belt stretched around his chest. The belt holds a release aid that he activates with his jaw, using pressure similar to clicking on a computer mouse.

https://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-it-take-to-excel-in-archery.htm
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Profiles in Courage
« Reply #123 on: July 04, 2018, 02:18:08 pm »
Can Ben Jealous Unify Democrats against Larry Hogan?

July 3, 2018

Ben Jealous takes viewer questions and discusses what his primary win means for the future of the Democratic Party


https://therealnews.com/stories/can-ben-jealous-unify-democrats-against-larry-hogan
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Profiles in Courage
« Reply #124 on: July 04, 2018, 02:56:08 pm »
With Superdelegate Reform, is the Democratic Party Now Democratic?  ???
July 3, 2018

New Democratic Party rules scale back the influence of superdelegates in choosing the presidential nominee. But DNC Unity vice-chair Larry Cohen of Our Revolution says the party still has a long way to go towards real reform


Story Transcript

AARON MATE: It’s The Real News, I’m Aaron Mate. The Democratic National Committee has taken a big step towards becoming more democratic in addressing one of the key issues to come out of the contentious 2016 primary between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee has voted to curb the role of superdelegates in selecting presidential nominees. Superdelegates are a group of hundreds of party activists and insiders whose votes are counted on top of the general primary results, and curbing their role has been a top priority for supporters of Bernie Sanders inside the Democratic Party.

Well, joining me is someone who has helped lead that fight. Larry Cohen is Board Chair of the Bernie Sanders campaign offshoot, Our Revolution, and he is Vice Chair of the DNC Unity Reform Commission. Welcome, Larry. So, talk about these new rules. Under the change, now superdelegates will no longer be allowed to vote on the first ballot at the convention, only if it goes to a second ballot. But let me ask you, why even have superdelegates at all ?

LARRY COHEN: Well, that would be a good question. I’m quite happy that we have some results from two years of work, and it still has to get voted on on August 25 by the four hundred and forty seven DNC members who are all superdelegates themselves. But that might be an interesting question for another time at this point. We’re happy to move on. I mean, the general theory would be that you have a balance between the public and voters, caucus voters, primary voters. And the people who work in the party every day lead the party members of Congress. And so, in this case, we’re saying all those folks are delegates at the convention, but they 👹 💵 🎩 🍌 won’t vote on the first ballot for president. There hasn’t been a second ballot since 1924. So, I think, you know, big progress here.

AARON MATE: Let’s just remind people why this is so important to Bernie Sanders supporters. I want to go a clip from CNN. This is early on in the primary, in February 2016, right after Bernie Sanders has beaten Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire by more than twenty points. The DNC chair at the time, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, she goes on CNN and Jake Tapper says to her that Bernie Sanders is coming away from New Hampshire with about the same number of delegates as Hillary Clinton, even though Sanders has just beaten Clinton. And this was Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s response.

JAKE TAPPER: It looks as though Clinton and Sanders are leaving the Granite State with the same number of delegates in their pockets because Clinton has the support of New Hampshire’s superdelegates, these party insiders. What do you tell voters who are new to the process, who says this makes them feel like it’s all rigged?

DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Unpledged delegates exist really to make sure that party leaders and elected officials don’t have to be in a position where they are running against grassroots activists. We are, as a Democratic Party, really highlight and emphasize inclusiveness and diversity at our convention. And so, we want to give every opportunity to grassroots activists and diverse, committed Democrats to be able to participate, attend and be a delegate at the convention. And so, we separate out those unpledged delegates to make sure that there isn’t competition between them.

JAKE TAPPER: I’m not sure that answer would satisfy an anxious young voter. But let’s move on.

AARON MATE: So that is Debbie Wasserman Schultz in February 2016, speaking to CNN’s Jake Tapper. Larry Cohen, so you have Wasserman Schultz there saying that superdelegates exist, in part, to basically protect party elites and insiders from the grassroots. Do you feel as if that mentality is still prevalent inside the DNC leadership and do you think that the reforms so far that you’ve managed to win, including the superdelegate victory that you just had, have addressed that?

LARRY COHEN: Well, the Unity Reform Commission has thirty pages of reforms. And the question is still not clear how many of those will get voted on on August 25 at the full DNC meeting, four hundred and forty seven members in Chicago. But if we were to implement all those or most of those or even the ones that the Rules Committee, in the previous four meetings this year, have considered, we’re going a long way towards making this a grassroots party but at the same time a party. So, you get into a philosophical discussion about, well, what is a political party? It has to have some structure to it in terms of people deliberately joining, building at every county. There’s more than three thousand counties in America.

