This is a little late....oh well.

The National Religious Campaign Against Torture has an Advent Booklet for 2009. The booklet was prepared by Rev. Kirsten Klepfer, Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Grinnell, Iowa.

From the Introduction:

On the third Sunday of Advent, the author of the gospel of Luke is describing the scene where the crowds have come to be baptized by John. John is preaching to them, calling on them to repent and “bear fruits worthy of repentance.” Wondering what that might mean in light of their circumstances, the crowds ask him, “What then should we do?” Although our context is significantly different from that of John the Baptist, the question has staying power.

Shortly after the torture memos were made public in April 2009, The Pew Research Center conducted a survey that showed 54% of people who attend church services at least once a week agreed that the use of torture against suspected terrorists is “often” or “sometimes” justified. Surely from this poll we must conclude that the church has lost our way. It’s a good time to put ourselves in the shoes of the crowds of people looking for a way to live during difficult and chaotic times and ask with them, “What then should we do?”

TORTURE IS A MORAL ISSUE
www.tortureisamoralissue.org

For You're Listening Pleasure

Sungha Jung playing Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean"

More on Obama's War

I voted for Obama knowing that he would probably escalate the War in Afghanistan. But I hoped for a different outcome. And now here we are and Obama is sending 30,000 tired and already over-extended troops into harms way again. And for what? He is sounding more like George Bush than I could have ever imagined. Not even one minute into his address the other night he evoked 9/11. I threw my hands up in the air and vowed never to vote again. What earthly good does it do? You vote for change and you get more of the same.

I don't know much about Afghanistan, since Iraq has been my major focus. However, there is a blogger that I have become acquainted with that knows a lot. His name is Derrick Crowe. Derrick is currently the Afghanistan blog fellow for The Seminal. He is a five year veteran of Capitol Hill and and a trained Creating a Culture of Peace facilitator.

His blog Return Good for Evil is excellent. And I encourage those who make their way here...to The Homefront...to check it out.

Breast Cancer Awareness

National Breast Cancer Awareness

Health Care is a Human Right

An opportunity to influence a historic floor vote in the Senate on single-payer legislation is upon us. You can help determine the outcome of this vote.

Yesterday Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont introduced an amendment to the Senate leadership's health bill that would delete the bulk of that bill's language and substitute the wording of his single-payer, Medicare-for-All bill, S. 703. Under Senate rules, his amendment will go straight to the floor for debate. The vote could come very soon.

Sanders measure, known as Senate Amendment 2837, would create "a universal, single-payer health insurance system" that is federally funded but administered by the states. It was introduced with two co-sponsors, Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Sen. Roland Burris of Illinois, although there are others such as Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, chair of the important Senate HELP committee, who are likely to vote for it.

For more details on the amendment, please see the PNHP news release.

Please urge your senators to vote "yes" on Senate Amendment 2837 as quickly as you can. The time factor is critical. The Congressional Switchboard number is (202) 224-3121

Obama's War

Thom Hartmann interviews Jeremy Scahill, an independent investigative reporter www.rebelreports.com.

Afghanistan, secret war with Pakistan

Food Not Bombs

"We Need Food Not Bombs" documents the present Food not Bombs chapter in Buffalo, New York. The video delves into the history of Food not Bomb's connection to larger movements for social justice. "We Need Food Not Bombs" makes connections amongst war, free trade, and poverty. The video shows grassroots opposition to violence through the distribution of free food.



Food Not Bombs

Hooray!!! Huge Victory for Vets!

President Obama has just signed IAVA's number one legislative priority for the year into law - advance funding for VA healthcare. Here's how the people changed government:

Brunch With Bernie 10/2/09

Every Friday Thom Hartmann holds a national town hall meeting with Senator Bernie Sanders (I) from Vermont. This is a very informative radio broadcast and will keep you up to date on a variety of issues.

Just who is my neighbor anyway?

This guy definitely has a clue:

The provision of health care for all without regard to status or ability to pay is portrayed in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:24-35). In a conversation that began with the question of how one might obtain eternal life, Jesus asserted that one must love God and one’s neighbor. In response to the next question as to who one’s neighbor is, Jesus told of a Samaritan, an outsider, who coming upon a wounded traveler, provided him with health care. Jesus described the duty to provide health care as owed regardless of the merit or ethnicity of the person in need, and owed to the limit of one’s economic capacity.........

There is no value in enriching insurance companies further. There is no value in fining people for not buying insurance. There is no value in denying care to undocumented immigrants.

The United States does not have the best health care in the world. It is not true that anyone can get care if they desire to have it.

