One week left before the election

This morning Cindy Sheehan and many volunteers protested KQED, a public TV/radio station in San Francisco. (U.S. Speaker of the House) Nancy Pelosi hasn't deigned to debate anyone in years -- she never had to -- as the Democratic congressional incumbent in heavily liberal San Francisco, the most her competitors ever get in the polls is around 15%.

But this year she has a worthy competitor, internationally known peace activist Cindy Sheehan. But she still won't debate. So anyway, KQED decided to do a 30 minute, one-on-one interview with Nancy Pelosi. In the interest of "equal time," Cindy, the Republican candidate, and the Libertarian candidate would get 30 minutes to debate each other (without the sitting incumbent, kind of like being consigned to the kids' table at Thanksgiving).

None of this makes any sense, of course, if Nancy Pelosi has time for a 30 minute solo interview she has time to debate the other candidates. But the station's communications director and Nancy Pelosi insisted on this totally unfair arrangement. So Cindy and her "Sheehanistas" protested the station during Nancy's interview. They were actually able to get into the building with a megaphone when the delivery man came to the door. I hear they were going up and down the halls with a megaphone, and were admonished by someone working there, to which the volunteer responded, "well, you've got a lot bigger megaphone than we do, why don't you start using it for truth?"

As promised, here's the video to this story:



Here's some footage from yesterday, when Cindy's campaign manager, Tiffany, got into a press conference with Nancy Pelosi to ask her why she wouldn't debate:

Be Prepared ...

I don't want to scare anyone, but it's been apparent to me for years that America's economy is not sustainable, and it appears more and more likely we are in the midst of a collapse. With that in mind, here are two interesting articles for your consideration:

100 Items to Disappear First
http://www.thepowerhour.com/news/items_disappearfirst.htm

What If US Collapses? Soviet Collapse Lessons Every American Needs To Know
http://madconomist.com/what-if-us-collapses-soviet-collapse-lessons-every-american-needs-to-know

More scary stuff ...

October is the month of surprises and being the kind of person I am I've run across a lot of worrisome articles and blog posts lately. Here's a particularly impressive one from a blog I've never seen before (lots of video links!).

Yesterday Cindy dropped a banner outside a suite at the Hyatt (across the San Francisco FED building) saying, "Thanks Pelosi! 850 Billion reasons to vote for Cindy Sheehan." It was clearly visible in the financial district for about 20 minutes (before security made them take it down).



Later we took the same banner to do some "highway blogging." After that, we all piled into Cindy's RV "Jezebel" which is covered with Cindy signs, peace designs, etc., and drove around town with Cindy and her campaign manager Tiffany calling out the window with a bullhorn. It was pretty funny, the stuff they came up with to say ("Vote for me, I've got an RV!" :)

I guess I'll end this post which started out pretty grim with a very inspiring video someone just showed me a couple minutes ago:

Tax Revolt

Tax Revolt
by Cindy Sheehan

"Desperate times call for drastic measures."
Unknown

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Declaration of Independence

There are a thousand striking at the branches of evil, to one who is striking at the root.
Henry David Thoreau

How long is the "train of abuses and usurpations" that has been coupled together by the Bush regime with the consent, or active participation of Congress? In the Declaration of Independence, our fore-parents listed the train of abuses that King "George" III (the king of Great Britain at the time) perpetrated on the American colonies. The differences between our "Mad King George," and the one that reigned over these states, 232 years ago are slim. If you "google" the Declaration, or pull one out of your pocket/purse and read it, you can see the abuses are practically identical. I am not going to list the abuses, because you can read them. The current one that is going to hit each and every American, though, whether unborn or one foot in the grave, is:

*For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.

In a recent Rasmussen poll only 7% of Americans approved of a bail out of Wall Street...gee, I wonder which ones those were? The CEO's of Goldman-Sachs and their families? And former CEO of Goldman-Sachs: US Treasury Secretary: Henry (Hammerin' Hank) Paulson?

There is one major difference between Past Mad King George and Present Mad King George, though. Our fore-parents had the courage and integrity to say "enough is enough, George" and they kicked an occupying force in the ass and booted them off our continent. We Present Americans are so passive in the face of, and cowed into submission by, the current state of fascist affairs in our country.

