An Anthem for the People

This land is your land This land is my land
From California to the New York island;
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and Me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway:
I saw below me that golden valley:
This land was made for you and me.

I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding:
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
A voice was chanting: as the fog was lifting
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said "Private Property."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.

In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?

Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.

Occupy Wall Street! Donate !

Don't believe mainstream media that there is no main purpose!    30 million unemployed! 1% holds 95% of the wealth, homelessness, living wage , Simply stated "Stop the wars on the People

http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution      Donations are needed of all types. There are many ways to help. Go to this page for things needed and ways to help. NO CHECKS only money orders!
I am here because they are helping me!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDlf-erPtzM]

Occupy somewhere near you!

Volunteer !

My two oldest just went to the appreciation party at the local library. It is a nice way to get them into the volunteer mind and at the same time a bit of the old 'this is a job' experience. Nothing too much and nothing worrisome. Still have the heebie geebies of my daughter alone...anywhere.

Don't they look cute?

 volunteers                     

We are proud that they stuck to this. For my son it is the second year volunteering, he really enjoys it. He was asked to join the teen advisory committee and then elected Vice President. Around here the P.S. kids have to volunteer for credit at school. To me, if 'volunteering is some how mandatory then it really isn't volunteering!

Well, the party was boring but their certificates of appreciation will look good in their portfolio.

Migration Celebration

Once again it is migration time.  The signs of the changing seasons.  The end and the beginning. We become citizen scientists and report our findings. What better way to study science! Live the science!

We look for our visitors around mid-August. The Ruby Throated Hummingbird is a welcome sight. We all love to see the flight of our friends. Their mid-air antics are par none.

Because we live in the South, we wait for the first sighting to put out feeders. The syrup, a 1:4 sugar to water mix, goes bad quick in the heat. No red dye,please!  We report to a great
 "Immature Male"          
site, Journey North/South. It is full of great features for the learning of science.

We report our sightings at least once a week. We have the camera out for observing later. All the while, the kids think this is fun. Even when they are being as still as they can to get close to a Hummy!

My five year old will stand waiting for at least five minutes. Just on the chance the bird will come close.We have out just three feeders but grow flowers and have water out which helps them come back year after year. But this does mean it is hazardous to walk through the yard! Hummingbirds are stunt pilots that come within a hair's breadth of anyone . Regardless of the full laundry basket in my hands!

Hummies are not the only migration minded animal, we watch for the Monarch butterfly, too. No feeders but 'un-paving the way' for our friends helps them out. A yard of grass is not good either, plants and permaculture gardens. Monarchs depend on milkweed, no good if you have livestock.

"Monarch"                 

Monarchs are also on Journey South! there is so much right with this site that I urge everyone pick a topic they enjoy for their area and be a scientist!

My minions are outside,rain or shine cold or hot. This gives them the opportunity to slow down a bit and smell the flowers!

I will leave you with a few pictures. What do you think?

The Top Ten Myths in the War Against Libya » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

The Top Ten Myths in the War Against Libya » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names.

Speaking of the breadth of Gaddafi’s record, that ought to resist simplistic, revisionist reduction, some might care to note that even now, the U.S. State Department’s webpage on Libya still points to a Library of Congress Country Study on Libya that features some of the Gaddafi government’s many social welfare achievements over the years in the areas of medical care, public housing,  and education. In addition, Libyans have the highest literacy rate in Africa (see UNDP, p. 171) and Libya is the only continental African nation to rank “high” in the UNDP’s Human Development Index. Even the BBC recognized these achievements:

“Women in Libya are free to work and to dress as they like, subject to family constraints. Life expectancy is in the seventies. And per capita income—while not as high as could be expected given Libya’s oil wealth and relatively small population of 6.5m—is estimated at $12,000 (£9,000), according to the World Bank. Illiteracy has been almost wiped out, as has homelessness—a chronic problem in the pre-Gaddafi era, where corrugated iron shacks dotted many urban centres around the country”.

So if one supports health care, does that mean one supports dictatorship? And if “the dictator” funds public housing and subsidizes incomes, do we simply erase those facts from our memory?

Homelessness wiped out! Free medical! Literacy!  What???? And this is a BAD Guy???Read more...

Labor Day, a History

 

Labor Day

1. International: Celebrated around the world as the beginning of summer, in comemeration of the Haymarket Massacre, on the first of May. For information on this holiday, see the entry for: May Day .

2. United States: Celebrated in the United States as the end of summer, on the first Monday of September.

Origins of U.S. Labour Day: In 1882, Peter J. McGuire of the Brotherhood of Carpenters, and Matthew Maguire of the International Association of Machinists, make a proposal to the Central Labor Union of New York that a celebration be held to honor the working class. Thier suggestion comes just five years after the Battle of the Viaduct in Chicago – where U.S. troops suppressed a strike with a hail of bullets killing 30 workers. In New York, the Central Labor Union agrees to thier proposals, and on September 5, 1882, 30,000 union workers march through New York City making for the first Labor Day demonstrations. By 1885, other labor unions in the major industrial centers throughout United States begin demonstrating on Labor Day.

In 1887, after the Haymarket and Bayview massacres, in an attempt to appease workers and calm the growing uproar throughout the nation, five U.S. states recognize Labor Day as a holiday. Several months later, 35 African-American sugar workers are shot dead for striking; the leaders of the strike are publicly hanged.

This day of working class solidarity and organisation, barely yet started, with the yoke of capitalist exploitation increasing its weight, begins to take on an even greater meaning, as class conflicts between the working class and capitalists flare up.

