Saturday, March 29, 2008

The Scientific Mafia



The Overrated "Masters" of the Universe

03/27/08

There are those in our midst who seem to believe that, once again, man is on the thresh-hold of discovering the answers to the final secrets of the Universe. This is undoubtedly an echo from the final years of the nineteenth century but, after that period of premature claims, one might have expected a little more reticence from the modern godfathers of world science.

However, sensibly keeping quiet does not seem a virtue of these people, to the extent that, on two recent Monday evenings on British television, the public has been given the opportunity to participate in the life and achievements of the ‘Master of the Universe’, Stephen Hawking. While no-one can but admire his courage and tenacity in the face of extreme physical handicap, one must question the power and importance of his scientific achievements. Indeed, when it comes to discovering the secrets of the Universe, precisely what are his achievements?

Many will be horrified at these words and the seeming impertinence of this question, but it is a question which must be asked, and answered, not because of Hawking the man, but because of what he represents. He is, in fact, in the eyes of many, the figurehead of that largely faceless body which controls what is, and is not, contained in that body of scientific knowledge which may be termed conventional wisdom; that body of scientific knowledge which is simply not open to question. Many topics are included in this but those of immediate concern here are probably the theories of relativity (both special and general), the theory of the ‘big bang’, the theory of black holes, etc.

As Stephen Crothers has recently pointed out, this final topic should really be a non-starter, based as it is on an incorrect statement of Schwartzschild’s solution of the Einstein field equations. However, again as Stephen has pointed out, even the incorrectly quoted ‘solution’ is included in, and protected by, conventional wisdom. One further surprising aspect of much of conventional wisdom is that the originators of much of this body of knowledge would have welcomed discussion and even criticism, provided that criticism was constructive. In this day and age, however, people who disagree with conventional wisdom do not face discussion and constructive criticism; rather they are either quietly ignored or destroyed. The first of these is possibly the more destructive action occurring in modern science because if something is quietly ignored, it gains no publicity and so remains unknown, except to the favoured few. This brings me directly to the whole idea of an electric universe.

Electric Universe - a natural alternative?

I first encountered the notion when reading the small book Rival Theories of Cosmology, which was published by Oxford University Press in 1960 and contains a ‘symposium and discussion of modern theories of the structure of the universe’. Originally there had been three talks on BBC radio and to these had been added a short discussion of the main points advanced in favour of relativistic theories of the universe (essentially what we now know as the big bang), the steady state theory, and an electric universe. Interestingly, there seemed no major disagreement between the advocates of the latter two theories, but both were at odds with the relativistic theories. To some extent, such is still the case but possibly the divide is increasing.

More recently, I have read The Electric Universe and have been further shocked by what I’ve read. Shocked because I was made even more aware of the power being exercised by the scientific mafia to protect accepted theories; shocked because, although I was aware of the work of Kristian Birkeland through contacts in Scandinavia, I realised that he was totally unknown to colleagues, some of whom work in plasma physics. To me, all this raises grave questions about the conduct of modern science.

However, another point which emerged very forcibly from my reading was the realisation that, although the conventional ‘big bang’ school rules out all interference from outside and demands that everyone describe everything in terms of the gravitational force, the electric universe adherents, while being able to describe so much, so accurately, make no attempt to rule out gravity completely even though it is such a weak force by comparison. This open-mindedness and unwillingness to completely ignore something is surely an indication of the true way of science.

When all is said and done, man produces models to describe something which, whatever else it may be, is certainly not man-made. All these man-made models are approximate. What else could we expect from our relatively puny human intellect? Nevertheless, because of all this, nothing should be thrown away. As someone once said of the conflict between the big bang and steady state theories for the origin of the universe, probably the true answer will involve aspects of both.

The power of math

One further point needs stressing, I think. I was initially trained as a mathematician, although my degree did involve two years of subsidiary physics. Over the years, I have come to realise more and more the power of mathematics but also the fact that that power can be misused. Mathematics is a beautiful subject and can be studied, in its own right, as a highly worthwhile intellectual pursuit. However, mathematics has a second role as the language of physics and, in that rôle, it is simply a tool which must always remain subservient to the physics. If the mathematics throws up a result which does not accord with physical reality, it should be studied carefully but not accepted immediately unless a genuine physical interpretation can be found; the physics must never ever be made to fit the mathematics!

In our modern world, though, the mathematics being used to attempt to describe physical reality is becoming ever more complicated so that only the favoured few can follow. String theory is a perfect example of this, where many of the personnel involved are abstract pure mathematicians with little or no real interest in physics and yet huge claims are made of the advances in physical understanding coming from that area. It seems that many are claiming to be close to establishing a theory of everything.

What is meant by this is not completely clear but presumably it involves a grand unification of the fundamental forces. This I find intriguing since, as yet, no-one even knows exactly what a force is. Newton’s second law of motion is said to define force but actually it only explains what a force does! This is true of all forces; what they do is well known but precisely what they are remains a mystery. No; whatever extreme claims are made, the truth is that there is much to learn and discover and real advances will be made by people working together, rather than competing with one another aggressively.

It seems it is time for all clear thinking true scientists to band together to oppose the present day prostitution of science. The scientific mafia may hold the power of when and where people can, and cannot, publish; they may hold most of the research purse strings; but, in the end, the search for the truth must, and will, triumph!

Jeremy Dunning-Davies.



