IF ARMING TEACHERS IS THE ANSWER - WHAT EXACTLY IS THE GOAL?

The gun used at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

This is the advertisement for the Sandy Hook massacre gun.

Do we want educators or good shots?  Do we want to require you have to be a gun carrying, good shot and NRA member to be teachers of our nation's students?  A member of the NRA, but not a member of a teachers union?  Teacher unions are under attack, the misnamed "right to work" raison d'etre (reason to be) is to kill the unions, teacher pensions are under attack,  in many communities, the teachers have not been respected for decades.  And yet, expectations for the education system has soared in more than the areas of subjects that once were the conventional things that we held our schools responsible for teaching our children.

Teachers carry a gun? Where in the classroom would the teacher store her gun? Would she have impunity if a child got access to it?

Have you heard that the solution is that the Principal at Sandy Hook Elementary School should have had a gun in her office?  That all teachers should have guns. If you are or have ever been a teacher in elementary school, middle school or high school, or even on a college campus, you can picture what I am about to explain. 

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Rep. Louie Gohmert argued that if the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary School had a gun she could have stopped the shooter from killing 20 children and five other school teachers.  Gohmert has spoken out publicly in favor of increased gun accessibility in the wake of the Friday attack.

I was an elementary school music teacher.  My first year as a teacher, I had 950 students. There are times you are the lone adult in a room or playground with hundreds of children.  Would you carry your gun there?  And if you needed to use it, and accidentally killed one or more of the hundreds of children under your care, because you are not a good enough shot, had an off day as a good shot, got nervous or the chaos of a situation made it impossible to only target an armed intruder or an armed student, would you have legal impunity for killing one or more of your students? Or if you only have the gun in your classroom somewhere, presumably locked away for safety that no child under your care would get access to it, what good would the gun be if you were doing duty in the cafeteria, school assembly, walking down the hall with the class to a music, art or physical education class.  

I am picturing my college years where I was supposedly getting my education in my subject area.  It was a liberal arts school, so though I was loaded with music courses, I also took biology, English literature, French, Philosophy.  If teachers were required to carry guns, we would have to have courses in guns, knowing how to shop for the gun allowed, because surely there would be laws restricting a teacher’s gun, the kind of gun, the kind of bullets, how to handle a gun, keeping them in good repair, insuring them, how to keep them out of the hands of students who might use them as a play thing or the real thing, when it is and isn’t appropriate to use the gun.  Will there be “stand your ground” laws for teachers? Will self-defense mean we must see a gun being used on a student first before we can shoot?  Do we need witnesses to prove we used the gun properly?  Will we be police officers or teachers?  If I would have been mandated to carry a gun as a teacher and not given the same rights as police officers, there would be major problems.  If that doesn’t’ make sense, then the major problem begins with your critical thinking weaknesses.

How many college gun course hours would be required for my teacher certification?  How many hours of target shooting would I have to have to get my teacher certificate?  Would I have to take shooting range practice throughout my teaching career until retirement (now age 67 years in Rhode Island)?  What if I am not able to hold a gun due to illness of any kind, for example I am disabled?  When we hire new teachers, do we have them illustrate their shooting abilities with range shooting with moving targets as a part of the interview?

Sandy Hook shooting sparks gun sales surge

 

For Sandy Hook Elementary School

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PRESIDENT OBAMA: “Silence, acquiescence, paralysis in the face of genocide is wrong.”

PRESIDENT OBAMA said: “Silence, acquiescence, paralysis in the face of genocide is wrong.”

Send your letter to President Obama.

Here is my letter that I sent ~

Dear President Obama:

I have been involved as a volunteer activist regarding Sudan since 2003. I heard you speak at the 2006 Rally for Darfur on the mall in Washington, D.C. What you said then, made me believe you cared. I believe you meant what you said then and also when you visited a Darfur refugee camp prior to becoming President. However, your appointed Special Envoys to Sudan have not only be ineffective, but detrimental to the human rights violations by the Sudanese government. How can you do this? It does not line up with what you said prior to becoming President in 2008. Or to the letter you sent to me and other activists the first year of your Presidency.

The people of Darfur have been experiencing genocide for almost ten years and continue to suffer. Sudan President Omar al-Bashir has been allowed to use the "lessons learned" from Darfur in the Nuba Mountains/South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions, where innocent civilians are now also experiencing what many call genocide. Clearly, current U.S. policy and international engagement is not working.