In July 6, 1892, steelworkers of the Amalgamated Association of Iron & Steel Workers, go on strike in Homestead Pennsylvania, after having their pay cut by up to 25 percent. Henry C. Frick, head of the Carnegie Steel Company, refuses to pay the workers thier due wages, and instead hires scabs to work the factory. The Pinkerton guards at the Carnegie steel mill move into the strike to break up the workers and let the scabs pass-through. The striking workers resist the guards attempts to let in the scabs, and a battle ensues. Three guards surrender in the melee, while others are beaten on by the wives of the workers – seven beaten to death. When the dust has settled U.S. government soldiers arrive to gain control over the town, eleven workers are shot to death. Just five days later, striking miners in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, dynamite the Frisco Mill, leaving it in ruins.

Over the next two years class conflicts become increasingly sharp, while unions lead workers in the struggle to define their position within capitalist society. These conflicts and struggles would reach their precipice in the Pullman strike, and results in nationwide recognition of Labour Day.

In 1894, the Pullman Railroad and landowning company has declining sales, and lays off hundreds of workers. Workers remaining see thier wages drastically cut, while the rent the workers are forced to pay the Company (all workers had to live on Pullman's land) remains the same. On May 7, the workers form a committee asking to have the rent lowered. Their requests are flatly refused, and three of the workers on the committee have their jobs terminated. Three days later the Pullman workers, organized into the American Railway Union (led by a young Eugene V. Debs), go on strike demanding lower rents and higher pay. Several weeks pass, with no compromises being made by Pullman. On June 26, in an outstanding step of workers solidarity, fellow Railroad workers throughout the country refuse to switch trains with Pullman cars. These workers are fired one after another, with every worker who takes their place continuing refusal to switch Pullman cars. Over 150,000 workers in twenty-seven states join the nation-wide strike, utterly paralyzing the nation's Railway system.

On July 2, outraged by their loss of control and frigthened by the clear strength of the working class, the U.S. government orders the leaders of the American Railway Union to stop all communications, speeches, and organisation of their union members on strike. On July 3, the strike has gained so much strength and popularity that President Grover Cleveland follows suit and declares striking a federal crime ; ordering 1,936 federal troops, in conjunction with 4,000 national guardsmen, 5,000 deputy marshals, 250 deputy sheriffs, and the 3,000 policemen of Chicago (for a total of a 14,186 strong armed government force), to forcibly disperse the striking workers. The soldiers begin flooding into the town from all directions, cautiously securing their position against workers completed cut off from thier leadership. Workers begin building defensive street barricades by tiping over rail cars. On July 7, troops stand eye to eye with the striking workers, the workers stand their ground, and the soldiers open fire, killing 34 workers, while starting fires that consume 700 railcars and seven buildings.

“The rank and file have let their servants become their masters and dictators. The workers have now to fight not alone their exploiters but likewise their own leaders, who often betray them, who sell them out.” [Mother Jones]
On August 3, 1894, the strike is declared over by the police who have established full domination over the city. Debs and 71 other workers are arrested and imprisoned, many workers are blacklisted and forced into exile, the American Railway Union is forcibly disbanded (it had appealed to the AFL for support, but was refused), and Pullman employees are forced to pledge to never organize themselves again, and go back to work without their rightful wages.

Six days later, the country in the midst of economic depression and a potential working class revolt, the U.S. Congress hastily makes Labor Day a national holiday. These struggles slowly begin the gradual improvement of working conditions for U.S. workers -- while more than a hundred years would pass and still workers would be killed for striking, working conditions gradually began to improve, and a few basic workers rights were established within the capitalist system. In over two hundred years, finally granting workers the full freedom capitalism can offer: the freedom to sell one's labour power to the highest bidder.

Transcribed by B. Baggins

 

---

May Day (May, 1)

Celebrated by workers around the world as an expression of their international solidarity and shared political aspirations for freedom.

History: The first of May was originally celebrated by pagans throughout Europe as the beginning of summer, which was recognised as a day of fertility (both for the first spring planting and sexual intercourse). A maypole was oftentimes erected for young women and men to dance around and entwine the ribbons they carried with one another to find a mate... at least for the night. The ancient Celts and Saxons celebrated the day as Beltane, the day of fire, in honor of the god of the sun; beginning their celebrations at midnight; soon acquiring the label Walpurgisnacht, or night of the witches.

Persecution of May Day began as early as the 1600s; in 1644 the British Parliament banned its practice as immoral, with the Church bringing its full force to bear across the spectrum. Governments throughout Europe were largely ineffective in outlawing these celebrations, and thus the Church took a different approach – it attempted to assimilate the festivities by naming Saints days on the first of May. These efforts led to the destruction of May Day in some places, but the traditions and customs of May Day continued to remain strong throughout much of the peasantry of Europe, whose ties to one another and nature were far stronger than their ties to the ruling class and its religion. Celebrations became increasingly festive, especially at night when huge feasts, song, dance and free love were practiced throughout the night.

After the revolutions of capitalism, the roots and principles of the tradition survived to various extents, with workers across Europe celebrating the first of May as the coming of spring and a day of sexual fertility. Most mythical and religious sentiments faded away, but the spirit of the festival in expressing the love of nature and one another gained strength.

Haymarket massacre: In 1884, the U.S. Federation of Organized Trade and Labor Unions had passed a law declaring that, as of May 1, 1886, an eight hour workday would be the full and legal workday for all U.S. workers – the ruling class had that much time to recognise this new law and put it into effect.

The owners refused.

On May 1, 1886, workers took to the streets in a general strike throughout the entire country to force the ruling class to recognise the eight-hour working day. Over 350,000 workers across the country directly participated in the general strike, with hundreds of thousands of workers joining the marches as best they could.

