tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19252824203055500922024-02-10T23:13:52.507-08:00Passionate Progressive PatriotThis blog is created to advance progressive politics in America, i.e. to advocate for economic justice in America and the world, human rights and civil liberties, reduction of conflict and war, and for sane and safe environmental policies.Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.comBlogger201125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-6869102821165925062018-01-16T21:54:00.000-08:002018-01-16T21:54:06.273-08:00FACTR Annual Appeal<a href="http://factr.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Annual-Appeal-2018-jan-1st.pdf">http://factr.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Annual-Appeal-2018-jan-1st.pdf</a><br />
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25 North 14th St.<br />
San Jose, CA 95112<br />
Phone: (408) 807-1875<br />
www.factr.org<br />
<br />
January 1, 2018<br />
<br />
Dear Friend,<br />
If ever immigrants need help, it is now! Times have been most dispiriting for immigrants<br />
of all backgrounds, especially the legally stressed and most vulnerable, like the elderly<br />
and children! And FACTR’s approach to the resilience and emotional well-being of the<br />
immigrant is especially needed now more than ever. Our approach of weaving together<br />
a repertoire of interventions at the case specific, clinical, level and the community<br />
psychologal level is proving to be more necessary than ever.<br />
However, in order to effectively utilize our resources, we have decided to focus on just<br />
two mental health program options, one clinical and one, community psychological or<br />
broad brushed in its approach! The two priority programs, then, are:<br />
1. Our Immigration Deportation and Hardship Center (IDHC), a forensic mental<br />
health program which incorporates the provision of forensic mental health<br />
services at FACTR, which includes psycho social evaluations for use in<br />
immigration courts, counseling and case management, and a psycho-education<br />
program for children who are frightened and traumatized by the danger of<br />
parental detention and/or deportation. IDHC helps the immigrant's story be told<br />
more fully and fairly in court and, otherwise, addresses the painful experience of<br />
living in the shadows of our society and being under the constant threat of family<br />
disruption and separation due to unjust immigration policies.<br />
2. Our Mindful Aging Project (MAP), a multi-cultural, inter-generational,<br />
sustainable land use project, which is designed for elder immigrants in the Santa<br />
Clara Valley, who, displaced due to war, ethnic cleansing and extreme poverty,<br />
are isolated, poorly integrated, depressed and often lost between their homeland<br />
and the new land to which they have emigrated. MAP will help elder immigrants<br />
learn the new art of sustainable gardening, contribute to their new society in a<br />
meaningful way, achieve a greater sense of belonging in their new homeland<br />
and achieve greater health, and spiritual well-being through their own produce<br />
and serenity gardening.<br />
If you care about current immigration policy, what's happening to our DACA dreamers<br />
and the unwarranted trauma to which children and families are being subjected, please<br />
donate today to these programs at FACTR and others at http://factr.org/make-adonation/<br />
It is a sorrowful time for immigrants and those who care about them. So we say, yes, Cry, America! But, please, do also help the cause of immigrants under threat in our society today, due to stressful legal circumstances or other vulnerabilities. Donate at FACTR Today at http://factr.org/make-a-donation/<br />
Wishing you a New Year full of renewed hope and abundant blessings.<br />
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Sincerely,<br />
<br />
Karita Hummer, LCSW, FACTR, President and Clinical Director<br />
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If you want to help immigrants in such plight and endangerment, donate to FACTR today! http://factr.org/make-a-donation/ For your tax records, our Federal Tax exemption number is: 26-2177441Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-76108091693888575922017-01-22T19:22:00.002-08:002017-01-23T07:04:51.109-08:00Why I went to the Women's March in San Jose' yesterday?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
I went to the Women's March yesterday in San Jose, and it was a most edifying and encouraging experience.<br />
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Police estimated the crowd at 25,000! Surely, it marks a most historic statistic in the annals of marching in San Jose! And, most definitely the nation! <br />
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<span style="background-color: #fbfbfb; font-family: "pt serif" , "times" , sans-serif; font-size: 17.5px;">The San Jose Mercury News gave Mayor Sam Liccardo's view of the Women's March: "In San Jose, Mayor Sam Liccardo tweeted an overhead photo of “a beautiful crowd” around City Hall, and added a hashtag that said, “This is what democracy looks like.”" </span><span style="font-family: "pt" serif , "times" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17.5px;"><a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/20/bay-area-womens-marches-where-when-and-why/">http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/20/bay-area-womens-marches-where-when-and-why/</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "pt" serif , "times" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">CBS reported: "Assemblyman Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, was one of the speakers at the event and said it is the largest demonstration in San Jose’s history." <a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_1743754567"> </a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 17px;"><a href="http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/01/21/san-jose-womens-march-protest/">http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2017/01/21/san-jose-womens-march-protest/</a></span></span><br />
