Entries Tagged 'Freedom' ↓

Marshall Adame

What has become of American government? What has become of us?

Politics in America has always been a “them” and “Us” sort of event. We have so many different outlooks and avenues of expression and thought. Political philosophy, social engagement, citizen responsibility to government, as opposed to government obligation to its citizens, political correctness and how it effects our societal morays and values is today, as always, wonderfully debated and the list goes on; yet somehow those differences have helped to make us the great people we are, which has in turn forged the social Democratic miracle America still is today.

Opposing thought and spectrums, with a shared love of county, liberty, freedom and rule of law have been the hallmark of American political discourse. We all love this county and our opposing thoughts, with few exceptions, have never really challenged that principle.

I still hold back the tears when I hear the Marine Corps hymn and unashamedly jump to my feet and stand at attention when old glory passes;…. And yet something has changed. Something has begun to change us as a people….Even I have changed.

Fear has gripped us as a nation. Tragically, some of that fear is of design by our own President and those Republicans and Democrats who abide his course. President Bush displays an almost total disregard for the “Rule of Law” in America while praising the repressed peoples in the world for seeking it in their own society. Continue reading →

I just confirmed this. He has yet to be arraigned (now 2:36pm.) But the Caucus was able to secure several lawyers to speak with him. They have confirmed he has a broken leg. We do not no if he is receiving adequate medical attention, but I do know he is in pain. More soon…

(UPDATE) Rev is home with a broken leg. He is on crutches. He has several misdemeanor charges which include attacking an officer. As most know Rev… he is a simple man. He walks nearly everywhere and has always been fine doing so. So now being on crutches, this will limit his movement work significantly. Any support during this time would be appreciated. Consider making a donation to the Hip Hop Caucus at www.hiphopcaucus.org.

Tell the governor you want teens to have the information they need to make healthy, responsible life decisions.  Before September 26, 2007, Governor Napolitano will decide whether to apply for federal money for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.  It is extremely important that the Governor hears loud and clear that Arizona must end its dependence on federal money that censors our teachers, preventing them from providing Arizona teens with vital health care information!

Here are three reasons why:

- Abstinence-only-until-marriage programs prohibit teachers from discussing contraceptives except to tell their failure rates. They also provide medically inaccurate information, promote gender stereotypes, discriminate against gays and lesbians, and are based on messages of fear or shame.

- A rigorous, multi-year, congressionally commissioned study published in April 2007 showed that these programs do not work. Teens who participated in these programs were just as likely to have sex as those who didn’t, and they had sex at the same age and had the same number of sexual partners as teens who did not participate in the federally funded programs.

- Parents across the nation and overwhelmingly want sex education to cover information about contraception. Major medical groups have also advocated for a more comprehensive approach to sex education.

With the second-highest rate of teen pregnancies in the nation, Arizona cannot afford to continue these harmful and ineffective abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.  A recent study attributed the decline in teen pregnancy rates overwhelmingly to increased contraceptive use, not abstinence. Arizona should support reproductive health policies that are effective, save taxpayer dollars and protect the public health.  Young people need and deserve complete, accurate, and age-appropriate sex education that discusses BOTH abstinence and the use of contraceptives to prevent unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

We need your help!! Join us in asking the Governor to: Continue reading →

The request by Plaintiff Dan Frazier for a Preliminary Injunction in the case of Frazier v. Boomsma, et al, Case No. 07-CV-8040, will be heard by U.S. District Court Judge Neil V. Wake at 2:00 pm on Thursday, August 23, 2007, in the federal courthouse in Phoenix.

Dan Frazier is the one scheduled witness. He is asking that the Court stay the effective date of the Senate Bill 1014 until a determination has been made as to the constitutionality of this legislation in this lawsuit. The ACLU of Arizona is representing Dan Frazier and, as seen in the below Motion, maintains that the Senate Bill clearly violates Mr. Frazier’s First Amendment rights of free speech and expression, and is an attempt by the Arizona Governor and legislature to keep the human toll of the Iraq War out of the public discourse.

Read the motion here. Memo here.

Amnesty International is deeply concerned that El Salvador is improperly using anti-terrorist legislation to punish 13 demonstrators for protesting changes in government social services. The human rights organization fears that the social organization leaders were arrested under terrorism laws to prevent future protest.