In what they would later call the Haymarket riots, during the continuing strike action on May third in Chicago, the heart of the U.S. labor movement, the Chicago police opened fire on the unarmed striking workers at the McCormick Reaper Works, killing six workers and wounding untold numbers. An uproar across the nation resounded against the government and its police brutality, with workers' protest rallies and demonstrations throughout the nation set to assemble on the following day.

On May 4, Chicago members of the anarchist IWPA (International Working Peoples' Association) organized a rally of several thousand workers at Haymarket Square to protest the continuing police brutality against striking workers on the South Side. As the last speaker finished his remarks that rainy evening, with only 200 of the most dedicated workers remaining at the rally, 180 armed police marched forward and demanded the workers to disperse. Then, deep within the police ranks, a bomb exploded, killing seven cops. The police opened fire on the unarmed workers – the number of workers wounded and killed by the cops is unknown to this day. Eight anarchists were arrested on charges of "inciting riot" and murder. The retaliation of the government was enormous in the days to follow, filling every newspaper with accusations, completely drowning the government murders and brutality of days past.

Eight workers were convicted as anarchists, were convicted of murder, and were convicted of inciting a riot. Only one of the eight men accused was present at the protest, and he was attempting to address the crowd when the bomb went off. In one of the greatest show trials in the history of the working-class movement no evidence was ever produced to uphold the accusations, though all eight were convicted as guilty. Four of the prisoners – Albert Parsons, August Spies, George Engel and Adolph Fisher – were executed, Louis Lingg committed suicide, and the three remaining were pardoned due to immense working class upheaval in 1893.

On May 1, 1890, in accordance with the decision of the Paris Congress (July 1889) of the Second International to commemorate the Haymarket martyrs, mass demonstrations and strikes were held throughout Europe and America. The workers put forward the demands for an 8 hour woring day, better health conditions, and further demands set forth by the International Association of Workers. The red flag was here created as the symbol that would always remind us of the blood that the working-class has bleed, and continues to bleed, under the oppressive reign of capitalism.

From that day forward (starting in 1891 in Russia, by 1920 including China, and 1927 India) workers throughout the world began to celebrate the first of May as a day of international proletarian solidarity, fighting for the right of freedom to celebrate their past and build their future without the oppression and exploitation of the capitalist state.

How Much Junk ? Live a Free Life

I came across this and thought " WOW, I am not the only one who thinks this way!"

We try to stay clean and in this world it is not easy.

The Corporate Education Act Becomes Law: Good bye liberal arts colleges

I think this fits my thoughts on college as a demarcation of pedagogical success for home schoolers,un-schoolers or anyone. First posted on Daily Censored......

Is this true?  Or is it simply sardonic realism?

Progressive Avenues
www.progressiveavenues.org
info@progressiveavenues.org
415-702-9682

July 27, 2011


By Luke Hiken


Republican lawmakers were ecstatic today to announce passage of the Corporate Education Act (CEA). The President expressed his support for the Act because the Republican sides of both the House and the Senate had backed it, and that meant it was certainly good enough for Obama. Democrats went along with the Act because they didn’t want to lose the potential financial support of the corporations that would benefit from the CEA.

The first order of business after the passage of the CEA will be to close all of the existing “liberal arts” colleges in the country. As Senator Boner pointed out, the whole concept of “liberal” is passé, and “art” has nothing to do with good job performance. Instead, the CEA will ensure that all education is geared towards employment with America’s leading corporations, and graduates will have been properly trained and groomed to serve these corporate interests. He chuckled at the thought that “liberal arts” ever had the backing of any patriotic citizens.

The government is determined to set priorities for corporate involvement in educating America’s students: Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, Northrop and other major military contractors will, of course, have the first shot at the top students, teaching courses that will assist them in weapons development and military research. There will be a strong emphasis on science and mathematics, and courses of questionable utility, such as English, literature, history, philosophy and education, will be placed on a back burner.

The next range of businesses to receive students, after the military contractors, and their assistants at the Pentagon, will be the Wall Street financiers. Their particular expertise, at teaching students how to squeeze the maximum profits out of American citizens without actually producing anything of value, is seen as a specialized form of economics, and one necessitating Wall Street’s leadership. Of course, hedge fund brokers, mortgage speculators and other financial advisors will work closely with corporations such as Goldman Sachs to ensure that every aspect of U.S. business will receive their quota of graduating students.

After the corporations mentioned above, the next in line will be the insurance industry, pharmaceutical companies, and other institutions that have made a profit during the last 6 years in the face of America’s failing economy. It was felt that anyone who could make a profit in the current political environment deserved unlimited support.

The CEA was drafted so as to provide public funding for the education that students will receive in order to work for the corporations that will run the academic senates of the universities. After all, private corporations should not be burdened with the need to pay for the education of students who will work for them in later life. Since an educated work force is a prerequisite to the success of any corporation, it is obvious that the public should bear the burden of making sure the CEA functions efficiently.

Democratic leaders explained that several concerns will be met through passage of the CEA: It will get rid of those students who cannot compete in the corporate environment, and will therefore likely become a financial burden on the society. Scholarships will also be unnecessary, since students will be assured jobs at the corporations that sponsored and educated them, and the initial costs of their education will be borne by the public. Finally, by making sure that all future graduates will be assured employment with one of the corporations that run the system, the public will save billions of dollars by not having to educate worthless, stupid youth, who can’t compete in the corporate world.

Because most children don’t know what they want to be when they grow up, and certainly, under the older system, had no idea where they would find employment, the Congress determined that it was a waste of time and money to teach such children until they were older, and had a better sense of direction. By obviating the need for special education, scholarship programs, or “affirmative action,” the Congress was able to drastically lower the amount of funds and resources needed for what used to constitute widespread, wasteful education.