At the 2006 D.C. Rally for Darfur, you said: “Silence, acquiescence, paralysis in the face of genocide is wrong.” As a Senator and a first-time candidate for President, you promised to act.

You also said: "Our action and leadership will show who we are as a nation and as a people."

And yet, your administration has not taken action, shown humanity leadership regarding Sudan or made it a priority as you said you would in the text of your letter response to me in your first year as President.

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"If we don’t fight hard enough for the things we stand for, at some point we have to recognize that we don’t really stand for them.” Paul Wellstone, 1944-2002

You have the opportunity as President to make a marked difference in the lives of the Sudanese people trying to stay alive in caves, tents, after rape, after witnessing their family members being slaughtered, under the fire of Sudanese government bombings, during years of on-going blocking of food and health assistance and scorched earth manifestations of genocide by the Sudanese government. The Sudanese government that your administration has given the go-ahead to keep on committing the atrocious crimes of genocide has increasingly become emboldened because they KNOW that the USA and other potential coalition countries have done nothing, will do nothing to stop their genocides in various regions of their country. All on your watch.

When you are no longer President, I will not believe you when you say that you regret you did not effectively do enough to stop this from going further in Sudan. That is what Bill Clinton did about Rwanda. This is your Rwanda.

Sincerely,

Sandra Hammel

The following text is from ~

Hidden Hunger - Living in Caves in Nuba Mountains of Sudan

Read the full article ~Nuba Reports

Frequent bombing by the Sudan government continues to threaten civilians' safety. More than 100 bombs fell in South Kordofan in October, according to Nuba Reports journalists. Attacks on the ground are also a concern for citizens as the SAF burns villages as part of the violent campaign against areas under Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) control.

For many, the journey to Yida refugee camp in South Sudan is a daunting choice. With over 65,000 people inhabiting a camp intended for 15,000, living conditions are poor, food stocks are low and the long walk there is dangerous.

Life in the mountains is not a solution for displaced people, however. Cave life is unsustainable, especially without land to harvest or hope for food aid. Violence surrounds the mountains but their home villages are destroyed or in too dangerous a region to which to return.

Marriam Teia told Nuba Reports that not only does she have no way to get to Yida, but it is a place she's never been before--far from her home in Tess, a village recently burned by the SAF. "I don't know where to put my heart," she said. "I'm in the middle. I want to go home."

Read the full article ~Nuba Reports

Send your letter to President Obama.

OBAMA FAILS TO DELIVER ON CAMPAIGN PROMISE REGARDING WALL STREET - INSIDE JOB - OSCAR WINNER 2011

We Are All Wisconsin

Financial Crisis - No One Held Accountable - Lack of Regulation

AND

Wisconsin - Bargaining Rights of USA Workers

What is the connection?

There's a problem and it isn't people who have the right to bargain. Do you know why states really have financial issues? Including pension payments for their retirees? It has to do with the banks who made bad investments and in turn it affected the market...the stock market where states had invested their money for the purpose of growth. But that growth didn't happen and the states are now in financial trouble. And it happened because legal restraints didn't exist to protect the public. The "less government is better" concept decided not to protect the "little people", but the big banks....you know those who were deemed "too big to fail". And none of those banks have been held accountable for the "bad business" practices...it's dominos-like. And here we are....time to wake the sleeping elephant in the "room". Justice doesn't happen, unless we make it happen.

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"IT'S A WALL STREET GOVERNMENT"
quote from the documentary INSIDE JOB

Oscars 2011: Inside Job ~ best documentary award

Charles Ferguson's documentary about the origins of the financial crash comes out on top in Oscar race

Inside Job - 6 clips

Facebook of Inside Job

Official website of the movie ~ Inside Job
includes movie promotional clip

Peter Bradshaw reviews Inside Job

Inside Job

1. Production year: 2010
2. Country: USA
3. Cert (UK): 12A
4. Runtime: 108 mins
5. Directors: Charles Ferguson
6. Cast: Matt Damon
7. More on this film

*Inside Job: How bankers caused the financial crisis

• Phillip Inman and Patrick Kingsley
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 17 February 2011 21.00 GMT
• Article history

The film Inside Job brilliantly exposes the corruption in US banking that led to the 2008 crash.
This * article asked four bankers for their verdict on this damning indictment of their world in Inside Job