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So, why did I go to the Women's March in San Jose'?<br />
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I went to the women's March in San Jose' to:<br />
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<br />
<ul>
<li><b>support my sisters and brothers around the world, our nation's most vulnerable groups, refugees, immigrants, Muslims, "Minorities", gay, impoverished, persons with disability, the multitude of incarcerated and people hungering for truth and justice</b></li>
<li><b>support truth; Trump received less than 2.8 million votes</b></li>
<li><b>demand an investigation into Trump's connections to Russia and to know what he knew, when he knew it, and how he knew it, and to discern how that connection to Putin affected the election, i.e. to question the legitimacy of this election</b></li>
<li><b>protest Trump's abominable Cabinet nominees</b></li>
<li><b>protest his conflicts of interest, thinking he is impeachable today!</b></li>
<li><b>try to put the brakes on Trump's most egregious promises, beginning with the proposed wall and deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants.</b></li>
</ul>
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<br />
It certainly seems like I have been marching since the great 60's in this country, but this march was really amazing!! A mass of people standing up for social justice and standing up to a bully, who has no mandate from the people, whose trigger reactions are scary beyond belief, and whose first actions portend a dire regressive turn in our country.<br />
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Trump's first actions: Begin the rollback of Obamacare, eliminate the cuts in mortgage premium insurance rates, removal of references to Climate Change and LGBT issues and berating journalists for their accurate reporting on his paltry inauguration numbers, to be supported by a Press Secretary who cites "alternative facts" about those same attendance figures. Who will ever believe him? Not a good beginning!<br />
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If there is one motto appropriate to the times, surely this Jefferson quote stands out!<br />
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<br />
Friday, on the day of the inauguration, I also marched in protest at the Federal Building in San Jose' and my husband and I hung a black tie around one of our house columns, because our nation is not the one we knew.<br />
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As Mayor Sam Liccardo tweeted on the Day of the Women's March, "This is what democracy looks like!"<br />
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<br />Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-68724565184529604002017-01-14T11:20:00.002-08:002017-01-14T19:53:23.648-08:00Discharged! Donald Trump lands in America! Don't normalize, Organize, Resist!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Definition of a daymare: <span class="intro-colon" style="background-color: white; color: #3b3e41; font-family: "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.64px; padding: 0px;">:</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3b3e41; font-family: "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.64px;"> "a nightmarish fantasy experienced while awake"</span><br />
<a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/daymare">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/daymare</a><br />
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<h2 style="background-color: white; color: #375c71; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.375em; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; letter-spacing: 0.0454em; line-height: 1.2272; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: static; z-index: auto;">
further from Merriam Webster Dictionary</h2>
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</h2>
<h2 style="background-color: white; color: #375c71; font-family: Lato, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.375em; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; letter-spacing: 0.0454em; line-height: 1.2272; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: static; z-index: auto;">
"Did You Know?</h2>
<div class="card-primary-content def-text" style="background-color: white; margin: 1.125em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;">
<div style="clear: both; color: #3b3e41; font-family: "Open Sans", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1em; font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; letter-spacing: 0.04em; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">