The teaching workforce will also be affected positively. Since the corporations and businesses who will train and educate the students are in the best position to know what courses and curriculum will best suit their needs, the kind of wasted efforts on language skills, history, philosophy and other abstract, impractical classes that characterized the old university systems, can be modified to delete such unwarranted “luxuries.”

Another positive impact that the CEA will have is to end those pesky teacher’s unions, and support systems that existed under the old educational system. Since the targeted corporations will determine teachers and curriculum, most teachers will already be covered by corporate employment contracts, and therefore no other superfluous union-type of structure will be necessary, or desirable.

When Hillary Clinton heard of the CEA, she was extremely pleased, and promised to bring the same formula to the State Department, as a means of streamlining the educational system, and getting rid of the “dead weight” that existed pre-Obama.


_______________________________________________

Luke Hiken is an attorney who has engaged in the practice of criminal, military, immigration, and appellate law.

The Progressive Avenues website, www.progressiveavenues.org, is regularly updated in the “What’s Added, What’s New” link on the Home page, at http://www.progressiveavenues.org/Whats_New_Added.html

College, Smollege....... Get a Real Life!

So, I have been perusing home school sites and forums. It is my usual to vacillate between looking for ideas and going it alone. I am independent, probably to a fault. But I also realize that I shouldn't re-invent the wheel. I go looking for ideas and then feel like I am stealing if I didn't come up up with it on my own! DUH!

So, I read a lot. I have noticed that many of us have a measuring device to claim success in our choice to educate at home, college. "Johnny is wanted by two colleges." "Sue went to Harvard!" "What do I have to do to get the twins into college?"

I think that this stinks! Too harsh? Maybe, but did we choose a different path for our prodigy just to measure them by the mainstream? That is what this amounts to, going back to what we rejected to begin with.

Nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.- Oscar Wilde

I am a college graduate. After high school I went to work but soon discovered that my managers were, shall we say , less than intelligent. The thing that got them their position, in my 18 year old mind, was that college diploma. If they could get one anyone could! So,I went.

Thousands of dollars later my first job was at minimum wage, so was the second and the third! They got me!! I eventually got positions that paid more but that wonderful diploma did only one thing, it got me looked at a little more. My raises were based on time on the job and my ability. My ability was not developed in college but in all my life experiences. College did teach me one thing, there is ALWAYS more to learn! And college is a business.

Some colleges are for-profit run by companies (as opposed to non-profit,state colleges).This list is NOT an Ad but a list so one might realize which are for -profit colleges!

• American InterContinental University


• Art Institute of Atlanta


• Art Institute of Pittsburgh


• Capella University


• DeVry University


• Heald College


• Kaplan University


• Miami International University of Art & Design


• Pittsburgh Technical Institute


• Post University


• Strayer University


• University of Phoenix

These have been under scrutiny for unethical practices, high interest loans and pushing students into signing and more. Read it here

The non-profits , for most of us still have to be paid for with loans. An instrument that will follow the student for years after. And to top it off there is still no guarantee of a high pay job or a job at all!.

I think that as home educators we, of all people, should see the alternative avenues to college that are available instead of college. John Holt said....

"I have come to believe that a person's schooling is as much a part of his private business as his politics or religion, and that no one should be required to answer questions about it. May I say instead that most of what I know I did not learn in school, and indeed was not even 'taught.'"

Why then, do we think that this would be good for our explorers of the world? I think a backpack and a ticket to Europe or South America would prove more advantageous. Why did we choose the road not taken only to get back out on the main thoroughfare?

“Action is with the scholar subordinate, but it is essential. Without it, he is not yet man. Without it, thought can never ripen into truth. Whilst the world hangs before the eye as a cloud of beauty, we cannot even see its beauty. Inaction is cowardice, but there can be no scholar without the heroic mind. The preamble of thought, the transition through which it passes from the unconscious to the conscious, is action. Only so much do I know, as I have lived. Instantly we know whose words are loaded with life, and whose not.” - Emerson

Like I said, I am independent. College can be a great place to learn and expose yourself to things. But it should not be looked upon by the home school community as a measurement of success or intelligence or parental diligence.  Our efforts stand out regardless .

So, I say to all of us that may be sweating the "college thing" on the forums or other venues...

"LET IT GO!"

Keep your records (some have to) but let the children explore and don't weigh them down with the race for college. It just feels right.

The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,


And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

The Assassination of Alice Walker

Is Israel planning to assassinate Alice Walker? Has Secretary of State Hillary Clinton essentially given Israel the green-light for such an operation? Most

via The Assassination of Alice Walker.

"...I also feel that when our government, in the person of our president, can make a speech about this area, and really speak only to the Israelis and not to the Palestinians, this is unacceptable. We cannot accept this. I mean, we look at what has happened to the Palestinian people for all of these decades, and it is insufferable. We will not accept it. We will not. As Americans, with our history of enslavement of people, of segregation, of apartheid, of brutalization, of lynching, we will not accept this. We will not.

So, Gazans, and especially the children, we are on our way. We are coming. We hear you. We are coming. ...." Alice Walker

How did you celebrate the 4th?

A Renewed Boost for Mothers and Midwives

A new set of educational films need financial support to make them available .

 

 “More Business of Being Born” is our new series of four  films that deepens the conversation about childbirth options, supporting every woman’s right to empowerment and accurate information during the birth process.   We’ve also completed a 28-minute Classroom Version of “The Business of Being Born” with a comprehensive study guide to reach younger women in University settings.

This is where we need your help.  We’ve made these films with a microscopic budget, once again funded out of our own pockets.  The original filmmaking team has worked for free, but we’ve come as far as we can on our own.  We made these films because we wanted women to question the established business of birth – the idea that every birth is an emergency requiring doctors, painkillers and myriad medical procedures. We’ve reached the conclusion that a healthier birthing process means healthier babies and healthier moms; however, our films can’t have any impact if they are not seen. We need a budget to promote and market these videos, to make sure that they reach as many expectant parents as possible. To acquire that budget, we need your help.

