Countering the Westboro Baptist Church

Today, over 200 people of all ages, genders, races and sexualities met hate head on as they confronted the Westboro Baptist Church during their protest of Grant High School.

Around nine or ten followers of the WBC arrived at Grant High School at 7am this morning. Their website (godhatesfags.com) said that they were going to be there until 8am. However, a large crowd, at least 200 people, came out to meet them and they left at 7:30am. Reportedly, the Grant High School students were kept inside the school during the protest for their safety. However, when the WBC left, the kids from the school came out and sang, "Lean on Me."

It's continually inspiring to see such community support against such hatred and such creativity too.

BEAUTIFUL! [Read More »]

According to the extremist group's website, they chose Grant High School to criticize gays and the education system. link

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Supreme Court refuses to take up reparations case by Bikini and Enewetak islanders, over the destruction of their homelands.

Between 1946 and 1958, twenty-three nuclear weapons were detonated at Bikini Atoll. The March 1st, 1954 detonation codenamed Castle Bravo, was the first test of a hydrogen bomb. It was the largest nuclear explosion ever set off by the United States, leaving widespread radioactive contamination over the area and beyond. The Castle Bravo explosion was the equivalent of 1000 Hiroshimas.

Now just over 60 years since the last atomic explosion devasted their ancient homeland, the islanders of Enewetak and Bikini Atoll are asking for humble reparations from the government which caused the destruction of an incalculable source of their collective souls, and the land of their ancestors. The decision by the Supreme Court to deny them the simple right to a fair hearing, of their overwhelmingly legitimate grievances is a disgrace to anything claiming itself to be a "justice system."

The sardonic film about the nuclear psychosis, "The Atomic Cafe," perhaps best shows from archival footage, the insanity, coldness, cynicality and senselesnesss shown and acted towards the people of the islands by the US government and military. At a time now when the media is continuuously harping about the dangers posed by nations of different ethnicity, which have no nuclear weapons, perhaps its time that we face up to our own collective guilt, over the brutal legacy of nuclear terrorism our governments have left to the peoples of the world and their descendents.
-Lima

Link

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Penn Station Freezes

MDSer Richie Marini freezes in Penn Station
(Photo: Mike Morice / NLN)
Penn Station Freezes

NEW YORK — Anti-war activists held a FREEZE action in Penn Station on Monday at 5 pm, the height of rush hour. The goal: to stop an attack on Iran. NLN’s Mike Morice’s was there to capture the Moment.

link

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Instant Karma

Instant Karma

John Lennon would have turned 67 in 2007. If alive, he could well be at the forefront of bringing peace to Darfur, where more than half a million have died from violence and disease during four years of rebel discord. So to create awareness of the ongoing conflict, Amnesty International (with permission from Yoko Ono) has mined Lennon's solo work and rounded up nearly two dozen current artists to reinterpret the music, which spans the ex-Beatle's entire post-band catalog (plus a pair from while the Fab Four were still in business).

Release Date: June 2, 2007

Jackson Browne singing, "Oh, My Love" should be amazing. [cringe] who in the world says "Fab Four"? [/cringe]

link

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Four Dead In Ohio

Four Dead In Ohio

Sandra, Bill, Allison and Jeffrey

"RIGHT HERE, GET SET, POINT, FIRE!"
Kent State Audio Tape Released
Click here for audio file

Thirty seven years ago on May 4, 1970, an anti-war student demonstration at Kent State University, Ohio, left four students dead. I was a senior in high school and the news slapped me across the face. I watched the guardsmen shoot down these college kids for peacefully protesting against the war. Can you imagine how that would play out today with our 24 hour news saturation? It was easy to be pissed off and angry at police and lawmakers when they were sending my friends off to war and now killing those left behind. If you weren't already radically involved with change, Kent State was going to change you.

"Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming
Four dead in Ohio."
("Ohio" lyrics by Neil Young)

Kent State: May 1-4,1970
Why the Protest began
Nixon announced a troop offensive into Cambodia on April 30, and said going into Cambodia was necessary to "win the peace". But it was really an escalation of war into another country we had no business being in. (sounds familiar) When the the fires from the artillery began to burn in Cambodia, a raging fire of protest spread across the US, especially on college campuses. There wasn't much protesting in the streets until the students got fired up. Students were the nucleus of protest back then as many demonstrations and marches were born there.

This day is as important to me as any other day in history. There would be no turning back now in our rage against war. Remember Kent State.

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Support The Fossella Five!

SDSers note: Elaine, Tom and Ben are MDS activists from NYC...Barbara is a member of the Granny Peace Brigade and Sally is chair of Peace Action New York State.

Support The Fossella Five!
Read about the case at www.fossellafive.org

There IS resistance to the oily politicians and their endless wars, even in New York's "forgotten borough".

Elaine Brower, Tom Good, Sally Jones, Ben Maurer and Barbara Walker were arrested on March 23, 2007 in Congressman Vito Fossella's office. Their crime? Reading the names of the (US) war dead aloud and demanding a meeting with their representative so they might discuss the extreme positions he holds on the Iraq War. These 5 activists are charged with disorderly conduct and criminal trespass. They are demanding Fossella drop all charges and agree to a meeting. Show your support - tell Fossella to drop the charges and meet with his constituents. Sign the online petition: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/fossfive/petition.html

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Opium Magazine Launch

OPIUM MAGAZINE, now in beta, has a 4/20 launch in San Francisco with more elements to soon follow.

"We wanted Opium to be an undeniable destination spiked with whimsy and intrigue, an irresistible daily must-see that trumps life's daily sobriety. A you've-gotta-see /read /hear-this! destination for 15 minutes or less of daily peace, laughs and absurditude.

Opium Den expands beyond Opium's Magazine. We're now at the helm of a multi-media publication that adds horsepower to the written word. We'll soon roll out our virtual art gallery (Opium Studio), followed by our virtual theater (Opium Live), but today we blast off with the next generation of Opium Magazine.

Our new look comes with higher standards. Here is our guarantee: we will feature only the most mind-bending, ocean-moving work, outdoing even the masterful craftsmanship that now fills our print issues, and has long filled our website. For that, we need your help: your podcasts, your paintings, your short films, your stories. We're thrilled by the possibilities.

link

You had me at Opium

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Anti-War Protests

Live from the electronic teat..... the Anti-War edition

* On March 19 the fifth year of the illegal, immoral, disastrous war in Iraq will begin. Activists across the country are mobilizing to mark the occasion with demonstrations, vigils and direct actions from Friday March 16 through Tuesday March 20. Add your voice to the rising call for peace: right here

* Congress is expected to vote on the bill to suspend operations at the SOA/WHINSEC in as early as May 2007. April will be a critical time for us to organize and make our voices heard.

This April 25-27, SOA Watch activists will organize local public fasts and events throughout the United States to educate the general public and members of Congress on the SOA/WHINSEC issue. link

* Activists 'Purify' Site After Bush Visit link

* 20 Arrested At SDS New York Counter Recruitment Action - link

* Do you have a protest or topical song available on the web? As of today Neil Young's Living With War website has 1430 song listings. Send your song link to: songs@lwwtoday.com

* Sign The Petition - The US Copyright Office has released their new set of rates for the payment of royalties by Internet Radio -- royalty rates so high that they will put RP and every other US-based indie webcaster out of business.

Quote For Today
"Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war." --Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Au Revoir Arthur, Part Deux

More on the sudden demise of Arthur Magazine

Arthur was oversized, free, colorful, patchouli-scented but whip-smart, unapologetically political, sometimes silly, often anarchist and always willing to listen to voices way, way outside the mainstream. Above all, it was prophetic, usually about two years ahead of the rest of the country in its loves and obsessions. But in the end, there just wasn't enough peace and love to go around.