Long ago, the word <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">nightmare</em> designated an evil spirit that made its victims feel like they were suffocating in their sleep (prompting physician-botanist William Turner to introduce "a good remedy agaynst the stranglyng of the nyght mare" in 1562). By the early 1700s, the Age of Reason had arrived, nightmares were bad dreams, and "daymare" was a logically analogous choice when English speakers sought a word for a frightening and uncontrollable fantasy, a run-away daydream. And since the 1800s, when Charles Dickens wrote "a monstrous load that I was obliged to bear, a daymare that there was no possibility of breaking in, a weight that brooded on my wits" in <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">David Copperfield</em>, we’ve been using "daymare" figuratively. For example, today we might refer to "a logistical daymare.""</div>
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<span style="color: #3b3e41; font-family: "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; letter-spacing: 0.64px;">https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/daymare</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3b3e41; font-family: "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.64px;">This morning when I awoke and started ambling along, remembering the inauguration to come in six days, I had a daymare! </span></div>
<div style="clear: both; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="color: #3b3e41; font-family: "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; letter-spacing: 0.64px;">I remembered when I was 12 years old, practicing in air raid drills, how to become prepared for bombs coming from Russia! I remembered how me and my classmates hid under our desks during those air raid drills! It was the Fifties after all!! The age of bomb shelters and air raid drills!!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3b3e41; font-family: "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; letter-spacing: 0.64px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3b3e41; font-family: "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; letter-spacing: 0.64px;">The daymare went like this! We have finally been bombed, and, indeed, the bomb apparently did get discharged from Russia. After all these years, the bomb has finally been launched, and has landed, in the form of Donald Trump, delivered after all these years, despite detente and all that!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3b3e41; font-family: "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; letter-spacing: 0.64px;">What a daymare, it is!! </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3b3e41; font-family: "open sans" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-variant-ligatures: no-common-ligatures; letter-spacing: 0.64px;">Karit Hummer </span></span></div>
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<br />Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-53798773623388985732017-01-01T08:46:00.001-08:002017-01-01T08:46:38.254-08:00The Immigrant Story: No 2000 mile wall and No Muslim Registry!! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0xkJVmflZuCSnC3rZlLe-Zc592oKxwOFViwHL86b8TLwS7QMmDaW20cLl7onm_EE0Lan7vujKmGy0cdQsm9rQ4JbEOlqI35Qio81aQJWaw6jUCfk7NULBrrYUlUHUCcww7-c8n1kYNmU/s1600/Iconic+image+of+framily+at+Ellis+Island.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0xkJVmflZuCSnC3rZlLe-Zc592oKxwOFViwHL86b8TLwS7QMmDaW20cLl7onm_EE0Lan7vujKmGy0cdQsm9rQ4JbEOlqI35Qio81aQJWaw6jUCfk7NULBrrYUlUHUCcww7-c8n1kYNmU/s320/Iconic+image+of+framily+at+Ellis+Island.jpg" width="243" height="320" /></a></div>
Remember our roots. With the exception of the Native American, our family histories all include an immigrant story.
Look at this iconic image of a family of early last century, having arrived at Ellis Island, viewing the Statue of Liberty for the first time, having brought all their hopes and dreams for a better life, and, at once, bringing to these shores their great sense of family values and hopeful, dedicated spirit, enriching their new homeland forever. Let us be the Welcoming nation we always have been!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfwK9-Z9irhacPP8UAIu64eH-BWvaKiMitF0EUtT78CaeXJTFBQC7DzVa8f5BT8V1E7KWZUOjIbYJXmiOZih3BFOaXor6L8yxxpLrmtlv8tL1bwO66h0EPfd3p8cwX9BXhc8BLtAGM_s/s1600/Statue+of+Liberty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfwK9-Z9irhacPP8UAIu64eH-BWvaKiMitF0EUtT78CaeXJTFBQC7DzVa8f5BT8V1E7KWZUOjIbYJXmiOZih3BFOaXor6L8yxxpLrmtlv8tL1bwO66h0EPfd3p8cwX9BXhc8BLtAGM_s/s320/Statue+of+Liberty.jpg" width="320" height="160" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjesSEIYfqTPq4IicZRo5jvNt6Ojo-txkDTmAeJW73XsrSxjP4qjIwB3REjb8tiECtdbvAZs8x2dUmLTwc92Jlj4Ebrt7LzT4ija2lm15oXqt4Yd3zeKJNdurBZXGBT7bVIs9_dSI_CNaU/s1600/immigrants+view+Statue+of+Liberty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjesSEIYfqTPq4IicZRo5jvNt6Ojo-txkDTmAeJW73XsrSxjP4qjIwB3REjb8tiECtdbvAZs8x2dUmLTwc92Jlj4Ebrt7LzT4ija2lm15oXqt4Yd3zeKJNdurBZXGBT7bVIs9_dSI_CNaU/s320/immigrants+view+Statue+of+Liberty.jpg" width="254" height="320" /></a></div>Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-55045786881323257612016-11-13T09:55:00.002-08:002016-11-13T10:02:38.971-08:00I had a dream! In Abraham Lincoln's shoes, not!!Last night I had a dream of Abraham Lincoln, the trigger for which must surely be the abhorrence I am feeling by the transition to power of someone so unworthy to lead our nation as Donald Trump. In the dream, Abraham Lincoln gave me a commendation, and I was filled with the glow of pride to have been recognized by someone of such moral character and noble purpose as Abraham Lincoln.