To help go here

This is a great endeavor. to make available the knowledge of options and remove any myth of doctor and midwife in the process of birthing. Use a midwife!

TURN UP THE VOLUME!

Dear Allies for Youth Justice in Mississippi:

SAVE THE DATE!!

The ACLU of MS, NAACP, Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Coalition is hosting two FREE weekend conferences this summer and you don’t want to miss out!

These separate but consecutive conferences will be held:

July 9-10, 2011 at Jackson State University in Jackson, MS.

For YOUTH:

4th Annual Mississippi Youth Hip Hop Summit:
Turn up the Volume!

This awesome event serves as a venue to bring social justice awareness, inform youth of your rights, and encourage leadership and responsibility in a creative culture. Youth must be engaged in the effort to improve school and police relationships with teens.  It is time that youth have a voice in the decisions that effect their futures.  This weekend will mark the beginning of a statewide youth movement.  It's time to TURN UP THE VOLUME!

Day 1: Social justice workshops and sessions focusing on issues relevant to Mississippi youth

Day 2: Creative workshops using hip hop as a means to spark a state wide youth movement in Mississippi

 

For PARENTS AND ADVOCATES:

2nd Annual Mississippi School House to Jail House Parent Advocate Conference: Take it to the Next Level!
As the youth participate in the Hip Hop Summit, parents and advocates will attend their own workshops regarding ways to act as effective advocates for your kids and youth in your community regarding school disciplinary and juvenile justice issues such as communicating with school boards and interacting with local legislators to stop the school house to jail house pipeline. It’s time for parents to TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL to advocate for youth!

Registration information to come soon!

For more information, call Nancy Kohsin-Kintigh at 601.354.3408 or go to www.facebook.com/ms.hiphopsummit

*Please NOTE:  These are seperate events on the same weekend and at the same location!  Parents, Advocates and Youth will be brought together for some meals, fun, and entertainment!

**Out of town participants will be housed in the JSU dorms.

THIS EVENT IS FREE AND SPONSORED BY THE ACLU OF MS, NAACP, AND THE COALITION FOR THE PREVENTION OF SCHOOLHOUSE TO JAILHOUSE!  START ORGANIZING YOUR CHURCH, SCHOOL, AND COMMUNITIES NOW!

--
For Human Rights, Liberty, and Freedom for All!

Nancy Kohsin-Kintigh
ACLU MS
Program Director
nkohsinkintigh@aclu-ms.org
601.502.4196 cell

Article 31: The Right To Water

Article 31: The Right To Water.

Earth Day , Late

Earth Day is my wedding anniversary. We did not really plan it, it just happened. But if I WAS to plan a wedding that would be the day. My wedding was earth friendly. Shorts,tank-top and in front of a judge in Austin,Texas. No fuss , just romance. I hope my daughters do the same.

In commemorating Earth Day , our family has watched the movie/documentary ¨Dirt!¨. It is full of information and inspiration that, if you are a caring person, you can help restore earth´s original Eden. Maybe not right away but for a future generation. It is also a maddening film to see how we have pillaged resources. And  to add to it they developed a site to encourage us to BE THAT HUMMINGBIRD!


We also watched  ¨Flow; for the love of Water¨ another excellent film. No matter how much you think you know there is more to learn. Did you know that the American company Bechtal privatized the rain!? In Bolivia with the insistence of the World Bank! Some info from their site and movie:

Of the 6 billion people on earth, 1.1 billion do not have access to safe, clean drinking water.
(www.charitywater.org)

While the average American uses 150 gallons of water per day, those in developing countries cannot find five.
(www.charitywater.org)

There are estimates that from five hundred thousand to seven million people get sick per year from drinking tap water. Erik Olson, Deputy Staff Director of Barbara Boxerʼs Environmental and Public Works Committee (EPW), FLOW.

The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.(www.water.org)

According to the National Resources Defense Council, in a scientific study in which more than 1,000 bottles of 103 brands of water were tested, about one-third of the bottles contained synthetic organic chemicals, bacteria, and arsenic. (www.nrdc.org)

Water is a $400 billion dollar global industry; the third largest behind electricity and oil.  CBS News, FLOW.

Next time your run the water to brush your teeth just think about it.                                      Next time it RAINS, think about the idea that someone, some corporation,                               thinks they OWN THE RAIN!! And when will it happen here?                                                    So for us, every little thing we can do is helping recreate Eden.                                           Compost your food and garden waste, garden, catch rain and conserve.

CLEAN WATER LINKS

Global Water Organization
NRDC
Oxfam
International Rivers
Pacific Institute
Polaris Institute
Riverkeeper
Delaware Riverkeeper

Milwaukee Riverkeeper
Potomac Riverkeeper
Sierra Club
Waterkeeper Alliance
Be Water Wise
Nuba Water Project
Wastewater Works
Clean Water Action

African Boreholes

Water Pure International

Whenever The Need

Hydraid

More links for Ethnic Studies

Thu, April 21, 2011 3:49:25 PM
ETHNIC STUDIES WEEK LINKS
...