Editor's Notes: Dr. Jeremy Dunning-Davies is a Senior Lecturer in Theoretical Physics in the Department of Physics at the University of Hull, England. He is Chairman of both the Santilli - Einstein Academy of Sciences, and the Santilli - Galilei Association on Scientific Truth and is also a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.

Dr. Dunning-Davies has recently launched a book titled "Exploding a Myth: 'Conventional Wisdom' or Scientific Truth?" and published by Horwood Publishing Limited in England.

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For a highly-acclaimed 60-minute video introduction to the Electric Universe, see Thunderbolts of the Gods on Google Video.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Help Tibet - Avazz

Stand With Tibet

Dear friends,

After decades of repression under Chinese rule, the Tibetan people's frustrations have burst onto the streets in protests and riots. With the spotlight of the upcoming Olympic Games now on China, Tibetans are crying out to the world for change.

The Chinese government has said that the protesters who have not yet surrendered "will be punished". Its leaders are right now considering a crucial choice between escalating brutality or dialogue that could determine the future of Tibet, and China.

We can affect this historic choice--China does care about its international reputation. China's President Hu Jintao needs to hear that the 'Made in China' brand and the upcoming Olympics in Beijing can succeed only if he makes the right choice. But it will take an avalanche of global people power to get his attention--and we need it in the next 48 hours.

The Tibetan Nobel peace prize winner and spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama has called for restraint and dialogue: he needs the world's people to support him. Click below now to sign the petition--and tell absolutely everyone you can right away--our goal is 1 million voices united for Tibet:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/tibet_end_the_violence/97.php/?cl_tf_sign=1

China's economy is totally dependent on "Made in China" exports that we all buy, and the government is keen to make the Olympics in Beijing this summer a celebration of a new China, respected as a leading world power. China is also a very diverse country with a brutal past and has reason to be concerned about its stability -- some of Tibet's rioters killed innocent people. But President Hu must recognize that the greatest danger to Chinese stability and development comes from hardliners who advocate escalating repression, not from Tibetans who seek dialogue and reform.

We will deliver our petition directly to Chinese officials in London, New York, and Beijing, but it must be a massive number before we deliver the petition. Please forward this email to your address book with a note explaining to your friends why this is important, or use our tell-a-friend tool to email your address book--it will come up after you sign the petition.

The Tibetan people have suffered quietly for decades. It is finally their moment to speak--we must help them be heard.

With hope and respect,

Ricken, Iain, Graziela, Paul, Galit, Pascal, Milena, Ben and the whole Avaaz team

PS - It has been suggested that the Chinese government may block the Avaaz website as a result of this email, and thousands of Avaaz members in China will no longer be able to participate in our community. A poll of Avaaz members over the weekend showed that over 80% of us believed it was still important to act on Tibet despite this terrible potential loss to our community, if we thought we could make a difference. If we are blocked, Avaaz will help maintain the campaign for internet freedom for all Chinese people, so that our members in China can one day rejoin our community.

Here are some links with more information on the Tibetan protests and the Chinese response:
BBC News: UN Calls for Restraint in Tibet - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7301912.stm
Human Right Watch: China Restrain from Violently Attacking Protesters - http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/03/15/china18291.htm
Associated Press: Tibet Unrest Sparks Global Reaction - http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gSSpPcDOPMoAiRLhPUyezuCRiXBQD8VFDD680
New York Times: China Takes Steps to Thwart Reporting on Tibet Protests - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/world/asia/18access.html?ref=world
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ABOUT AVAAZ


Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Washington DC, and Geneva.



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Obama is a highly evolved spiritual being...

Dear Ones,
There are rumblings going on that several of my psychic friends have made regarding Obama and I have attached an email a friend sent me and have followed it with the other email I received that includes the speech that Obama made today. Please read and then listen to the speech. These are the things that just could make the changes we need and want. I am basically a supporter of Ron Paul but I cannot ignore the message Obama is sending either and I am providing you with the same opportunity if you choose to listen and discern for yourself.
Love, blessings & peace,
Suzy Star
For whatever it may be worth to you, I would like to share a message I received regarding Obama. You will not see this in the mainstream media, and I am not aware of any place it appears on the internet. Please let me say up front that this information is simply being offered for your discernment.
It is important to remember that the consciousness of this planet and its inhabitants is continuing to ascend at an increasingly rapid rate. Things are no longer going to be like they have always been. Therefore, it might be a mistake to assume the wealthy elite will be in control of whomever wins the next presidential election. Now, on to the message.
Independently of each other, several of my closest friends who are also spiritual psychics have gotten the same message I've been receiving. Here is that message:
Obama is a highly evolved spiritual being whose destiny it is to help bring about positive change in America. He has a good heart and sincerely cares about the people. He has cleverly played the wealthy elite's game, so far, because that was the fastest and most efficient way to gain power. In other words, Obama has been using the wealthy elite to get into a position where he can truly make a difference.
If he gets into the White House, he will turn his back on the "controllers" and take America in a new direction toward the Light. As dangerous as this might sound, Obama is protected by the Spiritual Hierarchy, the Angelic Kingdom and members of the Galactic Federation, both on and off the planet.
Obama's strategy is very sound. It is based on the old principle that one can more easily and effectively bring about change from the INSIDE.
End of message.
Aaron Russo, the creator of the excellent documentary, America: Freedom to Fascism, tried unsuccessfully to change America from the outside. In a channeled message shortly after his death, Aaron said this was the biggest mistake he had made. He said he now realizes one can bring about change much more powerfully and effectively from the INSIDE of any organization.
If we choose to focus on the activities of the dark and stay in FEAR (a state of False Evidence Appearing Real) we strengthen the very things we don't want. The more we visualize and feel the positive changes we want, the sooner they will manifest. This is not some unrealistic, Pollyanna attitude, rather it is an absolute truth throughout the Universe.
It is important for us to remain calm and detached about what we read and hear, especially when it increases fear and darkness. If we are in fear, we are not in our Heart, which is our connection to the Creator of All That Is. It is my belief that it is now more important than it ever has been to choose to trust our OWN Heart and stay in the NOW!
Watch for many positive changes in the coming months. You will be surprised and pleased.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