Part of what’s been lacking is no party in many of those counties, maybe even half of them. And so, you do have to have some balance, pushing aside her answer, between building a party- and most of the superdelegates are nothing to party leaders. The question then is, well how did those party leaders get elected? Are they elected by grassroots members of the party, are we encouraging grassroots members to join in all fifty-seven states? And that’s the much bigger issue. You have fifty-seven different parties. The DNC is only really there to pick the presidential nominee. Important as that may be, much more important is reforming the fifty-seven parties. Long way from that.

AARON MATE: Right. Okay, so on that front, let’s talk about a few key cases. You have a gubernatorial race in New York between Cynthia Nixon, seen as the progressive favorite, and the incumbent governor, Andrew Cuomo. How is the fight over rules, and this suspicion that the rules are rigged against progressives like Nixon, playing out when it comes to that race?

LARRY COHEN: It’s huge in that race because there’s three point six million unaffiliated voters in New York. They’re not in any party. They were registered without a party, in many cases almost automatically, when getting a license. Many of them are young and they had to join the Democratic Party on October 13 of 2017, exactly eleven months before the gubernatorial and legislative primary. It doesn’t even stop with Cynthia Nixon.

As you likely know, or viewers would know, there’s eight people, eight senators in New York that are Democrats from heavily Democratic areas that caucus with the Republicans. They all have challengers. In fact, we’re supporting all those challengers. Those challengers can’t look to those millions of unaffiliated voters, the ones who live in those districts, because they’re shut out because they didn’t switch last year. We’ve been pushing all year to change that. In fact, the Democratic Party itself could change it in New York. And at their convention a few weeks ago, they tabled the resolution to do so.

AARON MATE: Finally, Larry, let me ask you about the impact of last week’s victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in New York, defeating the incumbent Congress member, Joe Crowley, widely seen as being in line to become the next Speaker of the House. Your sense, from talking to your colleagues in the party and activists, about what that victory means for people and what kind of energy it’s generating?

LARRY COHEN: Yeah. So, first, we were proud to be one of the few large organizations that endorsed Alexandria. She is awesome. Ironically, she won with these incredibly closed rules. So, the party machine, which is what it is in Queens, Jackson Heights in that area, and part of the Bronx, turned out fewer voters than she did because she created real excitement. And the turnout is so low that she was able to run with the win, with the rigged rules. So, that shows the enthusiasm for her, that even though she couldn’t appeal to younger nonaffiliated voters, she was able to win anyway.

What it means is that as we approach the state primary, as I said on September 13, the energy level, the enthusiasm for candidates like Jessica Ramos, running against one of the Independent Democratic Caucus senators, Peralta  , who caucuses with the Republicans, which means that even though there is a Democratic majority you can’t pass anything, this is what New York has been for years. And I think we may be close to a new day. We still need party reform. We need it in every county in New York. We need in terms of, who are the county chairs? They have obscene power in New York and we need it in terms of how government functions in New York, the corruption level in New York.

And it’s not just New York. It’s New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Illinois. It’s many states, not all, not even most, where this kind of what what you call “rigged” system definitely makes it harder for change to occur. But Alexandria is amazing   and I think that that spirit will build in Queens, in the Bronx, across the city and across the state. It still makes it very hard for Cynthia Nixon  because on a state level, you have these three point six million unaffiliated voters in the same way they couldn’t vote for Bernie Sanders in 2016. Because in that case, the presidential primary was six months after the registration deadline. He wasn’t even running then. You know, these barriers need to go.

AARON MATE: Okay. And quickly, Larry, looking ahead to 2020, do you think by the time that primary comes around that the concerns of the Bernie Sanders supporters who felt as if the deck was stacked against them, that party elites would not give up control of the party no matter what- do you think that there is going to be, by then, there’s going to be enough progress made to address that sizable contingent’s concerns?