OOPS!In the last email I forgot links for Ethnic Studies Week.
SECOND ANNUAL ETHNIC STUDIES WEEK OCTOBER 1-7 2011 website. You can register your endorsements, report on your plans, and volunteer under the CONTACT page.
http://ethnicstudiesweekoctober1-7.org/
Save Ethnic Studies. The Tucson Unified School District Mexican American Studies and supporter website. You can read the latest and send them funds through this website
http://www.saveethnicstudies.org/

Roberto Cintli Rodriguez regular commentaries on Tucson and Arizona developments blogspot.com/-LHiIa_nwgOo/Ta3Gqx04U8I/AAAAAAAAAK0/1s0bNse_eZc/s1600/No%2BMexicans.jpg

Carleen Sanchez and Maythee Rojas on the importance of Ethnic Studies and ES
week on KPFK April 20.
http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/mp3/kpfk_110420_190050femmag.MP3

Sundiata Cha Jua ��s Introduction to the Special Issue of the Black Scholar on ethnic studies. ���Defending Ethnic Studies in Arizona: Obama, the Rise of the Hard Right, Arizona and Texas and the Attack on Racialized Communities Studies��
http://works.bepress.com/sundiata_chajua/20/

Thanks, to the 19 of you who responded right away to the last mailing and sent in endorsements and a few who volunteered, and to those who forwarded the email. I will publish the endorsement list May 9 on the website, to give you all a chance to get them in. Remember I can't assume you or your organization is endorsing unless you tell me.
Take care, Anne
Tucson Unified School District Mexican American Studies

Ethnic Studies Week- 2011 Help needed!

Wed, April 20, 2011 10:10:12 AM
ETHNIC STUDIES WEEK 2011
...
From:
"winkl002@umn.edu"
...
View Contact
To:
*** Arizona law HB2281 banning ethnic studies,targeting Tucson School District, Mexican American studies dept, is now law.***
_______________________________________________________________________________

Organizing for ETHNIC STUDIES WEEK OCTOBER 1-7 2011 has begun! ENDORSE AND START PLANNING.

In this email:
1. 1-6 more volunteers needed for National coordinating committee. 2. Endorsers sent in so far. 3. Bi-weekly newsletter launched May 16. 4. Please send this out to your lists with your name on it.
1. NATIONAL COORDINATING COMMITTEE This year we are putting together a national committee to deal with national coordination and publicity. We have three people so far. We need 4-10 people. If you are interested or can think of someone in your community who was involved last year and can be counted on to take one aspect of the national work ( for example, twitter, or face book, or press releases)please respond ASAP. This is all volunteer work. We want to have a committee together by May 9. Please respond if you are thinking about it and want to know more.

2. ENDORSERS OF ETHNIC STUDIES WEEK Following the March mailing, these people and organizations sent endorsed Ethnic Studies Week 2011.

**The National Association of Ethnic Studies
**The Chicano Studies Department of University of Minnesota **American Ethnic Studies program, Willamette University, Salem, OR
**K-12 Council of the California Federation of Teachers
**Emily Drew, Assistant Professor of American Ethnic Studies and Sociology, Salem OR
**Adela C. Licona,Assistant Professor,Department of English Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English program, University of Arizona
**Wendy Cheng, Assistant Professor,Asian Pacific American Studies | Justice and Social Inquiry,School of Social Transformation
Arizona State University
**Jenn Laskin, Pajaro Valley Federation of Teacher Local 1936,>Grievance Officer
Classroom Teacher @ Renaissance Continuation High School. **Elaine Chan, Wesleyan University. **Brittany Lewis, University of Minnesota
**Anne Winkler-Morey, Metropolitan State University.
This year I think we will have one list of individuals and organizations. (still figuring that out) SEND IN YOUR ENDORSEMENTS TODAY!

3. BI-WEEKLY NEWSLETTER until October 7, begins May 16. To have your news included in the first edition, respond by May 9. Newsletter editor will be Brittany Lewis. She will introduce herself in the first edition. The newsletter will include updates from Arizona by Roberto Cintli Rodriguez, reports from YOU about developments in your area, and, primarily, developments in the organization of Ethnic Studies Week 2011.

4. PERSONAL FORWARDS AND REPOSTS!! The most powerful publicity is the personal. Please commit to spending about 20 minutes total in the coming months, reposting or forwarding this announcement and the first few newsletters to your mailing lists WITH YOUR NAME ON IT. Last year Arturo Aldama did so early on and he recruited about 40 people in a matter of days. Many others followed suit. Your name is the most powerful persuasion to those you know. Last year we had 225 initiators from 25 states. That means there were 25 states and many localities that we never reached and not from lack of trying. The whole Southeast with the (important!) exception of Tallahassee FL, did not participate.

Thank you for everything you do to support ethnic studies.
Anne Winkler-Morey, Ph.D, Community Faculty, History, Metropolitan State University. Initiator and National Coordinator, First Annual Ethnic Studies Week, 2010
Convener and member of Coordinating Committee, Second Annual ESW 2011.

Daniel Ellsberg: The Shameful Abuse of Bradley Manning

America's Best Political Newsletter.

via Daniel Ellsberg: The Shameful Abuse of Bradley Manning.

Do you remember Ellsberg? You might recall he was called ¨The Most Dangerous Man in America¨ , he too was a leaker.

Nixon had nothing compared to Bush and Obama in regards to deceit, deception, malevolent, abhorrent behavior.

Carnival of Chaos! April 2011

Wow! This has been a very busy Spring and what a wonderful turn out for the carnival! I have to say I hate spam but the decision to keep truckin´ on  has paid off. Thank you all so much for the submissions!!

Since it it spring here in the south we have already planted parts of the garden. Sorry , Yanks. But our days have been in the 70ś  , so in go the tomatoes! We are also working bees and our first attempt at raising queens. Nothing could be more ¨educational¨ for the children than helping with these endeavors. We learn more each time we plant a seed or open the hives. 

The migrations are on, too. Hummingbirds, Monarchs, worms, and more. Don´t forget to plant something for the bees!!!