A More Perfect Union...



"A More Perfect Union"
Remarks of Senator Barack Obama
Constitution Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Tuesday 18 March 2008

As prepared for delivery.

"We the people, in order to form a more perfect union."

Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America's improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.

The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation's original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.

Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution - a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.

And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part - through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.

This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign - to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together - unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction - towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren.

This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own American story.

I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton's Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I've gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world's poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners - an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.

It's a story that hasn't made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts - that out of many, we are truly one.

Throughout the first year of this campaign, against all predictions to the contrary, we saw how hungry the American people were for this message of unity. Despite the temptation to view my candidacy through a purely racial lens, we won commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations in the country. In South Carolina, where the Confederate Flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans.

This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either "too black" or "not black enough." We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured every exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well.

And yet, it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive turn.

On one end of the spectrum, we've heard the implication that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it's based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap. On the other end, we've heard my former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation; that rightly offend white and black alike.

I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely - just as I'm sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.

But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren't simply controversial. They weren't simply a religious leader's effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country - a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.

As such, Reverend Wright's comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems - two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.

Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way

But the truth is, that isn't all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God's work here on Earth - by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.

In my first book, Dreams From My Father, I described the experience of my first service at Trinity:

"People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend's voice up into the rafters....And in that single note - hope! - I heard something else; at the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion's den, Ezekiel's field of dry bones. Those stories - of survival, and freedom, and hope - became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories that we didn't need to feel shame about...memories that all people might study and cherish - and with which we could start to rebuild."

That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety - the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity's services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.

And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions - the good and the bad - of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.

I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother - a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.

Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable. I can assure you it is not. I suppose the politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. We can dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated racial bias.

But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America - to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.

The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through - a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.

Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point. As William Faulkner once wrote, "The past isn't dead and buried. In fact, it isn't even past." We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.

Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven't fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today's black and white students.

Legalized discrimination - where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions, or the police force, or fire departments - meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. That history helps explain the wealth and income gap between black and white, and the concentrated pockets of poverty that persists in so many of today's urban and rural communities.

A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one's family, contributed to the erosion of black families - a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods - parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement - all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us.

This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up. They came of age in the late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted. What's remarkable is not how many failed in the face of discrimination, but rather how many men and women overcame the odds; how many were able to make a way out of no way for those like me who would come after them.

But for all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn't make it - those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination. That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations - those young men and increasingly young women who we see standing on street corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for the future. Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race, and racism, continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways. For the men and women of Reverend Wright's generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician's own failings.

And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews. The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright's sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.

In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience - as far as they're concerned, no one's handed them anything, they've built it from scratch. They've worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.

Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren't always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.

Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze - a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns - this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.

This is where we are right now. It's a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy - particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.

But I have asserted a firm conviction - a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people - that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice is we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.

For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances - for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs - to the larger aspirations of all Americans - the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man whose been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for own lives - by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny.

Ironically, this quintessentially American - and yes, conservative - notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright's sermons. But what my former pastor too often failed to understand is that embarking on a program of self-help also requires a belief that society can change.

The profound mistake of Reverend Wright's sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It's that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country - a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old - is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know - what we have seen - is that America can change. That is true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope - the audacity to hope - for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds - by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.

In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world's great religions demand - that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother's keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister's keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.

For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle - as we did in the OJ trial - or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright's sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she's playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.

We can do that.

But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we'll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.

That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, "Not this time." This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can't learn; that those kids who don't look like us are somebody else's problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.

This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don't have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.

This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn't look like you might take your job; it's that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.

This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should've been authorized and never should've been waged, and we want to talk about how we'll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned.

I would not be running for President if I didn't believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation - the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election.

There is one story in particularly that I'd like to leave you with today - a story I told when I had the great honor of speaking on Dr. King's birthday at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist, in Atlanta.

There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She had been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.

And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that's when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.

She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.

She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents too.

Now Ashley might have made a different choice. Perhaps somebody told her along the way that the source of her mother's problems were blacks who were on welfare and too lazy to work, or Hispanics who were coming into the country illegally. But she didn't. She sought out allies in her fight against injustice.

Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they're supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man who's been sitting there quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why he's there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, "I am here because of Ashley."

"I'm here because of Ashley." By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.