※※※※※※※※※※※

Banks' millionaires could be revealed

Treasury select committee may be given information about top pay at nine biggest banks by end of April

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Uploaded by danceratkim

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Uploaded by

A Lack of Accountability Sacrifices Justice

USA NEEDS SEPARATION OF CORPORATE RICH AND GOVERNMENT ~ SIMILAR TO SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
CONTACT Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker
Facebook ~ http://www.facebook.com/governorscottwalker
Email ~ govgeneral@wisconsin.gov
Twitter ~ @GovWalker
http://twitter.com/#!/govwalker

ilovemylife: USA NEEDS SEPARATION OF CORPORATE RICH AND GOVERNMENT ~ SIMILAR TO SEPARATION OF CHURCH

"The phone call" of Walker and the fake Koch can be heard in full at my personal blog post (link above) and at youtube

THERE ARE TIMES IN MY LIFE I HAVE PRIDE THAT I BELONG TO THE HUMAN RACE AND TODAY WAS ONE OF THOSE

There have been a few times in my life that I feel more at ease, warmth in the heart, stand up more erect and have pride in belonging to the human race. Only a few, but those few times have been inspirational and memorable. Those times never fade from the prominent place that they reside in my experience.

Today, was one of those.

Gabriel and Katie-Jay Stauring, James Thacher, Eric Angel and Yuen-Lin work as a team to bring the people at a Darfuri camp into our lives. Today, the three who are in the camp, Gabriel and Katie-Jay Stauring, James and Eric Angel in California and Yuen-Lin (in Malaysia, I think) did a LIVE online-cast of a Town Meeting, where we could ask questions of the Darfuri people and hear their answers while watching them on our computer screens. Technology meets genocide.

To watch a recorded version of the LIVE Town Hall Meeting of Sunday December 12, 2010 with Darfuris in Camp Djabal in Chad, on the border of the countries of Chad and Sudan (African continent), go here.

Also, if you click the post title, it will take you there.

And I hope you won't miss watching videos by the Darfuri youth, who Gabriel and Katie-Jay provided with cameras. Pictures and videos have been uploaded . It gives a view from their camera lens of what life is like, where they are forced to live because of a genocidal regime in their home region of Darfur.

Much thanks goes out to each one that helps bring this to us and also for allowing those there to have a voice. It is powerful to hear from them!

Darfuri Youth Photo Journalists
Katie-Jay and Gabriel have turned Darfuri youth into photo journalists. The camera work tells us so much about student videographers and photographers and the camp, all at the same time. The town hall, the videos, pictures and stories altogether makes it so easy to feel we are them and they are us.

Photo credit: Khaltouma

Photo credit: Khaltouma

More photos iactivism.org/ionground

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December 13, 2010

Poetry From a Young Darfuri

A young Darfuri handed us these carefully written pages yesterday. They provide a glimpse into one person’s experience of exile, hardship and hope for the future.

Continue Reading

WHY DARFUR?
Reason #12: Children deserve a childhood
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i-ACT 9: Raouda's little brother from iActivism on Vimeo.

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Raouda's little brother and the stuffed animal brought by Katie-Jay

Katie-Jay writes ~
When we met Raouda in January 2009 we asked her what she missed about Darfur. She described a small animal that had cotton inside it, a stuffed animal! Something almost every child has connected with at one time or another during their life. Several people sent us animals to give to Raouda and the other children. Today, we were able to give one to Raouda. It was her youngest brother, Mydi, that enjoyed the animal the most. Raouda herself smiled a bit when I gave it to her. She is married now, at age 13, and I fear that between caring for her grandmother, and now her husband she has missed the small joys of childhood, like playing with stuffed animals.


Blog posts of the trip to Darfuri refugee camp Djabal

www.stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact9/day3
December 11, 2010

www.stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact9/day2
December 10, 2010

www.stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact9/day1
December 9, 2010

www.stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact9/day0
December 8, 2010

Communicate to the President
that he has a role to play

1-800-GENOCIDE
1-202-456-1111
www.whitehouse.gov/contact


Won't you use your voice?
Darfuris have been put on the back burner by our President
and many other leaders on the planet
and
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir
has put them on the front burner.