On July 2, during protests in Suchitoto at the imminent announcement by President Elías Antonio Saca of a national policy on the decentralization of a number of services, including water, the police used rubber bullets and teargas to put down demonstrators. Continue reading →

For those folks unable to be in DC with us this morning for the “Day of Action to Restore Law and Justice” go to http://www.juneaction.org at 10am EST for a live webcast!

In reaction to the US administration’s postponed meeting regarding the future of the detention centre at Guantánamo Bay, including the possibility of its closure, Amnesty International said:

“Yesterday’s cancelled meeting about the future of the detention centre at Guantánamo Bay should be rescheduled as a matter of priority. Every day that this prison camp remains open is a day too many.”

“It is more than a year since President Bush first said he would like to close Guantánamo. While there are undoubtedly challenges to closing the facility, the solution in principle is simple, and the government must turn its energies to this end. It should either charge the detainees with recognizable criminal offences and bring them to trial in the ordinary civilian courts, or it should release them with full protections against further abuses. Other governments should do all they can to bring an end to this human rights scandal and actively consider accepting released detainees.”

White House near decision to close Gitmo

By Walter Pincus, Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 11, 2007; A03

Former secretary of state Colin L. Powell said yesterday that he would close down the U.S. military prison for enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, "this afternoon" because it has become a major problem in "the way the world perceives America."

"Essentially, we have shaken the belief that the world had in America’s justice system by keeping a place like Guantanamo open and creating things like a military commission," Powell said on NBC’s "Meet the Press."

Making it clear that he "would not let any of those people go," Powell said, "I would simply move them to the United States and put them into our more federal legal system." He said he sees no problem in detainees having the right of habeas corpus and getting their own lawyers. "Isn’t that what our system is all about?"

Powell was the only member of President Bush’s first-term "war cabinet" who argued against the detainee policies. Those policies said the United States was not obligated to abide by the Geneva Conventions in its treatment of enemy combatants.

Opened in late 2001 for suspected terrorists apprehended in Afghanistan, Guantanamo now has about 385 prisoners. They have no right to file habeas corpus petitions under a law signed last year, but they have their status reviewed annually by a military panel. Last week, two military judges ruled that the first trials of Guantanamo detainees by military panels could not go forward because the detainees had not been classified as unlawful enemy combatants. The Defense Department is appealing the ruling.

Powell’s view comes close to that of Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. In March, Gates said that there was a "taint" about Guantanamo and that the more dangerous detainees should be held, but that the military prison should be closed.

In a wide-ranging interview, Powell also said, "We didn’t prepare ourselves well enough for the kinds of challenges that occurred in the aftermath of the fall of Baghdad," although he and Bush were aware of the postwar problems that the United States would face — issues addressed in a CIA analysis seven months before the war started.

"We were liberators for a moment," Powell said, "and then we simply did not handle the aftermath." He described the burning and looting of government ministries as the beginning of the insurgency. Turmoil went on, he said, because "we didn’t have enough troops there to restore that order, nor did we have the political understanding of our obligation to restore that order."

Powell said that Iraq is a sectarian civil war "that ultimately will be fought out between Sunnis and Shias, Shias and Shias, Sunnis and al-Qaeda." In that turmoil, Powell said, al-Qaeda "is a relatively small percentage of this overall problem, but a very violent percentage."

He said the increase of U.S. troops is only a part of three elements that make up the current policy. The other two — building up Iraqi security forces and Iraqi political reconciliation — "are not going well." As for recent changes in U.S. military leadership in Iraq and creating a war czar in the White House, Powell said: "You can move the deck chairs around and you can bring in new people and you can change organizational arrangements, but ultimately the president has the responsibility."

Powell declined to say that he would support the Republican Party nominee for president next year, saying that he would back "the best person I can find." When he joined the GOP in 1995, Powell said that it had moved too far to the right and that he would work to bring it to the moderate center. But he has never been closely involved in party politics and more than a decade ago said he would never run for elective office.

In yesterday’s interview, he said he has not ruled out returning to public service and had no favorite in the presidential race. "I make myself available to talk about foreign policy matters with whoever wishes to chat with me," he said in response to a question about his twice meeting with Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.).

Attitudes have changed about gays in the military since he supported the "don’t ask, don’t tell" policy established when he was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Clinton administration. He said wartime is not a time to alter the policy, but he thought "gays and lesbians should be allowed to have maximum access to all aspects of society."

Staff writer Karen DeYoung contributed to this report.