But it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger. And as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the two-hundred and twenty one years since a band of patriots signed that document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins

Tour of a Sirian Star Ship

Update by Sheldan Nidle for the Spiritual Hierarchy and the Galactic Federation

Update by Sheldan Nidle for the Spiritual Hierarchy and the Galactic Federation
5 Akbal, 16 Ceh, 3 Manik


Greetings! We arrive with more to tell you! At present the last phases of the ongoing struggle between our Earth allies and your last dark cabal are approaching an end. We fully expect the long-awaited victory to be shortly upon us. Clearing your reality of the nefarious ones is a prerequisite to first contact. We have watched these denizens of the shadows slither way from a number of recent, near-fatal attacks made upon them. These close calls clearly demonstrate how far their capabilities have deteriorated and, hence, their increasing vulnerability. Further, the dark cabal's machinery for foisting sophisticated acts of terrorism and criminality upon the masses, and passing these off in the media as something quite other, is faltering badly; many of these crimes are coming to within a hair's breadth of detection. This bungling is symptomatic of just how much the cabal's grip is waning, and this decline in control is not lost on our Earth allies. The dark cabal is demonstrably fragile and open to infiltration, which means it is then but a short step away from being utterly crushed. We watch its many factions create media diversions that are at once exposed as such by perceptive Internet bloggers.

The dark ones' increasing weakness is still largely undetected by the average citizen and so they retain great power to interfere in people's daily lives and to manipulate them into believing their parade of mischievous lies. But behind the scenes the Light continues to make inroads against these formerly all-powerful minions of the dark, clearing the path for those within many governmental agencies to prepare for the maneuvers that will oust a number of major regimes from power. These legal putsches open the door to the lineup of policies that are to cure your multiple global woes and bring about a peaceful, cooperative, and prosperous new world. They also permit the broadcast of the public announcements, which will introduce many new technologies. These long-hidden technologies can alleviate many of your present energy, pollution, and economic difficulties, including greatly upgrading your communication capabilities.

These remedies are being kept back from you by the dark cabal. Those presently in power are deeply worried that their positions can be wrested from them and, consequently, closely guard any technology that has the potential to progress your world, or that is not under their firm control. This policy is behind the UFO cover-up and the suppression of literally thousands of inventions that inadvertently paralleled what the dark was secretly developing. The science used at this secret level introduces the notion that your public-arena scientific theorems and hypotheses are less than correct. Also at risk are your long-held philosophies and perceptions of reality, which your "official science" supports. You could say that this sequestered science is a veritable Pandora's box for everything you were taught to believe in. Also, pressure is being brought to bear on the dark by the consciousness revolution, which is beginning to question the many "sacred cows" of science. Your reality dearly wants to change, whether or not the dark approves.

This quiet consciousness revolution will simply not go away. The dark cabal sees that its global efforts to quash this upsurge are both unwieldy and, ultimately, unequal to the task. Consciousness is rising all over the planet and bringing together many individuals whose determined quests for the truth have furnished them with a veritable smorgasbord of facts. These facts are to be found all over the Internet and when woven together coherently have a profound effect upon many. Now a considerable segment of your global population is committed to change. The arguments for change are at present mostly intellectual, or manifesting as ritual action to save Mother Earth and her human society. All told, a rapidly growing movement has precipitated and is making a difference in many parts of your world. This further rattles the dark, and now a major thrust of the dark's global game plan includes crushing this awakening and somehow returning your world to its former somnolent ways.

These movements for change, while still mostly limited in action, are global in scope, and our Earth allies nurture them. Whether instigating people-oriented banking practices, small "green" community businesses, or providing opportunities for families to escape "poverty thinking," these movements are taking on age-old traditions and beliefs and standing them on their heads. New ideas are creatively changing the networks that can make a society better, richer, and smarter than before, and are also solving the small, local needs that develop communities. These grassroots activities are a good start, but they also require the support of wealthy and powerful mentors, and this is where our Earth allies come in. The results of this connection are quite awe-inspiring, and provide further proof that the tide of change is unstoppable.

All that is happening on your world reinforces our belief that first contact is near. On macro- and micro-levels, a great momentum for change is on the rise and gaining strength and scope rapidly. Never before on your planet has such a diverse group for change come together. Although beginning on the fringes, groups for all sorts of change are proliferating, including parties for peace and prosperity. "Green" philosophy has led to political parties and to the rise of new industry based on knowledge that fosters environmental awareness and global stewardship. These attitudes are preparing the ground for the many exotic technologies that are to solve your energy and pollution crises. This includes the necessity to bring social responsibility to center stage.

The desperate straits of large sections of your global populace cry out for social responsibility, and this moves our Earth allies to hasten the downfall of the last cabal. The measures taken to stop your awakening consciousness are failing, and this dark group is growing frantic. Heaven has set in motion a means to return you to full consciousness, and the dark ones now see how futile it is to oppose this. The dark-run media sphere that fills your days with misinformation is still under their control for now, but elsewhere the siege of the Light upon the mighty fortress of the dark is succeeding. The walls are crumbling and the besieged are becoming weary. You are watching a pivotal watershed event taking place before your eyes; namely, the long-awaited moment when, finally, the dominion of the dark disintegrates, to be replaced by something more to your liking and more befitting your budding capabilities.