[caption id="attachment_588" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="It is spring! Worm migration"][/caption]

Add to that all the current events of the world, makes for a full plate of erudition. Do you know what an Alpha particle is? How far and fast radioactive particles can travel?

Welcome to the April 2, 2011 edition of ...........

[caption id="attachment_315" align="alignright" width="179" caption="Click Here!"][/caption]

 

Chaos

Chris Brandon presents Hello World posted at BreakSolid.   A new site with an old perspective. Implementation  and distribution of knowledge as well as overcoming the chasm of mainstream media needs to be addressed.

We all need outdoor time and especially the children. Ann shares one of her activities for winter. Ann presents Outdoor Hour Challenge Winter Series #9 Mammals and #45 Squirrels posted at Harvest Moon by Hand.

[caption id="attachment_591" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Can you name these tracks?"][/caption]





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

William Hambleton Bishop, MA presents Chaos is the result of resisting what is | Thoughts from a Therapist posted at Thoughts from a Therapist, saying, "chaos and resistance"

I love this submission! Chaos defined? And yet we are given thoughtful contemplation of our individualness in the world. ¨The Tao of Pooh¨ was my favorite book in college and helped me on in life. Is rejecting what is, the same as resisting what is?



Richard Tyler presents The N-Word, Huck Finn, and Racism in Society posted at Live Your Way, saying, "This is an article about racism in society today, the good, the funny, and the informative."

As a transplanted Yankee, I have come to see many sides of this issue. Everyone has a reason for using, or not, the word in question. I, however, can not imagine Twain´s work without it.

What I do for Eden

Read Aloud ... Dad presents The Secret How To Become A Read-Aloud Ninja posted at Read Aloud Dad, saying, "Do you want to become a Read-Aloud Ninja? I never knew they existed until yesterday. The word "ninja" in kanji script  Like any martial art, you have to perfect your technique if you aim to master the art."

Thanks R.A.D.!! My Dear Old Dad  read to us every night he was home.(Firefighters are home only four nights a week)We had a chair in the room just so he could read for more than a few minutes. Alice in Wonderland, Arabian Nights, Aesop´s Fables, The Charge of the Light Brigade are just a few of the writings he read. He also told stories without books, tales like the Three Pigs and the like.



Danette presents Make Your Child Laugh: The Developmental Stages of Humor :: Help! S-O-S for Parents posted at Help! S-O-S for Parents.

My eldest, Griffin, just yesterday said that his favorite sound in the world is Abdur Rabbi (4yrs) laughing!



Socratez presents Why Knowledge Is Essential To Live Your Life posted at Socratez Online.

If you can learn anything it should be that there is ALWAYS more to learn!

Something smells...

Tara Forte presents Top 30 Ghost Blogs posted at Forensic Science Technician, saying, "While ghost hunting shows display cheesy scenes of lamps being knocked over and too many people shoved in a room looking for an”experience,” ghost blogs do the exact opposite, creating an intimate storytelling environment the reader can be sucked into for the moment, no matter what they think about the afterlife."



I always liked Ghost stories around the campfire.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of chaos using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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Technorati tags: carnival of chaos, blog carnival.

When Capitalism goes unchecked....A lesson in History

Originally posted in the WSWS, this is a lesson we all can understand. Never forget that the want of money can lead many people to the disregard of others. This is again happening. Unions are why you have your children in school and not working beside you in the factory or fish house. They are why you have a forty hour work week and some safety in the workplace. Much suffering and many deaths were caused by those that profited from the toil and sweat of the workers. Route out the infiltrators in the unions , take back the union for the worker and support others when they need it.

100 years ago: Triangle fire kills 146 in New York City

Tenth floor of Asch building after Triangle fire

On March 25, a fire broke out in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory, which was located on the eight, ninth, and tenth, and eleventh floors of the Asch building in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Before the blaze could be brought under control 146 garment workers died, most of them Jewish and Italian girls and young women.

The disaster, one of the worst in the history of US industry, illustrated in the most horrific fashion the brutality of American capitalism. The women, whose wages were not enough to support a family and were typically handed over to parents, worked in appalling conditions.

Their workplace was littered with the flammable cotton refuse used to make shirtwaists          (women’s blouses). To control “worker theft,” factory owners Max Blanck and Isaac Harris had factory doors locked from the outside; in the aftermath of the fire, charred bodies were found grouped together around these still-locked doors. The fire department of New York, the largest and most advanced city in the US, had no means of reaching the women screaming for help from the high rise factory. This resulted in dozens of women jumping to their deaths to avoid the flames.

A court acquitted Blanck and Harris of all wrong-doing that year, and a later civil settlement resulted in just $75 payment to the families of each dead worker. Taking into account a sizable insurance settlement, the owners actually gained money as a result of the tragedy.

It is often claimed that the Triangle fire encouraged the advance of reform in the US, and especially in New York. While this is undoubtedly true, the main impetus to reform was the threat posed by the growing militancy and radicalism of the workers. The garment industry was home to some of the first large industrial unions in the US. One of these, the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, had in 1909 been at the head of the “Uprising of the 20,000,” largely immigrant garment workers in New York City. At the same time, socialism was exerting a profound and growing influence among New York’s immigrant workers.



