Saturday, December 26, 2009

How to be an activist and not getting arrested

Hey Folks,

OK, Folks, Christmas is over and back to work. We need to act now to save this nation. Make sure your Congressman goes back to DC with an understanding of how you feel about the health care plan(s), cap-n-trade, etc...

Here is an interesting email. There an article that outlines how to write you Congressman and be heard. And, an article on how to be an activist and not getting arrested.

Don

-----Forwarded Message-----
From: "Congress.org"
Sent: Dec 22, 2009 12:47 AM
To: Don Sipe
Subject: Tell Congress Your Story

December 22, 2009



Tell Congress Your Story Forget philosophical arguments or dry lists of statistics. When writing your Member of Congress about an issue, it's more important to talk about yourself. That's the message from Christopher Kush, a grassroots advocacy consultant in Washington, D.C., and author of "The One-Hour Activist," a step-by-step guide to effective advocacy. In this interview, he tells Congress.org members about the need to share how policy decisions will affect them personally and how to write in a natural voice. Read the interview with Christopher Kush on effective advocacy. How Hard is It to Pass a Treaty? If you think passing a health care bill is taking forever, wait until you see what it takes to approve a climate-change treaty. Congress is still several steps away from the drawn-out process of considering a treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as part of an international effort to combat global warming. But with world leaders from more than 190 countries gathering in Copenhagen to develop an agreement, it's coming up. President Obama visited Copenhagen last week as part of an effort to negotiate a non-binding agreement to reduce emissions. He is also pushing the Senate to approve a bill that would create a cap-and-trade system of trading pollution credits. Read more about how treaties pass the Senate. Acting Out in the Capitol For an activist on a shoestring budget, holding a sign in the halls of the U.S. Capitol or speaking out at a Congressional hearing can be a cheap way to make yourself heard. But it carries a hidden cost: The chance you'll be arrested. After making it through the metal detectors at the Capitol, activists looking to reach the eyes and ears of lawmakers have vast creative bounds — they can stage a "die in" against the Senate's looming health care bill or rally in the Rotunda in favor of AIDS research funding. But the line between a creative protest and an arrestable offense is a blurry one. "You can never guarantee you won't be arrested, no matter how mild your intervention is," said Gael Murphy, a co-founder of the anti-war group Code Pink. Read more about the line between activism and arrests. Follow Congress.org on Twitter Congress.org is now on Twitter! Throughout the day, we're posting links to our latest stories and other valuable news and information about Congress on the popular micro-blogging site. To read us, simply go to twitter.com/congressorg. If you're already a user of Twitter, just click "Follow" to see us in your regular feed. You can also follow our sister site, Roll Call, at twitter.com/rollcall , or the Congressional Quarterly environment team at twitter.com/cqclimate. You can also use Twitter to share your favorite stories, Soapbox alerts or bill information with your friends and colleagues. And don't forget to become a fan of Congress.org on Facebook at facebook.com/congressorg. How They Voted End debate on health care overhaul The Senate agreed to this motion to invoke cloture on an amendment making changes to the $871 billion health care bill. The vote allows debate to proceed and prevents a filibuster. Vote: 60-40 in the Senate. Want to track votes cast by your Members? Become a registered user and sign up for our weekly MegaVote newsletter.	A New Look Visit the redesigned Congress.org! We have more news throughout the week. Our reliable tools for advocacy remain unchanged and we'll be adding more in the weeks ahead. Get on Your Soapbox Want to make your voice heard concerning issues important to you? Get on your soapbox and make it happen! Our Soapbox feature allows you to give exposure to your issue and lets other Congress.org users take action on the alerts you create. Registered users are now allowed four free soapbox alerts per month! Track Your Lawmakers Want to track votes cast by your Members of Congress? Sign up for our regular MegaVote newsletter. Signed, Sealed, Hand-Delivered! Did you know that you can have your message hand-delivered to the door of your Members of Congress? For a small fee, we can give your letter "Extra Impact" to help make your voice heard. Select that option when filling out your message on any topic. Add Us Don't forget to add congressorg@capwiz.com to your address book to ensure prompt delivery of this newsletter each week. Unsubscribe Don't want to get this newsletter anymore? To unsubscribe or change your email address, click here.

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Congress.org is a publication of the CQ-Roll Call Group. Scott Montgomery, Managing Editor. Contact us

Friday, December 25, 2009

you deserve to know what our president thinks of our Christmas traditions.

Hey Folks,

I hate to spoil your Christmas, but, you deserve to know what our president thinks of our Christmas traditions.

Don

HOLIDAY BLUES

Obama's Christmas tree graced by Chairman Mao, transvestite

White House décor also includes president on Mount Rushmore

Posted: December 22, 2009
8:51 pm Eastern

By Bob Unruh
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

The face of China's Mao Zedong, blamed for the deaths of 50 to 80 million of his countrymen, graces an ornament on the White House Christmas tree for President Obama's first holiday season in residence.