"The magazine can't be restarted," Babcock said. "It's a done deal. It's dead. The situation can't be unfucked."

link

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RADICAL LIVING PAPERS

RADICAL LIVING PAPERS
A history of the free, alternative, counter-culture and underground press, 1965-75
Gavin Brown's enterprise at PASSERBY
February 2 - March 7, 2007

Covering politics, revolutions, evolutions of the planets, freak-outs, love-ins, support of green politics, gay liberation, power to the people, the peace parties, protests, the Panthers, peyote, LSD, pot, fiction, music, poetry, prose, prayers and more. Publications include: Actuel, Avatar, Berkeley Barb, Berkeley Tribe, Black Panther Papers, Digger Papers, Door, East Village Other [EVO], The Fifth Estate, Freep, Grabuge, Hobo-Québec, International Times [it], Los Angeles Free Press, The Oracle, The Organ, Other Scenes, OZ, Rat, The Realist, Re Nudo, Rolling Stone, The Seed, Ann Arbor Sun....more.

GBE@Passerby

Blogged with Flock
(from the inbox via: arthur)

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Gaia Media News

GAIA MEDIA NEWSLETTER

As individuals, collectives, and a species we are heir to a living library far older than the Sun, and we were born to enjoy, celebrate and preserve our personal and unitive rights and expressions of access. A few thousand years ago, there was an accident — and the road to the library disappeared. That road is open again. link

~ DEDROIDIFICATION ~ It's high time you broaden your cute little close-minded reality tunnel if you think wonder only exists in fiction -- let me tell you a fantastic story, a history -- welcome to operation mindfuck link

Ibogaine - Rite of Passage is a documentary project about the use of Ibogaine for the treatment of addiction and its spiritual background.

CoverPop - This is truly a digital archivist's dream: data displayed in a way that is both aesthetically pleasing and informative." --Annalee Newitz / Wired.com.
Lots of fun! I like the musical instruments.
**NOTE: I had to turn OFF my pop-up blocker for this site**

The Strange, Harrowing Journeys of Free Energy Activists - The human journey hangs in the balance today. Humanity is very capable of destroying modern civilization and even most of life on earth. We are also quite capable of turning earth into a heavenly place where we all live in beauty, peace and plenty. The crux of the situation relies in great measure on real economics, and energy has always been the underlying basis for all economies for all time. Wade Frazier

"I am against religion because it teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world." - that underpin evolution.
--Richard Dawkins
The God Delusion part 1
The Virus of Faith part 2

Hubble Deep Field - Representing a narrow "keyhole" view stretching to the visible horizon of the universe, the Hubble Deep Field image covers a speck of the sky only about the width of a dime 75 feet away.

(all links via Gaia Media News, a monthly newsletter.)

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Molly Ivins, Columnist, Dies at 62

Molly Ivins, Columnist, Dies at 62

Molly Ivins, the liberal newspaper columnist who delighted in skewering politicians and interpreting, and mocking, her Texas culture, died yesterday in Austin. She was 62.

Ms. Ivins waged a public battle against breast cancer after her diagnosis in 1999. Betsy Moon, her personal assistant, confirmed her death last night. Ms. Ivins died at her home surrounded by family and friends. link

We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we're for them and trying to get them out of there. Hit the streets to protest Bush's proposed surge. If you can, go to the peace march in Washington on January 27. We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, "Stop it, now!" link

One hellraising writer and feminist is gone far too soon and I already miss her.

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Martin Luther King, Jr

Martin Luther King Day

Do you realize he was assassinated at the age of 39? In my opinion, he went right into the heart of prejudiced Birmingham, Alabama, where

"...there had been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation"

to try and talk with city officials about racism.

"...when you take a cross-county drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored"; when your first name becomes "nigger," your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your last name becomes "John," and your wife and mother are never given the respected title "Mrs."; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you no forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodiness" then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience."