Making Merchandise of You

Chris Hedges: Our Dead Culture

Chris Hedges says America is gone. It's lost to consumer culture and the cult of the self. We're barreling towards collapse. Hedges points to Michael Jackson's funeral, made into a maudlin form of entertainment where a celebrity attendee like Magic Johnson could plug his sponsor, A.K.A Kentucky Fried Chicken. In Hedges' view of this world, lies and manipulation win over truth, as evidenced everywhere from Wall Street to reality television. Over time, says Hedges, corporations have morphed our consumption into a constant, nagging compulsion. One homogenous culture sold to us by large companies has stamped out our nation's distinct regional differences, and there's no turning back. In this talk at Town Hall Seattle, Hedges makes his case against consumerism, celebrity culture, mainstream media and unfettered capitalism. His latest book is "Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle." Elliott Bay Book Company co–sponsored his talk on July 22, 2009.

And through covetousness, those with feigned words, will make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time does not linger, and their damnation does not slumber. - 2 Peter 2:3

People of Faith Calling for Health Care Reform

Omaha Health Care Prayer Vigil

Nearly 150 persons participated last month in an interfaith prayer vigil for health-care reform at First United Methodist Church in Omaha, Neb.

Congratulations Kevin Skinner

I've never watched America's Got Talent until this season. My daughter called me one night and said a former classmate of hers at the University of Houston Moores School of Music was on the program. She happened to see her while flipping through the channels on the remote. This was the young woman who was battling cancer that my daughter introduced me to one evening after an opera performance. She was a stunning young woman with a beautiful voice. One of the "real" people at Moores was the way my daughter described her. And so I began to watch the program. Barbara Padilla came in second tonight. A job well done. Congratulations for living out your dream. You are an inspiration to so many.

But I will have to say, when I watched the above video on You Tube, Kevin Skinner had me me at "will she know how much I loved her".

Congratulations Mr. Chicken Catcher Skinner. You deserve it.

What the hell is wrong with people?

I received an e-mail from my daughter this morning, sending me a link to President Obama's Message for Americas Students. She told me that a co-worker of hers said that "her daughter's school in Florence, TX outside Austin REFUSED to show this speech. Her daughter is bi-racial and has been so inspired by Barack Obama and was upset that her school would not show the speech. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE? There is NOTHING wrong with this speech. What message does it send to kids when adults are so stupid that they stop this speech from being aired in the classroom?"


From the Houston Chronicle:

“I think it's inappropriate because it smacks of political indoctrination of the worst kind,” said Brett Curtis, a parent of two children attending Pearland ISD schools. “It's not just a speech. It's a specific curriculum to go along with the speech directly from the president of the United States without review.”

‘Wild-eyed paranoia'
President Obama's speech does have its defenders.

“It's hard to imagine anything more ridiculous than attacking the president of the United States for talking to students about the importance of getting a good education and being a good citizen,” said Kathy Miller, president of the Texas Freedom Network, which monitors public education in Texas.

“I wish our elected leaders were responsible enough to denounce this kind of wild-eyed paranoia,” Miller said. “But the problem is too many of them are actually feeding this kind of nonsense — like when the governor flirts with secessionists and State Board of Education members say the president sympathizes with terrorists.”

My school district, Pasadena ISD, didn't show the speech (live) either. Here is the letter they sent to parents:

In a letter to school principals from the United States Department of Education, Secretary Arne Duncan announced that on September 8, 2009, President Barack Obama will deliver a national address to students on the importance of education. According to the letter, Secretary Duncan stated that the President will challenge students to work hard, set educational goals, and take responsibility for their learning.

The address will be broadcast live on the White House web site; however, due to the concern expressed by our community, teachers and other staff, we will not present the live address to students in Pasadena ISD. Instead, our Technology Department will record the address, giving our instructional leaders the opportunity to preview the president’s comments and decide if the speech is appropriate for our students. If it is appropriate, the principals will decide the grade level(s) in which it may be used based on the content of the message and the curriculum. If they determine that the address is appropriate for a group of students, as always, parents may request, in writing, that their child is opted out of viewing the address with the understanding that the student will receive an alternate assignment. If parents choose to keep a student home on the day the address is viewed in his/her classroom, the absence will be unexcused.

Thank you for your continued support of our students and staff.

When my daughter was in 2nd grade at Pasadena ISD they watched the Challenger explode into a million bits. They showed that and in replay too. But they refused to show Obama's speech? That is so messed up. And yet, same school district. There was no discussion of the effect on the students or the appropriatness of them seeing the Challenger blow up, nor was I notified with a "Letter to Parents" that my child would be watching it and I could opt out.

What the hell is wrong with people?

We're Number 37

Hat Tip: Kiss My Big Blue Butt

Here's What's Happening in the Texas Health Care System

Sick and Tired

Melissa del Bosque offers an eye-opening, firsthand report on how Texas' health-care system bleeds county coffers and sends some uninsured folks to early graves.

Fire Mission

"The events told in this film took place in 2008, and the interviews taken in 2009 near the end of the same deployment. I ask that when you watch, do not think of them as "the people over there" or as "just Iraqis". But imagine them as if it was your neighborhood that was hit, your family members that where killed."
--Sgt. Casey J. Porter