Over the years, I have often thought that the Civil War had never really ended and that the nation's ugly underbelly of racism and bigotry of all kinds was just below the surface. Now, such odious symptoms have been crassly stirred by the sheerest of demagogic rhetoric in an artful game in which the nation surely loses as a whole.
Perhaps, tapping into the memory of what Abraham Lincoln brought us through, we might find our way home again. Because, surely Trumpland is a strange country in which many of us have lost our moorings. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9NDJeCeIMha3n0bTHOU-PB2K63ZQ9-hUu7so1_5UuERJxxJy7fvK7g26cUyFHHKd6edfzPXK40wrzso7budaNB37EajJCz9YkhIay6vweFxgYt1bz6KhEbvLuaZxAlDyExfErIKrF7Pg/s1600/lincoln+painting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9NDJeCeIMha3n0bTHOU-PB2K63ZQ9-hUu7so1_5UuERJxxJy7fvK7g26cUyFHHKd6edfzPXK40wrzso7budaNB37EajJCz9YkhIay6vweFxgYt1bz6KhEbvLuaZxAlDyExfErIKrF7Pg/s320/lincoln+painting.jpg" width="320" height="233" /></a></div>Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-22293629010366674992013-11-12T09:50:00.000-08:002013-11-12T10:22:17.909-08:00Why we need the dream team of Elizabeth Warren and Alan Grayson to lead our nation?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz2GeGyVvWwKhDGmXTQisfYdoiLXpJLM38vqcz1or3Edd7JGGaeWSDn_L745I5__wb6tYMaScf55H52_cxgD6ufX5KQY95d2jQX1iinL4n-WNt-llRarnLeqjsKssUKTmn7qbt_2EuTA8/s1600/Elizabeth+Warren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz2GeGyVvWwKhDGmXTQisfYdoiLXpJLM38vqcz1or3Edd7JGGaeWSDn_L745I5__wb6tYMaScf55H52_cxgD6ufX5KQY95d2jQX1iinL4n-WNt-llRarnLeqjsKssUKTmn7qbt_2EuTA8/s320/Elizabeth+Warren.jpg" /></a></div>
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We need a new direction for these times!! I suggest the dream team of Elizabeth Warren and Alan Grayson to lead our nation
What are the times? Endless war, Surveillance State, Global warming and Climate catastrophe, more inequality, more unemployment, Drones and Human Rights abuses, we can't afford the status quo! Far right politics and compromising centrism has gotten us close to disaster. Time to step away from tht dangerous precipice. Karita HummerKaritahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-73744259205594439462013-11-12T09:29:00.000-08:002013-11-12T09:29:31.545-08:00<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/11/12">http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/11/12</a><br />
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I couldn't agree more!! from a feature-length article in the New Republic on Monday, titled "Hillary's Nightmare? A Democratic Party That Realizes Its Soul Lies With Elizabeth Warren" My dream team, Elzabeth Warren for president and Alan Grayson for Vice President! Karita Hummer<br />
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<br />Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-44576453051033802502013-08-31T22:17:00.000-07:002013-08-31T22:17:38.511-07:00Uncle Sam has lost the moral high ground!!<h2 style="border: 0px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 23.4px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">Two amendments recently failed in Congress, one that would have curtailed the massive collection of telephonic and digital communications of American citizens by NSA and the other, that would have curtailed the authorization of endless wars and unseemly covert military actions around the world in the name of fighting terrorism.</span></h2>
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It seems to me that <span style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333015441895px; line-height: 18px;">I have lost the coun</span><span style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333015441895px; line-height: 18px;">try I have known, of Constitutional Law, that respects my privacy and freedom as a citizen and one that shows respect for International law, where the killings of innocent children are not dismissed and rationalized as "necessary" for self defense. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333015441895px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Deeply disappointed, bereft and aggrieved at the loss of a country that purported to live by the highest standards of ethics and moral integrity! Uncle Sam, you have given up the high ground on which we were founded. I want my country back!</span></span><br />
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Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-28497759154222888742013-08-31T22:12:00.002-07:002013-08-31T22:17:14.062-07:00Ralph Nader is right; Only Congress has the legitimate power to declare war<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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President Obama, with the power vested in us, through our Congressional representatives, <b><u>we</u></b> implore you to follow Ralph Nader's thoughtful admonition to you against any attempt on your part to exercise unconstitutional war powers in your apparent rush to war against Syria!! <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/08/31">http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/08/31</a> We implore you to defer to Congress in questions of declaring war! Your most solemn oath is to uphold our Constitution, and as Nader so directly points out, the power to declare War resides with Congress.<br />
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<b><span style="background-color: #ffe4ca; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.5px;">Clause 11.</span><span style="background-color: #ffe4ca; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.5px;"> To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;</span></b></blockquote>