Cite: Letter from Birmingham Jail

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you can imagine that this being the mentality of our country back then, imagine also how liberating it was to have a man like Dr Martin Luther King, Jr take up the banner on racism and prejudice in America. It was a very beautiful thing.

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Saturday Morning Me

saturday morning me//
wokeup/fellouttabed/draggedacombacrossmyhead/
daughter texting/husband twisting/j-on his mac/
k-on her cell/mom's sipping espress-ieio/
waiting for my yayas, uh-huh/
everyone's all plugged in one way or the other/
holiday hangover/must.begin.healthy.regimen.stat/
listening: intervention by the arcade fire-wow!/
so what about you?/


* Banksy Opens Xmas Shop - Banksy said: "I felt the spirit of Christmas was being lost. It was becoming increasingly uncommercialised and more to do with religion, so we ­decided to open our own shop and sell pointless stuff." link

* Hangman, hangman, upon your face a smile

* George W. Bush QUOTES:
"I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace."

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Holiday Wishes

Hope you had a scintillating Solstice
A delightful Yule
May your mirth be multi-orgasmic
Your visions vibrant
Your glee glorious
Your festivities fulfilling
And your halls decked with Love and Peace.

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Planning Solstice Celebrations

Winter Solstice Celebrations

It's not too soon to think about Winter Solstice celebrations, which are increasingly becoming more popular. (If you really want to go old school, see Saturnalia.) Some people do this in addition to their usual Christmas traditions. Some have the celebration of Jesus birth assimilated into the Winter Solstice. And some are just tired of the whole cheesy commercialism of Christmas that concentrates more on enriching the retailers and stressing us all that they wish to try something different.

It depends on what you want to get back from this season. Love? Peace? Presents? Do you want to honor it with a religious experience? And which one? Should you feed your spirituality in a more earth-based way, leave out the whole biblical aspect, or celebrate your usual family traditions? And what about the children?

How does a Buddhist couple with Protestant parents and Pagan kids celebrate the holidays? We manage to do our own thing and also honor our family's way of celebrating by finding something we all can relate to. One thing is we all celebrate the Winter Solstice and continue through New Year's Eve: 12th Night. We build a bonfire, (my husband's favorite part) and a Yule log is taken from that to the indoors where it (and more firewood) burns until the 12th Night. Then you spread the ashes on the field or garden on the first day of the year (which get into Compitalia). In those 12 days there's also a procession, gift-giving, (a little gift each day) bells, singing, paying it forward, feasting, prayers and much more but this is getting a little long.

Winter Solstice for 2006 will occur in North America on December 21, Thursday. The precise time depends on your time zone. In PST, it will be 4:22 pm; in EST, 7:22 pm.
* * * * *
Related Resources
* Solstice Planning Guide for the home and outdoors.
* Winter Solstice Religious Celebrations
* Sew seeds for Winter Solstice.
* Saturnalia


In the midst of winter I found there was within me an invincible summer. ~Albert Camus

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saturday morning me//
man, o' man, ees cold--8° in the hills this morning/
hope my car had enough antifreeze in it/
sipping hot tea & not sipping a biscuit/
candles burning/sage smoldering/cauldron bubbling/
listening to: xumantra--bowls, bells, gongs/
i lit a candle for those who dread the holiday season/
to offer lightbeams for your peace of mind/
so what about you?

Stop thinking, and end your problems. --Lao Tzu

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W E B T R A I L

* See The Night Sky @ SkyTonight.com. Have you seen the moon lately? Wow!

* Dec 5, Tuesday in Celestial Timings: The still nearly full Lunar Standstill Moon is crossing the center point of the Galactic Edge as it moves into Cancer. This is what is referred to as the ?out of bounds? Moon and it is transmitting energies from beyond our galactic realm. This suggests we are receiving a whole new download of inter-galactic information and vibrational frequency that is beyond the bounds of our ordinary reality. Greater ease in assimilating these energies occurs when we consciously engage our thoughts and actions releasing attachment to results and limiting beliefs about who we are. See more on the Galactic Edge and the Lunar Standstill at Shamanic Astrology.