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Eric Reeves' November 12, 2010 article

The Obama Administration"Decouples" Darfur

Khartoum is given free rein to obtain its "perfect ending" ("Misk al-Khitam")

A small fraction of the article ~

One well-informed Darfuri has written to me that “evidence of mobilization in Darfur is everywhere: airports, convoys leaving large cities and towns, heading toward villages in North and West Darfur” (email received November 2, 2010).

This source continues: “Many tanks, troops were seen in North Darfur near Kutum, Kornoi, and al-Tina. Additionally, Janjaweed gatherings were seen in the West Darfur areas of el-Geneina and Kulbus.” And further, “Loads of pro-Government of Sudan volunteers landed in Kutum (North Darfur) airport.” When asked who they were and where they were going, one enthusiast replied, “We are mujahideen and the government told us we have to fight the infidels and supporters in Darfur. We came to clean Darfur.” The same source reports that a family member in Nyala has observed a sharp uptick in military flights out of Nyala airport.

Eric Reeves full article www.sudanreeves.org

NO GOLD STAR FOR U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY GRATION - We're NOT Smiling

Cookies for General Scott Gration to give to the Government of Sudan
for implementation of his policy to end the genocide

The United States Special Envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration in this article
U.S. Envoy's Outreach to Sudan is Criticized as Naive states, in regards Darfur, Sudan and the ongoing genocide since 2003, the following:

"We've got to think about giving out cookies (to the Government of Sudan)," said Gration, who was appointed in March. "Kids, countries -- they react to gold stars, smiley faces, handshakes, agreements, talk, engagement."

The students from Stand Now took action on Wednesday of this week in relation to Special Envoy Gration's comment:

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Text from the youtube page:
"To draw attention to Special Envoy for Sudan Scott Gration's troubling strategy, students from STAND, the student-led division of Genocide Intervention Network, headed to the Sudanese embassy to present the Government of Sudan with a gold star and smiley face."
Uploaded by StandAntiGenocide

With a small gesture, citizens demonstrated how absurd Gration's Gold Star strategy is and how important it is for President Obama to make sure his Special Envoy is pursuing a balanced approached to Sudan that includes sticks – not just smiley faces and gold stars.

And Washington wasn't the only place where students took action this week. Activists across the country sent nearly 600 e-mail messages to President Obama regarding the troubling nature of the Special Envoy's remarks.

Source for the text below: Giving Sudan its Gold Star by Stand Now's High School National Outreach Coordinator, Mickey Jackson

I have to admit that until this week, I never dreamed that anything could possess me to trudge through the rain with a bunch of other DC-area students and lay a hastily-made cardboard-and-paper gold star against the door of the Sudanese embassy. But then again, I never dreamed that Scott Gration, the Obama Administration's special envoy to Sudan, would tell the Washington Post that we should try to end a genocide by "giving out cookies...gold stars, [and] smiley faces" to an indicted war criminal.

We are fully aware that Wednesday's action at the Sudanese embassy was a stunt. As a rule, STAND students do not rely on stunts to bring attention to the ongoing genocide in Darfur; we are known and renowned for our smart, targeted advocacy campaigns directed at our elected officials and executed by thousands of dedicated student activists nationwide. But this week, we felt the need to highlight the absurdity of General Gration's comments, and the Administration's highly conspicuous lack of a tough, coherent policy for addressing the ongoing atrocities and humanitarian crisis in Darfur. And so we took it upon ourselves to step up to the plate for General Gration and give the Sudanese government the gold star that they apparently have so richly earned.

Consider taking an extra minute to send a message to the President Obama. Tell him that eight months is too long to wait for a strong Sudan policy. Tell him that General Gration's comments do not reflect his own views on Sudan. Tell him to personally get involved and fulfill the promises that he has made to the anti-genocide constituency.

Another Washington Post Bombshell

Posted by John Norris on Sep 30, 2009

Another day, another disastrous news cycle for the administration on Sudan. As if yesterday’s story in the Post was not enough, a piece today delves into a fascinating and sordid web of connections between disgraced former U.S. National Security Advisor Bud McFarlane and the Sudanese government as part of an effort to improve Khartoum’s relationship with the Obama administration. McFarlane was apparently contracted by the Sudanese government – for $1.3 million channeled through Qatar – to lobby Obama administration officials.