According to BigGovernment.com, the tree also features an ornament adding Obama to Mount Rushmore.

The images, such as the "transvestite" character "Hedda Lettuce," are attributed to the work of Simon Doonan, creative director of Barney's New York, whose previous projects have included Margaret Thatcher as a dominatrix and Dan Quayle as a ventriloquist's dummy, according to the New York Times.

"Why let a holiday season come between the White House and making some political statements," Big Government's report asked. "These photos of ornaments on the White House Christmas tree in the Blue Room were taken just days ago. Of course, Mao has his place in the White House."

Chairman Mao at the White House (Photo by Big Government.com)

The Times noted the White House's choice of Doonan to decorate this year was confirmed by volunteers and florists who gathered to install annual displays.

(Story continues below)

The Times reported Doonan's work in the White House "certainly … will be less controversial than Mr. Doonan's displays for Barneys for more than two decades, which have alternatively fascinated and horrified holiday shoppers."

The report said previous holiday themes have included Andy Warhol and Sigmund Freud.

"And, so soon after collecting the Nobel Peace Prize, why wouldn't the White House have an ornament superimposing President Obama onto Mt. Rushmore," said Big Government's "Capitol Confidential" column.

Obama as part of Mount Rushmore (Photo by Big Government.com)

Why have Americans come to tolerate, embrace and even champion many things that would have horrified their parents' generation? Get David Kupelian's "The Marketing of Evil" at the WND Superstore.

On the website's forum page, one participant commented, "It's a 'Holiday Tree' not a Christmas tree. These people don't have any real morals so they might as well score some points with the moonbats."

The report follows a commentary from legendary martial arts champion, actor and WorldNetDaily columnist Chuck Norris on Obama's penchant for rejecting Christianity and its symbols.

Norris wrote in his recent WND column that Obama has "sarcastically belittled America's Judeo-Christian heritage and degraded its adherents with trite remarks typical of any atheistic antagonist."

He cited statements by Obama, including, "Whatever we were, we are no longer a Christian nation," and "The Sermon on the Mount [is] a passage that is so radical that our own defense department wouldn't survive its application."

'Transvestite' Hedda Lettuce (Photo by Big Government.com)

Obama also declared publicly in Turkey last April, "We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation."

Norris wrote, "President Obama has enabled an anti-Christian agenda unlike any former president by revising America's religious history, minimizing the role of religion today, passing secular-progressive legislation and turning a blind eye to issues like atheists' lawsuit to remove the national motto ('In God We Trust') off of the walls of the new Capitol Visitors Center in Washington, D.C., or the ACLU's disposal of Veteran memorial crosses in the Mojave Desert and at Mount Soledad.

"Every time President Obama has had an opportunity to stand for Christianity in any way, he has not only denied it but disdained it," he said.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Obama's Foreign Press Treatment.

Hey Folks,

Interesting read. Similar sentiments are being echoed from other international media, including some severe comments about Obama overall job performance in Europe. His honeymoon with the foreign media was shorter than here within the US.

Nobel peace prize doubts

News24.com, South Africa, 2009-12-09 22:32

Oslo - Controversy mounted on Wednesday over the choice of US President Barack Obama as the Nobel Peace Prize laureate on the eve of the award ceremony in Oslo, as public opinion judged him unworthy of the prize.

Obama, scheduled to arrive in the Norwegian capital early on Thursday to receive the award just nine days after announcing a surge of 30 000 troops in Afghanistan, will accept the prize as a "war president," the White House said on Tuesday.

"We'll address directly the notion, I think, that many have wondered, which is the juxtaposition of the timing of the Nobel Peace Prize and his commitment to add more troops," Obama's spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

That juxtaposition is losing support in Norway for Obama as this year's choice for the distinguished award, an accolade that stunned the world and the laureate himself when it was announced on October 9.

Obama had moved into the White House less than nine months before the recognition, and as commander-in-chief of US troops was waging wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The surge in Afghanistan will bring the number of US troops in the war-torn country to 100 000, triple the amount stationed there before Obama took office.

Two months after the prize announcement, consensus appears to have emerged that the five people appointed by the Norwegian parliament to pick the laureate of the world's most revered peace award made a premature decision.

A December 1-6 Quinnipiac University survey of 2 313 registered voters published on Tuesday showed that by a wide margin of 66-26%, Americans think Obama does not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize.

Mixed feelings

And in Norway, whose capital is preparing to welcome Obama to give him the Nobel medal and 10 million Swedish kronor (around $1.4m) prize money, the award is also viewed with mixed feelings.

A poll conducted by the InFact institute and published on Wednesday in the daily Verdens Gang (VG) showed that just 35.9% of Norwegians thought Obama deserved the prize, down from 42.7% when the winner was announced in October.

Nearly as many, 33.5%, believe the 44th US president is unworthy of the award that has been handed out for over a century.