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When there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, it was of the utmost folly for Bush and Cheney, (your recent immunity afforded them, notwithstanding) to so blithely ignore the work of UN Inspectors there and rush instead to war. They acted with impunity, and now it appears that you want to act in just such an imperial manner as well. Step back a minute and consider your obligations under the Constitution and, indeed, under International Law, as well. Unmanned war weapons may be part of the problem, here; their use may seem too easy. Try waging peace, instead of war!! It is the better moral option, and a better legal one at that!! Impunity is unbecoming in any branch of government!! <a href="http://thepeoplesguidetotheusconstitution.com/blog/articles/congressional-power-to-declare-war/"> http://thepeoplesguidetotheusconstitution.com/blog/articles/congressional-power-to-declare-war/</a>Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-80606617959908413072013-08-05T22:29:00.001-07:002013-08-05T22:33:01.701-07:00As Early as 1778, the Continental Congress enacted protections for whistleblowers!<div>
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Did you know that the Continental Congress created the first Whistleblower Protection Law in 1778. Amazing! and it is all the more hurtful to realize this. Benjamin Franklin warned us ages ago that if we give up freedom for security, we end up with neither. Sure does seem like Al Quaida destroyed our nation, as we knew it and had it!! But we didn't have to let it happen!<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">See </span><a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/08/05-3">http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/08/05-3</a><br />
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Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-16910274989862499192013-08-05T08:34:00.003-07:002013-08-05T08:34:29.019-07:00Are we in a Police State yet?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A "Police State" during my youth was the worst place in the world one could live in! But,<b><u>WE</u></b> were free, and we relished it!!!!! So long ago, it seems.<br />
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but wait! What news from Reuters do we have this morning?<br />
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"(Reuters) - A secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit is funneling information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a massive database of telephone records to authorities across the nation to help them launch criminal investigations of Americans.</div>
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Although these cases rarely involve national security issues, documents reviewed by Reuters show that law enforcement agents have been directed to conceal how such investigations truly begin - not only from defense lawyers but also sometimes from prosecutors and judges."</div>
<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/05/us-dea-sod-idUSBRE97409R20130805">http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/05/us-dea-sod-idUSBRE97409R20130805</a><br />
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THIS is audacious, Uncle Sam, but not "hopeful", and decidely "Un-American". I want my country back!!!Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-43314735985376176932013-07-25T07:38:00.001-07:002013-07-25T07:38:37.988-07:00Uncle Sam, with all due respect, you have lost your way!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">Two amendments recently failed in Congress, one that would have curtailed the massive collection of telephonic and digital communications of American citizens by NSA and the other, that would have curtailed the authorization of endless wars and unseemly covert military actions around the world in the name of fighting terrorism.</span></h2>
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It seems to me that <span style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333015441895px; line-height: 18px;">I have lost the coun</span><span style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333015441895px; line-height: 18px;">try I have known, of Constitutional Law, that respects my privacy and freedom as a citizen and one that shows respect for International law, where the killings of innocent children are not dismissed and rationalized as "necessary" for self defense. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333015441895px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Deeply disappointed, bereft and aggrieved at the loss of a country that purported to live by the highest standards of ethics and moral integrity! Uncle Sam, you have given up the high ground on which we were founded. I want my country back!</span><div class="yj6qo ajU" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; cursor: pointer; outline: none; padding: 10px 0px; width: 22px;">
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Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-77286102509990478372013-07-16T11:33:00.002-07:002013-07-16T11:33:59.936-07:00Embrace Freedom and Restore the 4th Amendment<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8XGuwQTlsrGn11J-K3CSuD_BKqYtgt6XKQNX8mYsFP0Lyvrygy6Me3sub3s2THGwjKkcoaNypJtTXFDqYgbp_adw21T3iW5eGBGiMGXc_g88qS9js40dJKItmpWCL6-J0mIqwyxOe7ks/s1600/Constitution.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8XGuwQTlsrGn11J-K3CSuD_BKqYtgt6XKQNX8mYsFP0Lyvrygy6Me3sub3s2THGwjKkcoaNypJtTXFDqYgbp_adw21T3iW5eGBGiMGXc_g88qS9js40dJKItmpWCL6-J0mIqwyxOe7ks/s1600/Constitution.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Unbridled audacity by the Administsation, yes, but " hope", not! When I voted for Obama, it was the audacity of hope for which I voted, not for the audacity of collecting private information on citizens, without a warrant! If not for Snowden's revelations, we would never have known how extensively our 4th Amendment was being violated. I am outraged by such audacity, and I feel betrayed and in great grief. While Bush foolishly started this progrm under the Patriot Act, it is particularly ironic that the President, who studied Constitutional Law at Harvard, would disregard our 4th amendment so blithely. It is uttelry saddening! </span><br />