LARRY COHEN: Well, I think we’re making a lot of progress. And let me credit the current chair, Tom Perez, of the party. He has actually embraced the Unity Reform Commission reforms totally. And his leadership is key. We never would have passed that without it. Jen Dillon, she came. She was named by Clinton, as I was named Vice Chair by Sanders, she was named Chair, and she is looking for massive change. She’s still only forty years old, but she’s helped lead lead this effort for significant change. So, I think it’s no longer about Sanders, per se. This is about, can we have a party that can win, can we have a party that appeals to younger voters and diverse voters? And I will continue to work for that. I’ve been doing it, really, for three years, since I entered the Sanders campaign. And I’m hopeful that that one day soon we can have a Democratic Party that is democratic and that all voters, young and old, can say, “Hey, I want to join this party. I want to fight for change in our nation.”.

AARON MATE: Larry Cohen, the Board Chair of Our Revolution, Vice Chair of the DNC Unity Reform Commission. Thank you.

LARRY COHEN: Thank you.

AARON MATE: And thank you for joining us on The Real News.

https://therealnews.com/stories/with-superdelegate-reform-is-the-democratic-party-now-democratic

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Profiles in Courage
« Reply #125 on: July 11, 2018, 02:13:54 pm »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Profiles in Courage
« Reply #126 on: July 23, 2018, 09:28:27 pm »
July 23, 2018

Youth Climate Suit Moves Forward

An appeals court has blocked the latest attempt from the Trump administration to dismiss a lawsuit brought by 21 young people against the federal government for failing to act on climate change.

The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ruled against the administration in the suit for the second time this year, voting unanimously to allow the suit to move forward to an October trial.

The case was originally brought against the Obama administration in 2015.

https://apnews.com/0b1f92f50d884f45b37d6b5acbf8211e/'Climate-kids'-suit-against-government-allowed-to-proceed

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Profiles in Courage
« Reply #127 on: July 26, 2018, 09:01:51 pm »

July 26, 2018

Agelbert NOTE: The Zero Hour movement is the last best hope for getting the governments of the world, particularly the U.S. Government , to tackle Climate Change. The demands of Zero Hour that are sine qua non for human survival as a species are listed below under the heading of Ending of the extractive based economy and starting the rapid transition to a living economy that will create local jobs and local sustainable economies (i.e. a VIABLE BIOSPHERE). They demand that the transition be completed by 2040.

I don't know if we have that much time. I believe the 100% Renewable Energy Transition must be completed in a decade, at most, in order to avoid the worse effects of Catastrophic Climate Change. Regardless of how short the time we have is, I applaud these courageous, reality based young people for making these demands.


If Zero Hour's demands are repulsed, or indefinitely delayed, by the Hydrocarbon Hellspawn that have corrupted governments all over the world for over a century, it is Game Over for humanity.


Just Transition

Zero Hour believes that a Just Transition leaves no one behind as we seek to achieve an environmentally sustainable economy.

A Just Transition protects workers as they transition away from the fossil fuel economy to a clean sustainable economy called the living economy. A Just Transition also ensures that communities of color, Indigenous communities, and frontline communities are not left behind in any way. A Just Transition should also protect the youth as they enter into an economy that is already fundamentally damaged by the fossil fuel corporations. A Just Transition means that all have an inalienable right to food, water, air, and land. Zero Hour believes that workers of all ages should be able to sustain their families, their health, their pensions, and their housing for now and future generations.

Therefore, we make these demands for a Just Transition:

Coal, Oil, Gas Corporations and Communities

 - Respect the contributions of the fossil fuel workers.

 - Donate to local impacted communities so that they may invest in local clean renewable energy, community based industries, and local living wage jobs for transitioning fossil fuel workers.

 - Donate into climate justice education for youth as reparations for the  damage caused to their health and future.

 - Donate to local communities so they may clean up the lands and  waters polluted and damaged by fossil fuel extraction/infrastructure/ shipping/export.

Industries

 - Switch to clean renewable energy and clean industrial processes.

 - Reskilling of their employees for new clean, local energy industries.

 - Provide fully paid quality healthcare for their workers and families who have been made unhealthy by working for extractive and toxic indus tries.

 - Provide full pensions for workers in extractive and toxic industries.

State and Local Governments

 - Respect and follow the Treaty Rights of the Indigenous Nations of that land and protect their food sovereignty and intellectual property.

 - State governments must pass a state constitutional amendment to include rights to healthy living wage jobs, clean and safe sustainable affordable housing, and affordable quality healthcare.

 - Invest in zero emissions mass transit that is affordable for low income people.

 - Invest in clean renewable energy as the way forward and make it accessible to low income people.