You are teetering on the verge of a major evolutionary leap in consciousness. Our role is to guide you through this and mentor you in many new ways of perception. It is no easy feat to radically transform who you are and what you believe, and to equip you to completely reorganize your global society. But it can be done, and done rapidly. For starters, you have much catching up to do because of the restraints put on your society by the dark. Thereafter, your innate potential will embrace the vistas opening up before you with joy. We have no doubt that once you are returned to full consciousness and pointed in the proper direction you are limitless. No one can ever tell you what is not divinely possible. We have complete confidence in you to build your star-nation and create a list of what you wish to do. Once your blossoming is well underway, you will add your insightful voice to ours within the many councils of the Galactic Federation.

Today, we looked at some of the things shaping developments on your world. Be in joy, and focus on the prize. The dark is about to relinquish its suffocating hold on your world, and thus many amazing events are close. Be ready, and know that Together, You are Victorious! Know in your Heart of Hearts that the perpetual Supply and infinite Abundance of Heaven are indeed Yours! Selamat Majon! Selamat Kasitaram! (Sirian for Rejoice! and Be Blessed in Heavenly Love and Joy!)


Planetary Activation Organization | Mailing Address: P. O. Box 4975, El Dorado Hills, California 95762 USA
Voicemail: 808-573-3110 | Fax: (808) 573-2867 | E-mail: info@paoweb.com | Website address: www.paoweb.com

Thursday, March 13, 2008

A Lesson In Hope

Posted by: "Richard Boylan PhD" richardboylanphdllc

Wed Mar 12, 2008 11:26 am (PDT)

Friends,

I wish to share that a tool of suppression the Cabal use is
"helplessness."
Wendi relays an important instructive story from Councillor For the
Watchers:
When people do not believe they can make a difference, they will not try
to do so. This is a law of nature. Only those who have a glimmer of hope
and belief that they can somehow manage to turn the wheels of fate will even
attempt to do so. This is a close paraphrase to something the Councillor
for the Watchers told Asheoma once in conversation.

Hope and belief are two things the Cabal don't want spread. In fact,
Asheoma told me about some story (I think it was something that happened on
Earth, but I don't remember the detail) but he said that there was a large
group of men who were prisoners of war. He said that they had no way to get
help or get free at all. By all rights, they were as good as dead. He said
that Star Nations knew the power of hope and so they had a Zeta go to one of
the men in his sleep and tell him that they would be free in five days.
Zeta never told him how, and they guy thought it was some soldier that found
them and was telling him that in the dark. Anyway, he started to spread the
word. Asheoma said they had over 100 prisoners in this camp and there were
only about 15 guards assigned to that place.
He said that on the first day, no one believed the guy. But the guy did
not give up and he had hope and as he continued to talk and insisted on what
he heard that the others started to believe him. By the third day, every
prisoner in the place was unmanageable due to the excitement and hope that
had been built. By the fourth day, the guards were believing it. They were
told that the enemy was no where close to them and they had better put an
order to the situation. On the fifth day, the prisoners were totally out
of hand and shouting that they would be free that day. The guards by this
point were convinced that someone was coming to free them. The guards ended
up all leaving their posts and running away so the enemy would not kill them
when they got there. By the evening, the prisoners had figured out that all
the guards had left. They easily broke free and had no trouble making an
escape. When they made it back to a base camp, the commanding officer was
in shock.

<><><>

in the light,

Richard Boylan, Ph.D.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

The House of Cards Is Collapsing

[This report should be read from its website location at
http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1076.htm as this email copy does not
contain the links embedded in the original report]

March 8, 2008

US Prepares For 'Doomsday' Rule As British Forces Arrive In America

By: Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers (Traducción
del Spainish Abajo)

Russian Military Analysts are reporting in the Kremlin today that
China's President Hu has refused the United States request for over $2
Trillion in emergency assistance to bolster the collapsing American
Dollar, and asked for in a personal meeting with the former US President
Bush, the father of the current President Bush.

Of the worst fears of the American Bush-Clinton Monarchy, which has
ruled the US these past 20 years, these reports state, is the collapse
of their privately owned hedge fund called the Carlyle Capital Fund and
which is owned by their secretive war profiteering International
behemoth Carlyle Group led by the Bush Family, Former British Prime
Ministers, and others of the West's ruling elite, and as we can read as
reported by Britain's Independent News Service:

"A fund managed by the US private equity giant Carlyle Group has become
the latest to be hit by demands from lending banks making calls on loans
secured on mortgage bonds.

Carlyle Capital Corp, a publicly traded fund that holds $21.7bn
(£10.8bn) of securities, said it had received a default notice from one
of its lending banks and expected at least one more after it failed to
meet demands for extra security from jittery counterparties.

The Guernsey-based fund has struggled to meet more than $60m of margin
calls and demands for extra collateral since the start of the month. It
met the calls until Wednesday, when it was landed with more than $37m of
demands and missed four out of seven calls."

To the greatest concerns, however, of Russian Military Commanders are
the reports of President Bush's younger brother Neil's 'sudden' visit to
the South American Nation of Paraguay as a guest of the secretive South
Korean backer of the Bush-Clinton Monarchy, and self-proclaimed
"messiah" Reverend Sun Myung Moon, and as we can read as reported by the
Associated Press News Service:

"Neil Bush, younger brother of U.S. President George W. Bush, called on
Paraguay's president as the guest of a business federation founded by
the Rev. Sun Myung Moon.

A presidential press office source, who spoke on condition of not being
named, confirmed the younger Bush met President Nicanor Duarte on
Thursday along with a delegation from the Universal Peace Federation, a
group associated with Moon."