Now the evil "powers that be" in an incestuous collusion are collaborating to steal 2300.00 per American to give to Wall Street to pay for worthless paper transactions that will make our paper dollar worth even less. Mad King George and his obedient Court Jesters (Congress) are asking us to pony up our hard earned money from our hard-worked labor to keep the Wall Street Barbary Coast Pirates in the style to which they have become accustomed. I would like to call "HORSESHIT" on that!

Before my son, Casey, was killed in Iraq, I was like these Americans. I dutifully obeyed stupid laws and paid my taxes like a good, properly propagandized American.

As I wrote the checks, I never considered what my money was financing. After Casey was killed, I became deeply ashamed that I had in some small part funded the very thing that killed him: greedy and rampant US imperialism. I have not paid my taxes since. I won't pay my taxes until our money is used for positive projects: health insurance, affordable housing, credits for green development, jobs programs to rebuild our compromised infrastructure, education, etc. I can hold my head up and say that I feel that I have taken a principled stand against this US Corporate Empire.

This out of control system needs to be overthrown and even though we still retain a modicum of the 2nd Amendment, we do not have the firepower it would take to militarily overthrow our Mad King George and his Jesters. More importantly, I fear armed revolutions for the very reason that they always install violent regimes, so I am proposing another solution: a tax revolt.

Over the past 7+ years, our taxes have gone to pay for: killing innocent people, torturing and detaining without due process other people (innocent or guilty is no matter), increasing Police State America, bailing out other finance companies, paying for private mercenary soldiers in New Orleans, Iraq and Afghanistan and the very ephemeral notion of a "War on Terror." Most of us have continued to pay for these crimes against humanity. Some haven't and some have done so with a nagging feeling in the back of the place that is called a "conscience."

It is time to with hold your support from this criminally insane institution of Government/Wall Street. DO NOT allow your money to be used to bail out the fat cats. I propose:

*If employed, change your withholding to M-9, (married with 9 dependents) so no taxes are withheld from your paycheck and do not file next April 15th.

*If possible, limit your income to so you do not have to file.

*Or this is the best scenario: file your taxes and deduct 2300.00 for each member of your family and request a refund from Uncle Sam. (and still change your withholding).

*Withhold a partial amount of your taxes to make a statement.

There are many ways that this government finances its schemes, but a massive tax revolt will send reverberations throughout the rotten system.

Before Congress approves this Crime of the Century bail out, call your House Representative and Senators (toll free: 1-877-851-6437) and tell them that if they collude with the Bush Regime to do this, you won't be paying your 2008 income taxes.

Tax protest is a time honored and very courageous form of protest (ie: Boston Tea Party, Henry David Thoreau, Gandhi). I am not calling for a "protest" though...we have had many of those, I am calling for you to have the courage and integrity to join me in nothing less than a Revolution. It won't be easy, but neither will the resultant collapse of our economic system if this "trickle down" plan goes through. I am tired of being trickled on...it is time for action, not complaints or whining.

This is the only way we can stand up to power in this country and if we stand together, they cannot divide and conquer us. Let's reverse the trend and have thousands "striking at the root."

www.CindyforCongress.org

This should be an interesting month ...

I just read a well-written article about the bailout situation by Michael Moore. It speaks in plain language about what a sham this bailout bill really is, and contains a link to a letter signed by 200 economists (including Nobel Prize winners) urging Congress to hold appropriate hearings before rushing through Henry Paulson's plan.

Congratulations, Corporate Crime Fighters! Coup Averted for Three Days!

I've seen lots of articles like this lately:

U.S Army conducting training in cities, towns

Brigade Homeland Tours Start Oct. 1

3rd Infantry’s 1st BCT trains for a new dwell-time mission. Helping ‘people at home’ may become a permanent part of the active Army

HOUSE LEADERSHIP INVOKES “MARTIAL LAW,” FORCING MEMBERS TO VOTE ON KEY BILLS WITHOUT FULL KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT THEY ARE VOTING ON: MOVE REPRESENTS EROSION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS

We live in interesting times.