 - Divest pensions from fossil fuels and banks that support fossil fuels and shift to publicly owned state and local banks instead.

 - Invest in grassroots transformative justice to move away from the unjust prison system and the school-to-prison-pipeline.

 - Switch to 100% local clean renewable energy to power government owned buildings such as schools, community centers, City Halls, and etc.

 - Reskilling and redeployment of workers for locally based sustainable industries such as radically sustainable building, permaculture, reforestation, hemp production etc. with educational opportunities and training also provided to youth.

 - Legalize hemp production for local industry, medicine, and food.

- Refuse all new permits to extractive industries.

 - Implement climate justice education in schools according to recommendation from climate justice groups and frontline communities.

 - Invest in local permaculture food growth particularly in low income communities, and include this in climate justice education.

 - Plant indigenous trees and native species in local areas, and include this in climate justice education.

 - Support the state youth climate lawsuits and follow the climate recovery plan outlined in their lawsuit.

Federal Government

 - Respect and follow all treaties with First Nation communities and protect the food sovereignty and intellectual property of First Nations.

 - Respect Indigenous women, Indigenous queer and trans, women of color, and queer and trans people of color and protect them from assault, sexual violence, and trafficking caused by the fossil fuel industries.

 - Provide adequate funding to local communities for Just Transition.

 - Pass constitutional amendment to include rights to healthy living wage jobs, clean and safe sustainable affordable housing, affordable quality healthcare.

 - Outlaw private prisons and the forced labor of prison inmates.

 - Acknowledge the term “climate refugee” and welcome all climate refugees including; war refugees, communal/gang violence refugees, and natural disaster refugees.

 - Work together with other wealthy nations to be prepared to welcome climate refugees and provide safety and accommodation for them in international solidarity.

- End the extractive based economy and start the living economy that will create local jobs and local sustainable economies:

 - By stopping the extraction and pollution of all water bodies

 - By investing in water cleaning measures to restore ecosystems

 - By investing in innovation that enables clean renewable energy and local green economies

 - By supporting structural change at the national, state, and local level

 - By stopping the exploitation of labor including labor in prisons

 - By reskilling and redeployment of workers for local sustainable jobs

 - By providing sustainable job and business opportunities to youth with access to training and affordable education for those jobs

 - By providing quality affordable universal healthcare

 - By investing into research for natural healing methods and making these methods accessible and affordable for all

 - By providing affordable radically sustainable housing and making it accessible for all, particularly low income communities

 - By banning any extractive industries from operating in wilderness areas and nature sanctuaries

 - By taxing extractive industries and put that money into the Just Transition practices listed here.

Climate Justice Alliance tells us:

- A Just Transition moves us towards a livable future.

 - A Just Transition upholds Self Determination.

 - A Just Transition equitably redistributes Resources and Power.

 - A Just Transition creates Meaningful Work / Right Livelihood / Human Development.

 - A Just Transition requires Regenerative Ecological Economics.

 - A Just Transition retains Culture and Tradition.

 - A Just Transition embodies Local, Regional, National and International Solidarity.


http://thisiszerohour.org/files/ZeroHour_JustTransition.pdf

 


He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Profiles in Courage
« Reply #128 on: August 08, 2018, 10:48:22 pm »
Progressive Groups Tackled Tough Races: Winning Some, Losing Others

Quote
Dear friends,

We are pleased to announce that Peabody Award-winning broadcast journalist Marc Steiner 🌟 will be joining The Real News Network’s daily news team for the month of August. Marc has hosted a weekly show on TRNN since April, but for the month of August you will see him on-air for two to three breaking news stories each day.

Marc’s highly acclaimed public interest radio show, “The Marc Steiner Show,” broadcast over Baltimore’s public radio airwaves for almost 25 years. He was also the creative force behind the founding of public radio station WYPR.

Marc was one of the first people Sharmini Peries and Paul Jay met when they moved to Baltimore, and they have been friends and cohorts ever since. Marc has dedicated his life – and his work – to issues of social justice. At age 16 he was the youngest civil rights worker to be arrested in Maryland.

In the summer of 1968 he was part of the Poor People’s Campaign, and he is currently featured in the Poor People’s Campaign exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. For more information on his life and work, you can watch this video that was created to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his show.