[It is important to note that the Bush Family has reportedly already
made plans to relocate from the United States to Paraguay, and as we had
reported on in our October 15, 2006 report titled "US President Bush
Makes Massive Land Purchase In Paraguay Ahead Of Expected War Crimes
Charges", but denied by the US State Department, as that South American
Nation has long been a refuge for Nazi War Criminals and their Western
backers, of which the Bush Family were one of.]

The timing of this Bush Family-Moon visit to Paraguay during that
Nation's horrific outbreak of yellow fever, and which has caused its
President to declare a 'State of Emergency', meant, these reports say,
that 'normal' abilities of [deleted] to track the whereabouts of these
subjects was severely hampered due to the many restrictions placed upon
the free movement of people within the country.

This has led Russian Commanders to believe that the Bush-Clinton
Monarchy may be preparing for what the Americans themselves have titled
a 'Doomsday' scenario under new laws passed in the US in 2005 and which
has been described as:

"No longer do Capitol Hill legislators need a quorum to do the people's
business. Now under a piece of hotly contested legislation passed
without media attention on Jan. 5,[2005] only a few members of Congress
are needed to do official business in the event of a catastrophe instead
of the usual 218. Critics claim H. Res. 5 paves the way for tyranny,
allowing "only a few to decide for so many."

As we had previously reported on in our February 24, 2008 report titled
"Canadian Troops To Patrol US Cities As Food Riots Feared", and where
Russian Military Analysts had voiced their fears of the agreement signed
by the Americans and Canada to allow their troops on each others soil,
these new reports detail an even darker picture that details that
British, and not American, Officers are currently being trained to
'control' US citizens, and as we can read as reported by the LJWorld
News Service in their report titled "Brits overrun town for training
exercise", and which says:

"Thursday may have seemed like any other day for most in Leavenworth,
but for about 180 British officers, an enemy was on the loose
threatening civilians. Tactical forces were moved in, and soldiers took
their positions outside schools and churches preparing to isolate the
terrorist activity. While it may have been a fictional enemy in theory,
for visiting officers with the United Kingdom's Intermediate Command and
Staff Course who were roaming the streets of Leavenworth, the tactical
solutions they used to end the threats were real."

In previous reports we had detailed how the US Military had begun asking
their soldiers if they would fire on American citizens and which has led
to their War Leaders request to have Canadian and British Military
Forces take command in putting down the expected rebellions in the
United States as they are more likely to have no problems killing those
not of their own nationality.

Facing the American people now is the very real coming destruction of
their Nation, and which their leaders have planned both for the success,
and failure of, no matter the cost in human lives.

But, in viewing from outside this destruction of the United States, it
remains unsettling how few of these people realize the great danger they
are in. It is as if they believe that by their not knowing the truth of
the monsters who are leading them they themselves will somehow be
protected.

And, as their once World-valued currency plummets into worthlessness, as
tens of thousands of them begin to lose their jobs, as the price they
pay for fuel and food continues skyrocketing, as they continue to be
forced out of their homes by the millions, as many millions more of them
have watched the value of their homes crumble into dust, virtually none
of them are preparing for the catastrophes to come.

One cannot help but believe that these peoples are all insane.

© March 8, 2008 EU and US all rights reserved.
http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1076.htm

Friday, March 07, 2008

DEMANDING END TO WAR --WEST COAST SHUT DOWN BY ILWU!

The pressure is being applied! I wonder if this could have anything to do with the email I sent earlier about the National Guard alert? West Coast Ports include both Portland and Seattle in addition to the CA ports.
Interesting times and encouraging to see action being taken.
Love, blessings & peace,
Suzy Star

DEMANDING END TO WAR --WEST COAST SHUT DOWN BY ILWU!

Posted By: CrystalRiver
Date: Friday, 7 March 2008, 9:36 a.m.

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/03/01/18482849.php

ILWU to Shut Down West Coast Ports May 1 Demanding End to War in Iraq, Afghanistan
by Internationalist Group ( internationalistgroup [at] msn.com )
Saturday Mar 1st, 2008 4:13 PM
In a major step for the U.S. labor movement, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has announced that it will shut down West Coast ports on May 1, to demand an immediate end to the war and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Middle East. This is the first time in decades that an American union has decided to undertake industrial action against a U.S. war. The action announced by the powerful West Coast dock workers union, to stop work to stop the war, should be taken up by unions and labor organizations throughout the United States and internationally. And the purpose of such actions should be not to beg the bourgeois politicians whose hands are covered with blood, having voted for every war budget for six and a half years, but a show of strength of the working people who make this country run, and who can shut it down!
For Workers Strikes Against the War!
ILWU to Shut Down West Coast Ports May 1 Demanding End to War in Iraq, Afghanistan
In a major step for the U.S. labor movement, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has announced that it will shut down West Coast ports on May 1, to demand an immediate end to the war and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Middle East. In a February 22 letter to AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, ILWU International president Robert McEllrath reported that at a recent coast-wide union meeting, “One of the resolutions adopted by caucus delegates called on longshore workers to stop work during the day shift on May 1, 2008 to express their opposition to the war in Iraq.”