This is a well reported story, and it is a tale full of very, very bad judgment by some key players: by McFarlane who did not disclose that he was employed to lobby at the behest of a foreign government that is still designated as a state sponsor of terror; by U.S. Special Envoy Major General Scott Gration and National Security Advisor Jim Jones, who not only met with McFarlane but appear to have found him a useful intermediary; and, by everyone else who thought that using Qatar as a front for payments to McFarlane to help obscure his direct links to Sudan’s National Congress Party was a clever idea. The insistence by the White House that McFarlane just wanted to come in and discuss “the urgent need to improve the security situation in Sudan and the need for development in southern Sudan" does not seem particularly credible. It is hard to imagine McFarlane being paid over a million dollars by the NCP to go to the White House and chat about development.

The only people who look sensible out of all this are some of the former U.S. officials who had a role in Sudan policy and were smart enough to stay miles away from a relationship that clearly stank to high heaven. As Bob Oakley, a former U.S. Ambassador describes in the article, McFarlane was "trying to broker some arrangements between the Sudanese government and the Obama administration." Oakley calls McFarlane "a wheeler-dealer," and added, "I remember him from Iran-contra and all the rest. I didn't get into it; I didn't want to, quite frankly."

Combined with yesterday’s story in the Post, it is becoming painfully clear that U.S. policy toward Sudan is threatening to become unglued. We are still awaiting word as to what came out of the yesterday’s policy review, but something has to change.

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No More Empty Promises

We are visitors on this planet.

We are here for ninety or one hundred years

at the very most.

During that period,

we must try to do something good,

something useful, with our lives.

If you contribute to other people’s happiness,

You will find the true goal, the true meaning of life.

H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENOCIDE WILL STOP WITH US

While We Wait Sudan

blogfordarfur.org

"The Most Important Office is That of Private Citizen"
Louis D. Brandeis

Comments to President Obama:
202-456-1111 or 1-800-GENOCIDE

Join the Fast for Darfuris

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed people could change the world.
Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
Margaret Mead

www.savedarfur.org

www.stopgenocidenow.org

Help - Use Your Voice

1-800-GENOCIDE

NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE

WE'VE HAD ENOUGH - BARACK OBAMA NEEDS TO SHOW RESOLVE ABOUT THE DEFINING ISSUE OF GENOCIDE WHILE PRESIDENT

This IS outrageous. U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration, needs to spend some time with his family. And President Obama needs to find some resolve on this "Defining" Issue. We need some of the hope we all fought so hard to be manifested when we campaigned for our new President.


U.S. Envoy's Outreach to Sudan is Criticized as Naive

by Stephanie McCrummen

Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, September 29, 2009

EL FASHER, Sudan -- The volatility of this East African nation -- from the Darfur conflict to the threat of renewed civil war in the south -- is becoming a test of how President Obama will reconcile a policy of engagement with earlier statements blasting a government he said had "offended the standards of our common humanity."

Top administration officials are scheduled to meet Tuesday to discuss a major review of the United States' Sudan policy. But even as that document is being finalized, U.S. diplomacy has remained mostly in the hands of Obama's special envoy to Sudan, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. J. Scott Gration, who is pushing toward normalized relations with the only country in the world led by a president indicted on war-crimes charges.

Although Gration describes the approach as pragmatic and driven by a sense of urgency, his critics here and in the United States say it is dangerously, perhaps willfully, naive. During a recent five-day trip to Sudan, Gration heard from southern officials, displaced Darfurians, rebels and others who complained uniformly that he is being manipulated by government officials who talk peace even as they undermine it.

Still, at the end of the visit, Gration maintained a strikingly different perspective. He had seen signs of goodwill from the government of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, he said, and viewed many of the complaints as understandable yet knee-jerk reactions to a government he trusts is ready to change.

"We've got to think about giving out cookies," said Gration, who was appointed in March. "Kids, countries -- they react to gold stars, smiley faces, handshakes, agreements, talk, engagement."

Gration's approach has supporters, including Eltyeb Hag Ateya, a Sudanese professor and critic of Bashir's ruling party. He said Gration is "completely different" from previous envoys, who succeeded only in alienating the people who hold the levers of power in Sudan.

Gration's detractors say his approach is based on a misunderstanding of how Bashir's ruling party works. John Prendergast, co-chairman of the Enough Project, a human rights group advocating tougher, multilateral sanctions against Sudan, said Bashir and his top advisers respond only to pressure. "They do not respond to nice guys coming over and saying, 'We have to be a good guest,' " he said. "They eat these people for dinner."