Sincerely,

The Real News Team

August 8, 2018

The Nation’s John Nichols analyzes the results of Tuesday’s elections. Rashida Tlaib won Rep. Conyer’s seat in Detroit, becoming the first Muslim woman to go to Congress. Although few other progressive candidates won Tuesday night’s primaries, some did and Missouri’s Right to Work referendum was defeated


https://therealnews.com/stories/progressive-groups-tackled-tough-races-winning-some-losing-others
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Profiles in Courage
« Reply #129 on: August 10, 2018, 09:05:59 pm »
Can Maryland be at the forefront of Third Party Organizing?

August 10, 2018

Executive Producer Eddie Conway speaks with Andy Ellis, Green Party Candidate for State Delegate MD-45, who argues that some of the most popular ideas in the post-Bernie Sanders era emanate from Green Party organizing


https://therealnews.com/stories/can-maryland-be-at-the-forefront-of-third-party-organizing
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Profiles in Courage
« Reply #130 on: August 15, 2018, 03:19:09 pm »
Michael Keegan, People For the American Way alerts@pfaw.org

August 15, 20182:42 PM (24 minutes ago)
to me

People for the American Way


Anthony,

The big news from yesterday’s primary Election Day is that history-making, diverse, strong progressives continue to rack up amazing victories . And we’re proud that so many are doing it with PFAW’s help.

PFAW’s endorsed progressive champions in yesterday’s congressional primaries all won -- and won handily, in double-digit landslides!

Ilhan Omar won the Democratic primary for Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District. Ilhan is now running to become the first Somali-American member of Congress and, along with another PFAW endorsee Rashida Tlaib, one of the first Muslim women ever elected to Congress. As a state legislator, Ilhan has been an active member of our nonpartisan affiliate PFAW Foundation’s Young Elected Officials Network.

Jahana Hayes won the Democratic primary Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District. If she wins the general, she’ll become the state’s first Black Democrat to serve in Congress.

Randy Bryce won in Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District and now stands good chance of turning Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s seat blue! Bryce was going to be a formidable challenger to Ryan before the Speaker decided to retire, and now that he’s retiring, Democrats’ odds of flipping the seat are even better.

Our other successful federal endorsees ran uncontested. They were Angie Craig, candidate for Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District, and incumbents Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02), Rep. Gwen Moore (WI-04), Sen. Tammy Baldwin (WI), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT).   

At the state and local level, the young progressive candidates supported by PFAW’s Next Up Victory Fund also fared incredibly well with two of our three candidates in contested races ending their night victorious:

Mandela Barnes, a former member of PFAW Foundation’s Young Elected Officials Network, won the statewide Democratic primary for Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin -- by a more than 2-to-1 margin.

Mitra Nelson won the special election for St. Paul, MN City Council Ward 4 by double digits.

Next Up endorsee Quentin Phipps    ran uncontested in the Democratic primary for Connecticut State House District 100.

PFAW's Next Up Victory Fund helps strong progressive candidates age 40 and under run and win critical local and state races, to build a deep bench of winning progressive candidates and expand progressive power from the ground up.

Besides our exciting progressive victories, the other big news of the day was that Trump 🦀 continues to consolidate his power and influence in the GOP. 👎 🤬

The most Trump-friendly candidates won in high-profile Republican primaries with the most shining example of this coming in the form of a result from the previously too-close-to-call gubernatorial primary in Kansas from last week.  Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach -- a close Trump ally who spent years seemingly prepping his party for the eventual rise of Trumpism by being a national leader in the arenas of racist, anti-immigrant, and voter suppression policies -- was declared the winner in his challenge against Kansas’s incumbent Republican governor, after Gov. Jeff Colyer conceded. Anti-Trump Republican and former Minnesota Governor (and failed presidential candidate) Tim Pawlenty also went down in that state’s GOP gubernatorial primary, in a bid to reclaim his old job.

We have a lot more amazing progressive candidates to support and a lot of right-wing Trump Republicans to defeat!  And, together, with your help, our win record is going to be incredible -- and the country, the Democratic Party, and the progressive movement will all be better and stronger because of it!

You can help keep the momentum going right now by donating to support Andrew Gillum  -- a truly transformational progressive leader and PFAW’s endorsed candidate for Florida governor. Andrew’s Florida primary is in less than 2 weeks!


Thanks for everything you do!