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I urge my fellow citizens to demand the full restoration of protections under the 4th Amendment!</div>
Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-19158451619710284102013-07-05T18:48:00.004-07:002013-07-05T18:52:37.198-07:00The Network for Spiritual Progressives condemns as immoral, the prosecution of Bradley Manning and attempt to prosecute Edward Snowden <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ay25lHvYS02UcLozBGpvngSvleKeLOz9R5LDR3cF8FhGTps-c74nBGKanCEcq3nlrRhZpzmsetUJjOfOaJL31rESYnuAUzvTuubXP54X5Gy8Tf9AeyUStMq8uwyiow4OtsIESgHZyXA/s1600/Bill+of+Rights.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ay25lHvYS02UcLozBGpvngSvleKeLOz9R5LDR3cF8FhGTps-c74nBGKanCEcq3nlrRhZpzmsetUJjOfOaJL31rESYnuAUzvTuubXP54X5Gy8Tf9AeyUStMq8uwyiow4OtsIESgHZyXA/s1600/Bill+of+Rights.jpg" /></a><b><i>The callous disregard of our privileges under the Bill of Rights is demoralizing to a nation raised in the belief that ours is a land of freedom and liberty. Paraphrasing Alan Paton, "Cry, my beloved Country!" I ask, Uncle Sam, do you know what you are doing?!</i></b></div>
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The Network for Spiritual Progressives (NSP) has written a letter to Presdient Obama decrying the immorality of prosecuting Edward Snowden and US Army soldier, Bradly Manning. <br />
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In unequivocal terms, the NSP stated,<br />
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<a href="http://org.salsalabs.com/o/525/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=13856">"President Obama,please come back to your highest self. Stop being a puppet of the national security state and become a champion of our privacy, our human rights, and human decency. If you want to look “tough” on crime, prosecute those who tortured detainees at Guantanamo and other US prisons, those bankers and investment firms who caused millions to lose their homes and their jobs in the continuing Great Recession, those who run corporations that are destroying the earth’s environment for future generations, and those who exploit the poor and the powerless. If instead your legacy is to prosecute the whistle blowers who call attention to the misdeeds of government, the military, the national security apparatus and the corporate elites, you will rightly be scorned by future generations of Americans." </a> <a href="http://org.salsalabs.com/o/525/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=13856">http://org.salsalabs.com/o/525/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=13856</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I signed the NSP letter, and you can, too! </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333015441895px; line-height: 18px;">I signed the NSP letter to President Obama, because I think it is utterly reprehensible that our civil liberties are being so easily undermined and because International Law is being so disregarded by the Obama Administration. <b>I say these things are not being done, in my name, and I utterly disapprove.</b> I feel as though I have lost my Country, and I am bereft. Karita Miraglia Hummer</span><br />
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Moreover, I thoroughly agree with The Guardian's assessment of the Administration's actions, printed two days ago:<br />
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<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/03/america-persecution-whistleblowers-constitution">"Indeed, the very model of democracy that the heirs of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin are responsible for upholding has been robbed of its essence.</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/03/america-persecution-whistleblowers-constitution">By what right is the United States exempt from principles that it demands be applied elsewhere?", </a></div>
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<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/03/america-persecution-whistleblowers-constitution"><span style="font-size: small;"><u>America's whistleblower persecution sullies the US constitution,</u><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 12px;"> </span><span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 10px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #005689;"><span style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Christophe Deloire</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 10px;"> and </span><span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 10px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span itemprop="name" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #005689;"><span style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;">Julian Assange</span></span>, The Guardian, </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 10px;">Wednesday 3 July 2013 11.56 EDT, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: x-small;">http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jul/03/america-persecution-whistleblowers-constitution</span></a></h1>