For many more photos go to Cornell University

 

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="366" caption="Fire fighters arrived at the Asch Building soon after the alarm was sounded but ladders only reached the sixth floor and the high pressure pumps of the day could not raise the water pressure needed to extinguish the flames on the highest floors of the ten-story building. In this fireproof factory, 146 young men, women, and children lost their lives, and many others were seriously injured. Photographer: unknown, March 25, 1911"][/caption]

A police officer and others with the broken bodies of Triangle fire victims at their feet, look up in shock at workers poised to jump from the upper floors of the burning Asch Building. The anguish and gruesome deaths of workers was witnessed firsthand by many people living or walking near the corner of Greene Street and Washington Place. Others read about it in the many newspaper reports circulated during the following days and weeks, bringing the conditions of garment worker into public scrutiny as it had been during the shirtwaist strike of 1909. Photographer: Brown Brothers, March 25, 1911

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="650" caption="After the Triangle factory fire was extinguished, broken bodies, hoses, buckets, and debris around the building testify to the extent of the struggle and the scale of the tragedy. Photographer: unknown, March 25, 1911 "][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="650" caption="International Ladies Garment Workers Union Local 25 began the strike with $10 in their treasury. A special edition of the city's Socialist paper, The New York Call, told the story of the strike in English, Italian and Yiddish. Copies were donated to local 25 by the publisher and sold by union members to raise money for strike expenses. Photographer: unknown, December 1909"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="605" caption="Shirtwaist strikers march in snowy streets, often without warm clothes or sturdy shoes. Photographer: unknown, ca. 1910 "][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="650" caption="Women who were arrested on the picket lines and sent to Blackwell’s Island wear “Workhouse Prisoner” signs claiming their service with pride, and were cheered by other strikers and supporters. Photographer: unknown, ca. 1910 "][/caption]

Is it wrong to want food for your family? Is it wrong to want a roof over your head? A warm dry place for your children to rest?  From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. Then and now it is a fight! Never let the mind of the oppressors rest.

More US Intervention

Egypt - U.S. intelligence collaboration with Omar Suleiman “most successful”

By Richard Smallteacher, Wikileaks staff 1 February 2011
More articles ...
- Egyptian Military Succession Plans Told to US Embassy
- Evidence of torture and repression by Mubarak´s Police
- Cable from Imprisoned Egyptian Opposition Leader: Defend Democracy “for the friendship of peoples live forever”

New cables released by Wikileaks reveal that the U.S. government has been quietly anticipating as well as cultivating Omar Suleiman, the Egyptian spy chief, as the top candidate to take over the country should anything happen to President Hosni Mubarak. On Saturday, this expectation was proved correct when Mubarak named Suleiman to the post of vice-president making him the first in line to assume power.

An intelligence official who trained at the U.S. Special Warfare School at Fort Bragg, Suleiman became head of the spy agency in 1993 which brought him into close contact with the Central Intelligence Agency. Recently he took up a more public role as chief Egyptian interlocuter with Israel to discuss the peace process with Hamas and Fatah, the rival Palestinian factions.

In recent years most political analysts have assumed that the heir apparent was Gamal Mubarak, the president’s younger son, but the U.S. embassy in Cairo came to a different conclusion more than five years ago. On 15 June 2005, a memo (05CAIRO4534) written for Timothy Pounds, the director for Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and North Africa at U.S. National Security Council, noted: “(A)ll agreed that the most likely candidate to be appointed to the post (of vice-president) was General Omar Soliman, Director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service (EGIS).” (State department officials use a different spelling of Suleiman’s name)

Almost a year later, another diplomatic memo (06CAIRO2933) written on 14 May 2006 made it clear that the U.S. government was working closely with Suleiman on key regional matters such as figuring out how best to marginalize Hamas in Palestine: “(O)ur intelligence collaboration with Omar Soliman, who is expected in Washington next week, is now probably the most successful element of the relationship.”

The diplomatic memo, which was written by Francis J. Ricciardone, Jr. (the U.S. ambassador to Egypt) to brief Robert Zoellick (then Deputy Secretary of State) who was visiting Cairo at the time, notes that “Omar Soliman also told us he would be glad to see you (Zoellick), if schedules permit - he will be working the Israeli and PA delegations in Sharm” – referring to a meeting being held in the Egytian resort town of Sharm-el-Sheikh.

Inanother diplomatic cable, Suleiman is reported to have told the U.S. ambassador, “Egypt is America’s partner” noting that “Egypt will continue to provide the USG (U.S. government) with its knowledge and expertise on the critical regional issues, such as Lebanon and Iraq. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains the core issue.”

The following year the ambassador sent yet another memo (07CAIRO1417) to Washington in which he described Egypt as a “dictatorship” suffering from “paranoia” noting that political analysts were hard pressed to predict the future.

“Presidential succession is the elephant in the room of Egyptian politics,” Ricciardone wrote. Discounting the possibility of Mubarak being succeeded by his younger son because of Gamal’s failure to complete his military service, the ambassador once again pointed to Suleiman as the most likely successor as a "rock-solid" loyalist to Mubarak.

“(I)n the past two years, Soliman has stepped out of the shadows, and allowed himself to be photographed, and his meetings with foreign leaders reported. Many of our contacts believe that Soliman, because of his military background, would at the least have to figure in any succession scenario for Gamal, possibly as a transitional figure,” Ricciardone wrote.

The memo notes however that “an alleged personal friend of Soliman tells us that Soliman "detests" the idea of Gamal as president.”

One of the reasons that Washington has been keen to support Soliman is his opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood. A blog posting on Al Jazeera’s website by Clayton Swisher, former director of programs at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, sums up a 2005 meeting with Suleiman: “(H)is blunt words made me drop my biscuit. Suffice it to say he does not have a high opinion of Islam in politics, and is not shy about telling Western audiences the lengths he will go to allow his security services to keep the Muslim Brotherhood and their offshoots at bay.”

Swisher concludes: “President Mubarak’s appointment of Suleiman is a way of messaging assurances to a wary state of Israel and US congress. But it also speaks the unspoken to Egypt’s Islamic parties: don’t even think about it … there is little doubt in my mind why Hamas viewed Suleiman a dishonest broker and an obstacle to real reconciliation. Of course, that is probably what Egypt intended by sending him.”