Adam Mudawi, a Sudanese human rights activist who has seen envoys come and go, put it more bluntly: "In six months, he'll find out," he said. "They are liars."

But in interviews during the trip, Gration said that Sudanese government officials have not lied to him. He spoke of new realities in Darfur, where a brutal government campaign has given way to banditry and fighting among rebel factions and tribes. Although many say the government has orchestrated the chaos, Gration spread the blame. Rebels have turned into criminal gangs and failed to unify for peace talks, he said. And many displaced Darfurians are dealing with "psychological stuff" that is leading to unhelpful mistrust of the government, he said.

Gration said that in his view, the ruling party deserves some credit lately for allowing some foreign aid groups to return after Bashir expelled others following his March indictment by the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes in Darfur. Gration said economic sanctions, first imposed against Sudan in 1997, have thwarted development that would help marginalized parts of Sudan.

And as distasteful as it may seem, he said, engaging the ruling party is the only way to get a settlement in Darfur and to avert a potentially devastating war ahead of the semiautonomous southern region's 2011 vote on independence.

Ghazi Salahuddin, a close Bashir adviser, praised Gration for "trying to be evenhanded." During a stop in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur state, Gration was greeted like a rock star by hundreds of cheering Bashir supporters in a conference hall plastered with posters of Bashir and Obama, poorly photo-shopped together.

Read page 2 at www.washingtonpost.com

Read page 3 at www.washingtonpost.com

Darfur Conflict

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Remember Darfur

No More Empty Promises


Whatever you did for one of the least of these
I don't consider myself a religious person at all.
Spiritual person, yes. Religious, no.
However, I love this passage of the Bible at the above link.

We are visitors on this planet.

We are here for ninety or one hundred years

at the very most.

During that period,

we must try to do something good,

something useful, with our lives.

If you contribute to other people’s happiness,

You will find the true goal, the true meaning of life.

H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama

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GENOCIDE WILL STOP WITH US


"The Most Important Office is That of Private Citizen"
Louis D. Brandeis

Comments to President Obama:
202-456-1111 or 1-800-GENOCIDE

Dear President Obama - A letter sent March 12, 2009

Join the Fast for Darfuris

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed people could change the world.
Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
Margaret Mead

www.savedarfur.org

www.stopgenocidenow.org

WhileWeWaitSudan.blogspot.com

www.stopgenocidenow/campdarfur.org

Help - Use Your Voice

1-800-GENOCIDE

Click my post title for Human Rights First site

NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE

If We Only Have Love

OBAMA TO SPEAK TO GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS, SEPT 23, 2009

LINKS TO PRESIDENT OBAMA'S ADDRESS TO THE UNITED NATIONS 64TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

UNITED NATIONS PAGE

www.unausa.org/obamaspeakstotheworld

Click here to watch the speech live.

Streaming video and Live Chat via

UNA-USA will be presenting President Obama's speech live video streaming on Wednesday the 23rd. Additionally we will be hosting a live chat through the Facebook application located here.

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When UN Secretary/General, Ban Ki-moon talks, does the Government of Sudan care what he says?

Deeply Concerned at Reports of Recent Clashes between Sudanese Government Forces,

Rebels in North Darfur, Secretary-General Calls on All Parties for Restraint

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The Secretary-General is deeply concerned by reports of recent clashes between the Government of Sudan and rebel forces, and the resultant loss of civilian lives and properties in the area of Korma, North Darfur.

The Secretary-General calls on all parties to use restraint, renew their commitment to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, and redouble their efforts to reach a political settlement of the conflict in Darfur.

The Secretary-General also reiterates the importance of ensuring a safe and free passage for United Nations and humanitarian personnel to assess the situation on the ground and provide life-saving assistance to those in need.

Source: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2009/sgsm12473.doc.htm

Secretary-General Strongly Condemns Deadly Attack on Village in Southern Sudan

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The Secretary-General strongly condemns the 20 September attack on residents of Duk Padiet village in Jonglei State, in Southern Sudan. Initial reports indicate upwards of 100 persons were killed in the attacks. The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) continues to determine the full extent of this terrible event.

The Secretary-General urges the Government of Southern Sudan to further strengthen their efforts to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of these crimes.

In the meantime, the Secretary-General commends the efforts of the Government to restore order, deter retaliatory attacks and to pursue dialogue and reconciliation among all concerned parties.