Sincerely,

Michael Keegan, President   



He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Profiles in Courage
« Reply #131 on: August 30, 2018, 09:07:10 pm »
Truthdig

Aug 29, 2018       

Young Christians More Progressive, Diverse Than Their Parents

Many millennial Christians are seeing political issues in a markedly different light than their parents’ generation, Eliza Griswold writes in a recent piece for The New Yorker. While older evangelicals have fought to put bring down Roe v. Wade, for example, their younger counterparts, concerned with “the sanctity of life both in the womb and after,” are drawn to universal health care and, while still opposed to abortion, are seeking to limit the number of abortions carried out rather than ban the procedure all together.

And it’s not just abortion they differ on. Young Christians are increasingly opening up to ideas of sexual fluidity, and a recent survey by the Human Rights Campaign found that a majority of them are in favor of marriage equality.

Quote

While 53% of young, white evangelicals support marriage equality, only a quarter of white, older evangelicals do so.

Such a generational divide existed regardless of ethnicity. Seventy-five percent of young Hispanic Americans and 69% of young black Americans support same-sex marriage, compared to Hispanic seniors at 38% and African-American seniors at 40%.

Asian-Pacific Islander Americans were the only group to have a majority in both generations, with both young and old supporting equal marriage at 84% and 54%, respectively.

HRC found that 45% of young, white evangelical Protestants would reject policies that allow the right to refuse service of LGBTQ people for religious reasons and 54% support LGBTQ non-discrimination protections.

Two-thirds of black Americans and six in ten Hispanic, Asian-Pacific Islander and white Americans disapprove of service refusals due to sexuality or gender identity. Read more.

On other progressive issues, such as police brutality and family separations at the U.S. border with Mexico, millennial Christians have found appeal in the humanitarian approach that can be learned from biblical texts about Jesus’ own actions.

Climate change is also a biggie. The environmental phenomenon may have been “often the butt of a joke” in the communities where they grew up, but the millennial Christians who formed the group Young Evangelicals for Climate Change Action (YECA) see the link between their religious and environmental responsibilities.

Quote
“ Y.E.C.A., an organization specifically focusing on millennials, posits that evangelicals aren’t a monolithic bloc that doesn’t believe in climate change — they are more polychromatic than data suggests.

Y.E.C.A. doesn’t have one theological party line about how environmental responsibility and faith work hand in hand. According to Kaleb Nyquist, a member of Y.E.C.A.’s steering committee, the organization is pulling from the Bible. Nyquist … explained that “as an organization, [Y.E.C.A. is] going to take anyone who, as a Christian … finds a reason to be concerned about climate change through the lens of Scripture.”

Traditional proofs used to illustrate that the Bible advocates for environmental care span the Old and New Testaments. The most common and earliest trope is steeped within Genesis’ creation story. Genesis proclaims God as the creator of the world: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,” and declare God’s creation good: “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” These verses and others deem the earth, vegetation, and everything inhabiting it as good and godly.

The creation story is one of many supporting texts that could be used to say environmental responsibility and faith go hand in hand. Read more.

Griswold found that one of the key factors in the generational shift in the American evangelical community is that Christian youths are less keen on subscribing to what many see as passé political conservatism, but are hanging on to theologically conservative ideas.

There are a number of other factors involved, too, including growing diversity and globalization, Griswold writes.

Quote

During the past decade, evangelicalism has grown more diverse: as the number of white believers has declined, the Latino evangelical population has increased dramatically. … From a distance, evangelicalism can appear culturally monolithic—nearly eighty per cent of white evangelicals support President Trump, according to the Public Religion Research Institute—but many young evangelicals are more diverse, less nationalistic, and more heterodox in their views than older generations. Believing that being a Christian involves recognizing the sanctity of all human beings, they support Black Lives Matter and immigration reform. …

For young believers … the ubiquity of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social networks in their lives, among other factors, have made it more difficult to live in the kind of theological, cultural, and political isolation that previous generations once did. And, as their secular peers embrace more fluid identities in regard to sexuality and race, young evangelicals are also beginning to see such positions in shades of gray rather than in black and white. There are other factors, too, related to globalization: the exponential growth of fellow-believers in the Global South; the growing diversity of evangelicals in the U.S., driven in part by the influx of immigrants who arrive in American churches with their own dynamic faith. The result is that younger evangelicals are speaking out on issues like family separation at the border, climate change, police brutality, and immigration reform­­—causes not typically associated with the evangelical movement. In the continuing moral outrage at the border, which includes nearly six hundred children still displaced in New York City alone, many see the faces of themselves and their families. Read more.