* A Stunning New Look At Déjà Vu at Science Daily describes an ongoing thesis that involves in part a study on a blind person. Fascinating read.

* I keep reading glowing reviews about The Fountain. Angela-Eloise has discovered the same thing. Sounds pretty good.

* More on Firefox Tweaks here. See Screenshot Firefox Extensions

* Whole Lotta CDs - Robert Plant's new 9-cd package. If you liked "Kashmir", and I happen to think it's his strong suit, this is for you.

* Today in Peace & Justice History, December 5:
1000 antiwar protestors try to close NYC induction center; 585 arrested including Allen Ginsberg and Dr. Benjamin Spock. (1967)

* Greatest Hits - Satirical Living Will

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This Week in Peace & Justice History is a collection designed to help us appreciate the fact that we are part of rich history advocating peace and social justice. While the entries often focus on large and dramatic events there are so many smaller things done everyday to promote peace and justice.

Sign up for weekly Peace History Newsletter

December 4, 1969
President Richard Nixon, Vice-President Spiro T. Agnew, and 40 U.S. governors embarked on a fact-finding mission to discover the causes of the generation gap. They viewed films of "simulated acid trips" and listened to hours of "anti-establishment rock music."

December 4, 1968
264 were arrested at a military induction center in New York City during War Resisters League civil disobedience action.

December 4, 1916
Five members of a woman's suffragist group unrolled a banner from the visitor's gallery during President Wilson's annual message (state of the union) to Congress, asking, "Mr. President, What will you do for woman suffrage?" There was no mention of the issue in his speech.

December 4, 1833
The American Anti-Slavery Society was formed by Arthur Tappan in Philadelphia. He and his brother Lewis were active abolitionists throughout their lives, including providing legal defense for the Africans who mutinied on the slave ship Amistad.

December 4, 1970
Cesar Chavez was sentenced to 20 days in jail for refusing to call off United Farm Workers? consumer boycott of lettuce.

December 4, 1980
United Nations agreed to establish the University of Peace and a short wave radio station, Radio Peace International, in Costa Rica.

link

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Webtrail | November 28

Thich Nhat Hanh's Walking Meditation - Can you walk your way to a calmer mind, more resilient heart, and kinder soul? Walking Meditaion, a book CD/DVD set featuring Zenmaster Thich Nhat Hanh, and dharma teacher and principle author Anh-Huong ushered readers into becoming "fully present and alive with every step, filling each moment with peace and joy." link

* Syd Barrett - A public look (You Tube) at the now-for-sale home of the late Syd Barrett, at 6 St. Margaret's Square in Cambridge. This link probably won't be up much longer, but you can check out the array of his possessions up for bid this Wednesday; includes a variety of his bright colored, hand-painted furniture, a fake Christmas tree, notebooks and more. [via]

* President Bush Promises To Kill More American Troops, Ejaculate Into Iraqi Vagina: link

* Protest News - Police are to demand new powers to arrest protesters for causing offence through the words they chant and the slogans on their placards and even headbands. link

* Absinthe Spoons might be a nice gift for someone this season. Or the whole set of glass, spoon, sugar cubes. I may snap some up for myself. I have several absinthe glasses and zero spoons. link

* Quote Of The Day: What's the last thing you saw on Broadway? (the Dylan musical) "The Times They are A-Changin'. Very Cirque du so Lame." --Michael Musto (gotta love that queen)

* George Bush Quote: "The problem with the French is that they don't have a word for 'entrepreneur'."

* Today in Radical History: Nov 28 - 1944: Birth of San Francisco Digger, author Emmett Grogan.

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