Source: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2009/sgsm12472.doc.htm

Secretary-General Remains ‘Gravely Concerned’ by Abduction of Two

United Nations Staff Members of Hybrid Mission in Darfur

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The Secretary-General remains gravely concerned by the abduction of two international staff members at the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), taken from their homes on 28 August 2009. UNAMID officials are working closely with authorities from the Government of Sudan to ensure their safe release.

The Secretary-General wishes to underscore the importance of the peacekeeping and humanitarian work being undertaken in Darfur, and his belief that United Nations staff members carry out valuable work around the world, which they should be able to do without fear of harassment or intimidation. The Secretary-General expresses his solidarity with the families of the abducted staff members, and calls for their safe and speedy return.

Source: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2009/sgsm12471.doc.htm

RACISTS WHO DON'T KNOW THEY ARE RACISTS

AND THE SILENCE OF THOSE WHO AREN'T

If the loudest words and the current atmosphere of spreading opinions as facts continues without being called out for what they may very well be - uninformed, prejudice-based and racism in the United States of America - then it will take people with the backbone and courage to become loud and repetitive in our own "loop" of saying:

"This is racism and this is not how I want to be defined. This is not the direction I want this country to continue."

The agenda of this country will continue to be highjacked by this segment of the United States of America, until a saner segment speaks up and steers the agenda. Silence will not get us what we want, unless we want racists to lead us into the valley of sick.

Racism - dressed up - as normal is where we are right now.

If racists are the ones using their right to spread ignorance and hatred and the ones on the other side are being apathetic and voiceless, there is only one outcome. And it won't be a proud period of history.

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks to auto workers about labor and health care at the GM plant September 15, 2009 in Lordstown, Ohio. Obama said that the economy depends on getting the auto industry back on its feet.

September 14, 2009
Photo credit: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

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Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

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HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel featured University of Memphis Swim Study

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Next week, eyes will be on President Obama as he gives his speech to the United Nations General Assembly.

Today, you and I have one more chance to tell him unequivocally—"Don't Forget Darfur."

In a few days, Save Darfur's president, Jerry Fowler, is meeting with the U.S. Mission to the United Nations to talk about peace in Sudan and deliver our "Don't Forget Darfur" petitions.

Ask others to add their voices to speak up for justice in Darfur

Pittsburgh - Voices for Darfur given permision to protest the G-20 meeting to draw attention to the situation in Darfur

United States Darfur special envoy Scott Gration criticized by refugees

Click on post title to go to While We Wait - a blog by a Darfuri

VIDEO OF NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND - SACHUEST WILDLIFE REFUGE, THE CLIFF WALK, BEACHES

We are visitors on this planet.
We are here for ninety or one hundred years
at the very most.
During that period,
we must try to do something good,
something useful, with our lives.
If you contribute to other peoples happiness,
You will find the true goal, the true meaning of life.
H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama

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Rawandan Sisters Tribute
Uploaded by ilovemylifesblog

Since 2005, I have sponsored a sister in Rwanda annually through womenforwomen We exchange pictures of ourselves and letters. The sisters get training in their rights, income-earning skills and ways to improve their families' lives, therefore improving the community, as well. My sisters live without electricity in their homes, without indoor water and oftentimes cannot afford to send their children to school. My sister this year was able to buy a goat and some chickens with the $27 a month that I provide. This has enabled her to send her children to school. This is very satisfying to me because children need to go to school. Many women are raising other women's children because the children's mothers or grandmothers were murdered.

Knowing that the world abandoned the 800,000 to one million Rwandans in 1994 who died in a genocide, I wanted to reach out to the women one-to-one and help them have a bit better lives.

I currently volunteer as a community leader trying to bring the needed attention to the Darfuri people who have had genocide by their own government on-going since 2003. The world has known this and virtually has done nothing.

The paintings in the video are by Sandra Hammel, as are the photos and video. Except for the paintings, everything in the video is of Aquidneck Island where I live. The paintings are done of photographs from Oprah's first televised trip to South Africa.

Original music: "Our Shared Breath".

The photography and video locations: Sachuest Beach and Sachuest Wildlife Refuge, Middletown, Rhode Island. The Cliff Walk, Eastons Beach, Brenton Cove all in Newport, Rhode Island.