This is the first time in decades that an American union has decided to undertake industrial action against a U.S. war. It is doubly important that this mobilization of labor’s power is to take place on May Day, the international workers day, which is not honored in the U.S. Moreover, the resolution voted by the ILWU delegates opposes not only the hugely unpopular war in Iraq, but also the war and occupation of Afghanistan (which Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and Republican John McCain all want to expand). The motion to shut down the ports also demands the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the entire region, including the oil sheikdoms of the strategically important Persian/Arab Gulf.

The Internationalist Group has fought from the moment U.S. troops invaded Afghanistan in September 2002 for American unions to strike against the war. Despite the fact that millions have marched in the streets of Europe and the United States against the war in Iraq, the war goes on. Neither of the twin war parties of U.S. imperialism – Democrats and Republicans – and none of the capitalist candidates will stop this horrendous slaughter that has already killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. The only way to stop the Pentagon killing machine is by mobilizing the power of a greater force – that of the international working class.

The action announced by the powerful West Coast dock workers union, to stop work to stop the war, should be taken up by unions and labor organizations throughout the United States and internationally. The ILWU should be commended for courageously taking the first step, and it is up to working people everywhere to back them up. Wherever support is strong enough, on May 1 there should be mass walkouts, sick-outs, labor marches, plant-gate meetings, lunch-time rallies, teach-ins. And the purpose of such actions should be not to beg the bourgeois politicians whose hands are covered with blood, having voted for every war budget for six and a half years, but a show of strength of the working people who make this country run, and who can shut it down!

Now is the time for bold class action. Opposition to the war is even greater in the U.S. working class than in the population as a whole, more than two-thirds of which wants to stop the war but is stymied by the capitalist political system. In his letter to Sweeney, the ILWU president asked “if other AFL-CIO affiliates are planning to participate in similar events.” Labor militants should make sure the answer to that question is a resounding “yes!”

There should be no illusions that this will be easy. No doubt the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA) bosses will try to get the courts to rule the stop-work action illegal. The ILWU leadership could get cold feet, since this motion was passed because of overwhelming support from the delegates despite attempts to stop it or, failing that, to water it down or limit the action. And the U.S. government could try to ban it on the grounds of “national security,” just as Bush & Co. slapped a Taft-Hartley injunction on the docks during contract negotiations in the fall of 2002, saying that any work stoppage was a threat to the “war effort,” and threatened to occupy the ports with troops!

The answer to every attempt to sabotage or undercut this first labor action against this war, and against Washington’s broader “war on terror” which is intended to terrorize the world into submission must be to redouble efforts to bring out workers’ power independent of the capitalist parties and politicians. If the ILWU work stoppage is successful, it will only be a small, but very important, beginning that must be generalized and deepened. It will take industrial-strength labor action to defeat the imperialist war abroad and the bosses’ war on immigrants, oppressed minorities, poor and working people “at home.”

ILWU in the Forefront of Labor Action Against the War
Workers strike action against imperialist war isn’t new – it just hasn’t happened here for a long, long time. During World War I there were huge mass strikes in Germany against the battlefield carnage, culminating in the downfall of the kaiser in November 1918. A year earlier in Russia, working-class opposition to the war led to the overthrow of the tsar and the October Revolution led by Lenin and Trotsky’s Bolsheviks. The Internationalist Group and League for the Fourth International call today for transport workers to “hot cargo” (refuse to handle) war shipments. In the early 1920s, Communist-led French dock workers did exactly that, boycotting ships carrying war materiel to suppress a colonial rebellion in the Rif region of Morocco, as they also did during France’s war in Indochina in the 1950s.

In the U.S., the ILWU struck in 1948 amid Cold War hysteria and in defiance of the “slave labor” Taft-Hartley Act to defend its union hiring hall against the bosses and government screaming about “reds” in the union leadership. In 1953, at the height of McCarthyite witch-hunting, the ILWU called a four-day general strike in Hawaii of sugar, pineapple and dock workers over the jailing of seven union members for being communists. During the Vietnam War, socialist historian Isaac Deutscher said that he would trade all the peace marches for a single dock strike. The ILWU was the first U.S. union to oppose the Vietnam war, but during war and especially during the 1971 strike union leader Harry Bridges refused to stop the movement of military cargo. (Ship owners made use of this by falsely labeling cargo as “military” to evade picket lines and undermine the strike.) This betrayal went hand in hand with a “mechanization and modernization” contract that slashed union jobs.

As the U.S.-led imperialist invasion of Iraq was looming, in January 2003 train drivers in Scotland refused to move a freight train carrying munitions to a NATO military base. The next month, Italian railroad unionists and antiwar activists blocked NATO war trains by occupying the rails. In the United States, ILWU dock workers were a target of “anti-terrorist” government repression, as police fired supposedly “less than lethal” munitions point blank at an antiwar protest on the Oakland, California docks, injuring six longshore workers and arresting 25 people (who eventually won their legal case against the police). And every year since the war started, the San Francisco/Oakland ILWU Local 10 has voted for motions for labor action against the war. Usually they were voted down at caucuses and conventions of the ILWU, but not this time.