The awkward timing of Obama's announcement of troops for Afghanistan forced the Nobel Norwegian Committee to justify its choice again this week.

Geir Lundestad, secretary of the committee, said on Norwegian NRK radio that most US presidents face conflicts and wars - but the new mood in US foreign policy justified Obama's elevation.

The president had "put the accent on international cooperation, the United Nations, dialogue, negotiation, the struggle against climate change and disarmament," Lundestad said.

Obama will be in Oslo for a bit more than 24 hours to pick up the award that adds him to a list of laureates including Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and Aung San Suu Kyi.

Events related to the formal Nobel Peace Prize ceremony normally run over three days, but the president has shortened his visit and excluded the traditional lunch with the king and a Friday night concert in his honour.

Wednesday's InFact survey showed that a majority of Norwegians perceived his short programme and tight schedule as "impolite" snubs.

There will also be no traditional day-before press conference or lengthy CNN sit-down interview laureates usually grant - enabling him to avoid potentially embarrassing questions.

Yet some plan to make sure the prize attribution does not go unquestioned.

A number of peace and anti-nuclear weapons organisations have planned demonstrations on Thursday evening near the hotel where Obama will be staying.

Don of Indy

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Obama slips faster than any other President.

Hey Folks,

Not quite in office for eleven months yet....

Click here: YouTube - The Poll Numbers Slip Sliding Away

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFHpPNumUf4

Don of Indy

“President Obama claims to have inherited every bad happening from Bush instead owning up to his current misjudgements

Comments by Don of Indy:

Bush Makes Republicans Sole Beneficiaries in New Will, Obama Cannot Inherit Any Further Messes Cold Mash, December 8 2009

Former President George W. Bush announced today that he has officially changed his will and named Republicans as the sole beneficiaries. Tormented by the constant references of Barack Obama to “inherited messes”, Mr. Bush decided to change his will to save further annoyance.

“President Obama claims to have inherited every bad happening from me,” said Bush. “Well, not anymore. He’s out of the will, and he can’t inherit anything else. Let him work for it himself.”

Attorneys for President Obama began researching ways to challenge the will in order to preserve his inheritance. Initial thoughts were to challenge the soundness of mind of Mr. Bush when he made the change or to invalidate the new will through an act of Congress which guarantees that President Obama can inherit more than 50% of all messes through the inheritance tax.

BTW: This satire.

Don of Indy

Senator Frank Lautenberg is at it again.

Hey , here is a notice I got from our watchdogs at NAGR.

I am glad they are watching out for Americans.

Dear Gerald,

He’s at it again.

Arch gun-hater Senator Frank Lautenberg is back on the warpath against our gun rights.

Lautenberg, who has already introduced a number of anti-gun measures this year, has just unveiled his latest assault on our rights.

S.2820, the Gun Owner Tracking Act of 2009, would allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation to keep all National Instant Check System (NICS) data for every firearm purchased through a federally licensed firearms dealer for “up to ten years.”

What does this mean for gun owners? It means records of every firearm purchased through a dealer, along with the personal data of the purchaser, will be maintained by the federal government.

The serial number, make and model of every gun you purchase, as well as your personal contact information, will be available to the FBIand the notoriously anti-gun Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE).

Put simply, this legislation would lay the groundwork for a national gun registry. If a federal ban on certain types of firearms were enacted, federal law enforcement agencies would be able to use this gun owner tracking system to begin firearms confiscation.

Sound far-fetched? Remember that tyrants throughout history, from Hitler to Stalin to Mao, have used gun owner tracking schemes as afirst step toward total citizen disarmament.

Of course, Senator Lautenberg has masked this legislative abomination in the guise of promoting “homeland security.” He claims this gun owner tracking database will help Big Brother Government protect us from terrorists. But as you know, the Obama Administration and the Department of Homeland Security already think gun owners — like you and me — are “domestic terrorists.”

The Brady Registration Act of 1993 created the NICS system to verify the legality of firearms sales by licensed dealers. The law currently requires all information pertaining to the purchase of firearms, including the firearm serial number and the purchasers contact information be destroyed after 24 hours.

Let me be clear; the National Association for Gun Rights supports the repeal of the Brady Registration Act. Any attempt to further strengthen this unconstitutional intrusion in the lives and actions of law-abiding gun owners must not be tolerated.

Here’s what you can do to stop the Gun Owner Tacking Act:

Click here to contact your Senators and tell them to oppose S.2820, the Gun Owner Tracking Act of 2009.

Want to vent your frustration about this unconscionable measure?Click here to comment on the National Association for Gun Rights blog.

You can also help the National Association for Gun Rights fight S.2820 by making a generous contribution here.

To stay informed of all the latest developments on this, and other gun rights fights, visit the National Association for Gun Rights website www.NationalGunRights.org.

Stay Vigilant,

Dudley Brown
Executive Director
National Association for Gun Rights