Our government is forgetting and dismantling our most cherished ideals! <span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 10.666666984558105px;"> "Those who surrender </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold; line-height: 10.666666984558105px;">freedom</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 10.666666984558105px;"> for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one." </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold; line-height: 10.666666984558105px;">Benjamin Franklin</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 10.666666984558105px;"> </span>Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-64175054833167352262013-07-05T00:07:00.001-07:002013-07-05T00:08:50.233-07:00Voting Rights Act must be Fully Restored!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNFH-SYbz2Ovlh6n9fy0_O8TAJ7_LEAbqFLY_MYkO2fBak0fZaZwOyQ0blN4nq5td07AFjc9M0HRWuA-Udbd2xaTIxsea1Ge1NYM3bgXRLMHlRp9ZU81xjjRGM1Zax1PvLFEETkETglRg/s227/Everone's+vote+shuld+count.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNFH-SYbz2Ovlh6n9fy0_O8TAJ7_LEAbqFLY_MYkO2fBak0fZaZwOyQ0blN4nq5td07AFjc9M0HRWuA-Udbd2xaTIxsea1Ge1NYM3bgXRLMHlRp9ZU81xjjRGM1Zax1PvLFEETkETglRg/s227/Everone's+vote+shuld+count.jpg" /></a><i><b>Everyone's vote should count, and, be counted!</b></i></div>
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“Hubris is a fit word for today’s demolition of the Voting Rights Act,” wrote Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in her dissenting opinion on the Supreme Court's demolition of important parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act on<span style="font-size: x-small;"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: nimbus-sans, sans-serif; line-height: 19px;">June 25, 2013.</span></span><br />
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With the news of the Supreme Court decision, my first thought was, "Oh No!! Say it isn't so!!"<br />
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Demos, an advocacy group for the protection of democracy in theUSA, stated:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #58585a; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">"<a href="http://www.demos.org/press-release/high-courts-decision-striking-down-key-provision-voting-rights-act-1965-cannot-stand">...the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, upending a law that has been central to our nation’s commitment to eradicating the shameful legacy of racial discrimination in voting, especially in the deep South. The Court declared that the so-called “coverage formula” used to determine which states should be required to obtain preclearance for changes in voting laws was unconstitutional, but that Congress retains the authority to update the coverage formula. Demos, along with other members of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, filed an </a></span><a href="http://www.demos.org/press-release/high-courts-decision-striking-down-key-provision-voting-rights-act-1965-cannot-stand"><em style="background-color: white; color: #0b052c; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none !important;">amicus</em><span style="color: #0b052c; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, DejaVu Sans, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"> brief</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #58585a; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"> in the case, </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #58585a; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder</em></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #58585a; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, 'DejaVu Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><a href="http://www.demos.org/press-release/high-courts-decision-striking-down-key-provision-voting-rights-act-1965-cannot-stand">, urging the Court to uphold the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.</a>", June 25, 2013, </span>http://www.demos.org/press-release/high-courts-decision-striking-down-key-provision-voting-rights-act-1965-cannot-stand<br />
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The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law reported:<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/voting-rights-act-resource-page">"On June 25, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court <span style="color: #f40c1a;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">overturned a key provision</span></span> of the Voting Rights Act, removing a critical tool to combat racial discrimination in voting. Under Section 5 of the landmark civil rights law, jurisdictions with a history of discrimination must seek pre-approval of changes in voting rules that could affect minorities. This process, known as “preclearance,” blocks discrimination before it occurs.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/voting-rights-act-resource-page">In <em style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; color: #f40c1a;">Shelby County v. Holder</em><span style="color: #f40c1a;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">, the Court invalidated Section 4 — which determines the states and localities covered by Section 5 — arguing that current conditions require a new coverage formula. As a practical matter this means Section 5 is inoperable until Congress enacts a new coverage formula, which the decision invited lawmakers to do. Without Section 5, state legislators may try to launch a new wave of discriminatory voting measures, some of which were previously blocked or deterred by the law, according to a</span></span> <span style="color: #f40c1a;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Brennan Center report</span></span> released just weeks before the decision. It is now on Congress to act in a bipartisan and swift manner to devise a formula that will enable the Voting Rights Act to effectively protect voters once again."</a> </span>http://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/voting-rights-act-resource-page</div>
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The ACLU contends,</div>