Last May, Local 10 longshoremen and Local 34 ships clerks refused to cross picket lines set up by the Oakland Teachers Association and antiwar activists, defying arbitrators’ orders by refusing to work ships of the notorious antiunion outfit, Stevedoring Services of America (see “Oakland Dock Workers Honor Picket, Shut Down War Cargo Shipper,” The Internationalist No. 26, July 2007). In the aftermath of that action, the union issued a call for a Labor Conference to Stop the War that would “plan workplace rallies, labor mobilizations in the streets and strike action against the war.” The Call to Action stated:

“ILWU Local 10 has repeatedly warned that the so-called ‘war on terror’ is really a war on working people and democratic rights. Around the country, hundreds of unions and labor councils have passed motions condemning the war, but that has not stopped the war. We need to use labor’s muscle to stop the war by mobilizing union power in the streets, at the plant gates and on the docks to force the immediate and total withdrawal of all U. S. troops from Afghanistan and Iraq.”

As the conference date approached, the union was the target of several police attacks, including a vicious cop assault on two black dock workers from San Francisco working in the port of Sacramento. Some 250 demonstrators from every ILWU local in Northern California rallied in their defense outside the courthouse. Their trial to be set march 18 at a hearing will encounter even larger demonstrations.

The Internationalist Group and its union supporters helped build and attended the October 20 conference, along with some 150 labor and socialist activists from the Bay Area, elsewhere in California and across the country. At the meeting, a particular focus was resistance to the Transportation Workers Identification Card (TWIC), which threatens minority workers and the union hiring hall, and which the Democratic Party in particular has been pushing in order to carry out a purge of dock workers in the name of the “war on terror.” Not long after that conference, a federal judge ordered Local 10 elections canceled and replaced by a Labor Department-run vote, on the eve of 2008 contract bargaining. Federal agents even invaded the union hall to enforce their order. This action is a threat to the independence of all unions.

This set the stage for the recent longshore-warehouse caucus, which voted a motion for a 24-hour “No Peace, No Work Holiday” against the war. The resolution was introduced in Local 10 by Jack Heyman, who also presented the motion for the 24 April 1999 coast-wide port shutdown demanding freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal, the former Black Panther and renowned radical journalist who has been on Pennsylvania’s death row for the last quarter century. Although the union tops maneuvered to prevent Heyman from being elected as a delegate to the Coast Caucus, the motion passed in Local 10. At the Caucus, the delegate from Local 34 referred to the October Labor Conference to Stop the War as the origin of the motion.

At the close of the Caucus on February 8, there was a vigorous debate on the resolution. The union tops tried to stop it, to no avail. They kept asking, “are you sure you want to do this action.” The delegates overwhelmingly said “yes.” Even conservative trade unionists, including veterans of the Vietnam War, were getting up saying the government is lying to us, we’ve had it with this war, we’ve got to put a stop to it now. So instead the bureaucrats tried to gut the motion, which was cut down from 24 hours to 8, and changed into a “stop-work” meeting (covered by a contract clause) instead of a straight-out shutdown, thinking that this would lessen opposition from the employers. In the end there was a voice vote and only three delegates out of 100 voted against.

The efforts to undercut the motion continue, as is to be expected from a leadership which, like the rest of the pro-capitalist labor bureaucracy, seeks “labor peace” with the bosses. In his letter to Sweeney, ILWU International president tried to present the action as an effort to “express support for the troops by bringing them home safely,” although the motion voted by the delegates says nothing of the sort. Playing the “support our troops” game is an effort to swear loyalty to the broader aims of U.S. imperialism. It aids the warmongers, when what’s needed is independent working-class action against the system that produces endless imperialist war. Yet despite the efforts to water it down and distort it, the May 1 action voted for by the ILWU delegates is a call to use labor’s muscle to put an end to the war.

The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis

The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis
1987-11-04, WantToKnow.info/PBS Documentary
http://www.WantToKnow.info/050423secretgovernment

Dear Ones,

While not a pretty picture, this documentary shows just how corrupt our government has become. This is something we must reverse and one of the main reasons why we "lightworkers" and "Starseeds" are here! Please watch this if you can and forward to your lists. WE CAN turn this around with our INTENT but we must be aware of just how deep the corruption has gone to jar the world out of it's complacency to take action!

Love, blessings & peace,

Suzy Star

The Secret Government is an interlocking network of official functionaries, spies, mercenaries, ex-generals, profiteers and superpatriots, who, for a variety of motives, operate outside the legitimate institutions of government. The Russians had been our ally against the Nazis, an expedient alliance for the sake of war. Now they were our enemy. To fight them we turned to some of the very men who had inflicted on humanity the horrors of Hitler’s madness. We hired Nazis’ as American spies. Admiral Gene La Rocque: “That National Security Act of 1947 changed dramatically the direction of this great nation. It established the framework for a national security state. Never have we had a National Security Council so concerned about the nation’s security that we’re always looking for threats and looking how to orchestrate our society to oppose those threats. National Security was invented, almost, in 1947, and now it has become the prime mover of everything we do. The National Security Act also gave us the Central Intelligence Agency." In 1975 ... Congress took its first public look at the Secret Government. Senator Frank Church chaired the Select Committee to study government operations. The hearings opened the books on a string of lethal activities. From the use of electric pistols and poison pellets, to Mafia connections and drug experiments. And they gave us a detailed account of assassination plots against foreign leaders and the overthrowing of sovereign governments. This is a system easily corrupted. While freedom does have enemies in the world, it can also be undermined here at home, in the dark, by those posing as its friends.

Note: This highly revealing PBS documentary is available for free viewing on the Internet. For the link, written text, and much more on this amazingly revealing documentary, click here.