As The New Yorker piece makes clear, however, questions remain about whether the generational divergence in political views will be reflected at the polls, given that, as the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, 48, sees it, evangelicals have been able to influence President Trump on a number of issues since he took office.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/young-christians-more-progressive-diverse-than-their-parents/

Agelbert NOTE: The Hydrocarbon Hellspawn TOOL called Trump made clear what he WASN'T in the most recent White House meeting with about 100 "Christian" Evangelical (hypocrite) Leaders. Trump 🦀 said, when referring to "all he had done" for Christians (LOL!), that "YOUR RELIGION" (NOT his religion or our religion) is "in danger" (See: Orwell) with a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives... 


ANYONE that still thinks this TOOL of the Fossil Fuel Industry 🐉🦕🦖 is a Christian, is nuts. By saying "YOUR RELIGION", he made it it CRYSTAL CLEAR THAT CHRISTIANITY IS NOT his religion, PERIOD. That was one of the rare times Trump told the truth. Of course you will still get hypocritical Pharisees like James Dobson (and other money grubbing friends of government power pretending to be Christians) who will try to spin what Trump said as a 'harmless baby Christian expression'. Trump came out and said he was NOT a Christian, PERIOD. ALL Christians that voted for him have been taken for fools. Of course the PSEUDO-Christians , which represent the majority of "Christian Evangelicals", wanted that evil bastard in power to further the racist, fascist, war/Wall Street loving agenda those hellspawn favor. The Spiritual Consequences of that demonic vote are absolutely devastating.

What goes around, even if it happens after you die, comes around.

« Last Edit: August 30, 2018, 10:56:09 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Profiles in Courage
« Reply #132 on: September 03, 2018, 04:42:54 pm »
 

French environment minister quits during live interview — says we’re not doing enough

LAST UPDATED ON AUGUST 31ST, 2018 AT 4:08 PM BY MIHAI ANDREI

SNIPPET:

When Nicolas Hulot, the French environment minister, went on a radio breakfast show, no one was expecting anything like this. As the interview went on, Hulot spoke more and more about the failures of his cabinet — lamenting that France has not done enough on any environmental front.

“Have we started to reduce our CO2 emissions? No. Have we started to reduce our use of pesticides? No. To prevent the erosion of our biodiversity? No,” Hulot explained.


As the discussion continued, it seemed that Hulot reached a striking moment of self-awareness. Saying that he felt “alone” in a cabinet which took “insufficient” action to tackle environmental challenges, he foreshadowed his resignation.

“I can’t lie to myself anymore,” he said. “I don’t want my presence in the government to give the illusion that we’re facing up to such stakes,” he said on public radio France Inter.

Neither President Emmanuel Macron nor any other ministers were made aware of this decision beforehand. In fact, when Marlène Schiappa, Macron’s secretary of state for equality heard the news while being live on another radio station, she asked the presenter if he was joking.

Read more:

https://www.zmescience.com/ecology/environmental-issues/french-minister-quits-31082018/

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Profiles in Courage
« Reply #133 on: September 15, 2018, 07:45:00 pm »
Quote
William Rivers Pitt is a senior editor and lead columnist at Truthout. He is also a New York Times and internationally bestselling author of three books: War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know, The Greatest Sedition Is Silence and House of Ill Repute: Reflections on War, Lies, and America's Ravaged Reputation. His fourth book, The Mass Destruction of Iraq: Why It Is Happening, and Who Is Responsible, co-written with Dahr Jamail, is available now on Amazon. He lives and works in New Hampshire.

Ted Cruz 🦕 Might Lose, and Other Giddy Tidbits From Election 2018

BY William Rivers Pitt 🌟 Truthout

PUBLISHED September 15, 2018


https://truthout.org/articles/ted-cruz-might-lose-and-other-giddy-tidbits-from-election-2018/

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Profiles in Courage
« Reply #134 on: September 16, 2018, 05:26:54 pm »
Four Reasons Why Los Angeles's Upcoming Public Banking Ballot Initiative is a Huge Deal

BY Phoenix Goodman Medium

PUBLISHED September 16, 2018

Phoenix Goodman, Medium: On November 6, the citizens of Los Angeles will have a chance to decide if their city should pave the path toward creating the first municipal public bank in the country. A public bank, if done correctly, could empower local residents with a level of influence rarely afforded through local ballot measures.

Read the Article
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

 

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