May 21, 2012

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Help Stop Sopa/PIPA

January 17, 2012 By joe Leave a Comment

The following post is from WordPress.org and we tend to agree that nobody likes to get into politics but when the ruling elite have distanced themselves so far from reality we need to be the agents of change. We ask that all who read and share here spend a moment to reflect on how crazy and derisive our world has become and take steps to bring your world back to compromise and rational behavior.  We want to keep our freedom of expression and I think you do to. Here is the article please read and reflect:

You are an agent of change. Has anyone ever told you that? Well, I just did, and I meant it.

Normally we stay away from from politics here at the official WordPress project — having users from all over the globe that span the political spectrum is evidence that we are doing our job and democratizing publishing, and we don’t want to alienate any of our users no matter how much some of us may disagree with some of them personally. Today, I’m breaking our no-politics rule, because there’s something going on in U.S. politics right now that we need to make sure you know about and understand, because it affects us all.

Using WordPress to blog, to publish, to communicate things online that once upon a time would have been relegated to an unread private journal (or simply remained unspoken, uncreated, unshared) makes you a part of one of the biggest changes in modern history: the democratization of publishing and the independent web. Every time you click Publish, you are a part of that change, whether you are posting canny political insight or a cat that makes you LOL. How would you feel if the web stopped being so free and independent? I’m concerned freaked right the heck out about the bills that threaten to do this, and as a participant in one of the biggest changes in modern history, you should be, too.

You may have heard people talking/blogging/twittering about SOPA — the Stop Online Piracy Act. The recent SOPA-related boycott of GoDaddy was all over the news, with many people expressing their outrage over the possibilities of SOPA, but when I ask people about SOPA and its sister bill in the Senate, PIPA (Protect IP Act), many don’t really know what the bills propose, or what we stand to lose. If you are not freaked out by SOPA/PIPA, please: for the next four minutes, instead of checking Facebook statuses, seeing who mentioned you on Twitter, or watching the latest episode of Sherlock*, watch this video (by Fight for the Future).

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

 

Some thoughts:

  • In the U.S. our legal system maintains that the burden of proof is on the accuser, and that people are innocent until proven guilty. This tenet seems to be on the chopping block when it comes to the web if these bills pass, as companies could shut down sites based on accusation alone.
  • Laws are not like lines of PHP; they are not easily reverted if someone wakes up and realizes there is a better way to do things. We should not be so quick to codify something this far-reaching.
  • The people writing these laws are not the people writing the independent web, and they are not out to protect it. We have to stand up for it ourselves.

Blogging is a form of activism. You can be an agent of change. Some people will tell you that taking action is useless, that online petitions, phone calls to representatives, and other actions won’t change a single mind, especially one that’s been convinced of something by lobbyist dollars. To those people, I repeat the words of Margaret Mead:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

We are not a small group. More than 60 million people use WordPress — it’s said to power about 15% of the web. We can make an impact, and you can be an agent of change. Go to Stop American Censorship for more information and a bunch of ways you can take action quickly, easily, and painlessly. The Senate votes in two weeks, and we need to help at least 41 more senators see reason before then. Please. Make your voice heard.


 

Filed Under: barak obama, politics

Chalk ONE up for Obama on Osama

May 3, 2011 By joe Leave a Comment

Hat’s off to Barack Obama for making the key DECISIVE decision to remove Osama Bin Laden, OBL, from Pakistan and the American psyche for the time being. No PB is not a pessimist but we look beyond the obvious for subtle clues that enlighten some, not all, of the issues to consider behind the posturing. For a number of years most of us have probably considered that with high probability OBL has been hiding in Pakistan, a country many feel with sympathies to the radical Islamic cause.

Pakistan is obviously  located in close proximity to Afghanistan and would provide the easiest location to hide from the world given enough resources, money, friends, and perhaps extended family (which naturally includes local and national Pakistani politicians). Given this knowledge it has long been known with some measure of certainty that OBL ran his organization from this region and it is surprising how long it took to find and deal with OBL. This just proves that the difficulty for the United States to operate in the Middle East.

While we give the highest kudos to Obama on this mission we feel it is necessary to look under the hood to discern the facts surrounding this mission after all it was or has been a “team” effort of many people. Secondly the political ramification of killing OBL has significance to Obama and his bid to seek a second term in the face of many flagging issues facing his administration; OUR nation. Third we fully expect a procession of information to be released that supports and glorifies the Obama administration and its efforts. While we give kudos we would like to see Obama give credit where credit is due as it is beyond the obvious. This is a tall order for Obama who has had trouble finding decisive focus on America’s internal struggles in his first two years of leadership.

The timing of the operation to remove Osama Bin Laden from Pakistan is carefully orchestrated to coincide with the launch of Obama’s re-election campaign. In the end this is about Politics and timing, an unfortunate by-product of the political process. Again I suggest we re-visit and review some of the recent major wars America has fought and the true results: “War on Terrorism”, “War in Iraq”, “War in Afghanistan”, “War on Drugs”, and “War on Poverty” to name a few that come to mind. In each of these “wars” we lack a clear vision of what we wan to accomplish and often demonstrate poor results over the long run.

Perspective

  1. America and it’s leaders need to use more focus in solving national problems as Obama demonstrated on Sunday; especially if we are going to dilute the meaning of war by combining it with social issues.
  2. America’s military power has been developed over it’s existence and is the result of many resulting improvements and investments.
  3. America’s military should be used sparingly and judiciously with financial transparency.
  4. America is a polarized country where all must find common and middle ground to find focus and solve problems.
  5. All leaders must be forthright in admitting and learning from failure. It’s a cultural thing.
  6. War must be fought or executed to reasonable conclusion not in the lingering bankrupting fashion we currently execute the process.
  7. If we call it a WAR we should have a decisive policy to achieve the results of the investment we apply.

With a steep bow and hat’s off we ask our leaders to find a way to incorporate this level of decisiveness observed on Sunday in all aspects of American politics. Think – Plan – Do!

Filed Under: american citizen, barak obama, Political Opinion, politics

Political Brat is an Independent Voice

November 10, 2009 By joe Leave a Comment

Find the Independent voice in your next election that supports the American Constitution and get active in your community to help this person get elected.  Ask your representatives for transparency into the governing process and let’s get to the basics of how this country was founded by understanding the US Constitution.

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Filed Under: politics, video

Health Care Reform: The dog doesn’t hunt

November 5, 2009 By joe Leave a Comment

I think it’s becoming all the more obvious that the dog called the “Health Care Bill H.R. 3962″ will not hunt until it is restructured and suitable for everyone. House resolution 615 is exactly what is needed to bring to light the true issues we face with this bill. First all members of Congress and all Senators MUST be enrolled in the public option for this to fly.

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Filed Under: health care reform, john fleming, politics, video Tagged With: , , ,

Bad News Today, Election Results Analysis, Karl Rove

November 5, 2009 By joe Leave a Comment

Are the actions of the democratic congress impacting local elections and swinging the results to the conservative right. We say yes and perhaps “get a clue” never had such a profound meaning at this point in time for our congress.

Are you interested in the impact on the democratic party as expressed by the election results in the Northeast last night? The following interview with Karl Rove analyzes the issues behind the sweeping Republican victories in the Northeast last night and discusses consideration red dog democrats may want to pay attention to in their upcoming election years. The actions of the democratic congress are impacting local elections which are swinging to the conservative right.

Check out the following video\podcast discussion for an analysis.

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Filed Under: election results analysis, health care reform, politics Tagged With: ,
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