This video is a tribute to my sisters of Rwanda who are an inspiration to me. Whenever I feel my life is not going as I want, I think of their lives, as well as the millions of Darfuri refugees who are trying to survive dire situations in the camps. It puts things in perspective immediately.

No More Empty Promises

Websites to learn about Darfur:

By a Darfuri living in the United States of America:
while we wait sudan

The basics about Darfur:
savedarfur.org/pages/primer

www.savedarfur.org

www.stopgenocidenow.org

Comments to President Obama:
www.whitehouse.gov/contact
202-456-1111
1-800-GENOCIDE

Thank you for standing for justice and peace
and being a voice for this defining issue

GENOCIDE WILL STOP WITH US

The same video at vimeo
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RWANDAN SISTERS TRIBUTE ~ WomenforWomen.org from ilovemylifesblog on Vimeo.

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SRI LANKA - DISTURBING VIDEO - IMAGINE WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE ACTUALLY "LIVING" IT

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This video has genocidal killings included in it - in Sri Lanka
Uploaded August 27, 2009 by myRangana
Channel 4 News website www.channel4.com/news

Click on this post's title to link to interview regarding Congo
Uploaded on August 27, 2009 by CarlosDCblog

JUSTICE DOESN'T JUST HAPPEN - WE ARE ALL THE KEEPERS OF JUSTICE

Of all of the values that we as human beings have or need to have, justice would be top of my list.

There is no peace without justice. I would replace PEACE ON EARTH with JUSTICE ON EARTH as the Christmas slogan, if it were mine to change. And justice must be actively and proactively pursued. Justice is never a given.

Freedom. Take anyone's freedom away, whether it be by a family member, your boss, your neighbor, social environment or your government - it will be the one thing that drives you. Human beings have the need to be free.

And just you or me having freedom isn't enough. Because if just one person is not free and has not justice, you and I will be affected.

We have choices. And a vital choice is to work toward freedom and justice for all.

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DARFUR

Today, I pass on this information from an email from www.stopgenocidenow.org

Also see their videos, pictures and journal daily entries from their recent trip to Darfuri refugee camps at www.stopgenocidenow.org/iact/iact8

Dear Friends and Family,

It has been almost three weeks since we returned from the refugee camps on the Chad-Darfur border. Each day I wake up and think about our beautiful friends. I know many of you took daily action during i-ACT, as you have since our first trip in 2005. Our government, then and now, has not done enough to bring peace to Adef, Achta, Abdullaziz, Rahma, Fatne and all our friends who have seen unimaginable horrors and who have been forced to flee their homes to displacement and refugee camps, where their lives remain on hold.

Today, I ask you to join Damanga Coalition for a Washington DC rally to demand our government step up and lead in the right direction towards peace and justice for all of Sudan.

WHEN: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 at 1:00 p.m.
WHERE: Starts from the Lafayette square in front of the White House.
WHAT: Rally at the White House. Then walk to the State Department at 2:35 p.m. and arrive at 2:50 p.m.

Rally ends at 4:00 p.m.

If you cannot attend the rally, please join us in a National Call-In Day to the White House. Here is what you can do:

On July 22, contact the White House in any of the following ways:

* Call 202-456-1111
* Fax 202-456-2461
* Email the White House with their online form
* Become a Fan and Post to the White House's official Facebook page
* If you have a Twitter account, post: @WhiteHouse Support Bashir's arrest warrant, strict trade sanctions on Sudanese oil and the return home of the displaced. #obama #darfur

Ask President Obama to help the people of Darfur by:
* Supporting the ICC and the arrest warrant against Omar al-Bashir
* Ensuring the IMMEDIATE deployment of the 26,000 UNAMID Peace Forces to Darfur with a full mandate, helicopters, logistics and necessary supplies needed.

Please, join in supporting a peaceful Darfur and Sudan. Your voice is their voice in our government.

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Important article by Randy Newcomb, the President of Humanity United, on the importance of the Darfur movement now and in the months to come:

Save_Darfur_must_save_itself

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Write to President Obama
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

You can also write to the President at:
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

President Obama can be called:

202-456-1111
or
1-800-GENOCIDE

The White House comment line is available
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. weekdays

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Find USA elected politicians contact information at this link:
www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

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More Information:

www.stopgenocidenow.org

www.enoughproject.org
www.savedarfur.org
www.eyesondarfur.org