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<a href="http://www.aclu.org/voter-suppression-america">"<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Voting rights are under attack in this country as state legislatures nationwide pass voter suppression laws under the pretext of preventing voter fraud and safeguarding election integrity. These voter suppression laws take many forms, and collectively lead to significant burdens for eligible voters trying to exercise their most fundamental constitutional right."</span></a> <a href="http://www.aclu.org/voter-suppression-america" style="background-color: transparent;">http://www.aclu.org/voter-suppression-america</a></div>
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From 2000 on, the Supreme Court has intervened on the side of voter suppression, disenfranchisement by folks undemocratic in every sense of the word!! And this, after widely reported instances of voter disenfranchisement, not only in 2000 but 2004, as well. Without such voter disenfranchisement and vote suppression, it can be contended that neither 2000 or 2004 presidential elections were fair recflections of the voters' will.<br />
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The Voting Rights Act must be restored in its entirety!Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-45144667097372601012013-07-04T12:38:00.003-07:002013-07-04T12:42:55.225-07:00Restore the 4th!! Sign "Stop watching us" letter to Congress led by Mozilla!!Mozilla takes the lead: by Mozilla, on their Firefox launch page: <span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span style="background-color: #f6f6f6; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px;">"Security and privacy are not optional. Stand with a broad coalition to demand that the NSA stop watching us." <a href="http://www.multichannel.com/technology/mozilla-nsa-stop-watching-us/144083">http://www.multichannel.com/technology/mozilla-nsa-stop-watching-us/144083</a></span><br />
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I signed this letter and I share it here in hopes that others will sign as well. It is up to us ensure protection and enforcement of our Constitution and respect for International Law, in this land of ours!! No disrespect allowed in our name!!!!<br />
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Go here to sign the letter to Congress: <a href="https://optin.stopwatching.us/"> https://optin.stopwatching.us/</a><br />
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Groups signed on to "Stop Watching Us Letter" <a href="http://www.publicknowledge.org/stop-watching-us-letter-congress-june-2013">http://www.publicknowledge.org/stop-watching-us-letter-congress-june-2013</a> Thank you fellow patriots! Karita Miraglia Hummer<br />
<br />Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-10670421378044572862013-07-04T11:48:00.003-07:002013-07-04T11:48:57.699-07:00On "CompassionAte Patriotism" Jeremy Adam Smith Heed Jeremy Adam Smith, below for his sage advice, for his profound words of wisdom this 4th of July!!!<br />
I take them to my heart!!!<br />
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<strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: fenwick-1, fenwick-2, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 21px;">"I know people, I know towns, farms, hills and rivers and rocks, I know how the sun at sunset in autumn falls on the side of a certain plowland in the hills; but what is the sense of giving a boundary to all that, of giving a name and ceasing to love where the name ceases to apply? --Ursula K. Le Guin", </strong><br />
<strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: fenwick-1, fenwick-2, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -1px; line-height: 21px;">from Daily Good, an introduction to Jeremy Adam Smith's article, </strong><br />
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"Can Patriotism Be Compassionate?", by Jeremy Adam Smith.</h1>
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<a href="http://www.dailygood.org/story/475/can-patriotism-be-compassionate-jeremy-adam-smith/">http://www.dailygood.org/story/475/can-patriotism-be-compassionate-jeremy-adam-smith/</a>Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-23462864709883311032013-07-04T11:37:00.000-07:002013-07-04T11:38:16.637-07:00Restore the 4th!!!!!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A Movement is born, this 4th of July!!!! Mark my words, We the People!! We will preserve our Constitution and respect for International Law in our Land!!<br />
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Passionate Progressive Patriot!<br />
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Karita Miraaglia HummerKaritahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-30600960473581096132013-06-16T14:18:00.000-07:002013-06-16T14:23:48.312-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGZ2kmwZx-28DBn_z_-X9lvYHNEX0q5BlW-sN_6FaXEzt3XdFl_QOgRnjyJcPkDyNo-BG2vKc4DgZqlrftYEFFCESHO080UlUAODTshPOhtoxpbjyANoR8ecKkoOqSejfaGs6OoC53zow/s1600/Constitution.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGZ2kmwZx-28DBn_z_-X9lvYHNEX0q5BlW-sN_6FaXEzt3XdFl_QOgRnjyJcPkDyNo-BG2vKc4DgZqlrftYEFFCESHO080UlUAODTshPOhtoxpbjyANoR8ecKkoOqSejfaGs6OoC53zow/s1600/Constitution.jpg" /></a></div>
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<h2>
<span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;">Daniel J. Solove, Law Professor at George Washington University, debunks the "five Myths about Privacy".</span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Professor Solove's analysis of the myths surrounding the recent revelations that NSA has been mining telephone and internet usage brings a very sensible and reasoned approach to the supposed conflict between security and constitutional protections.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">His analysis is really must reading for citizens who want to understand the fullest implications of the NSA Surveillance program.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">See the article in the SJ Mercury News, reprinted from the Washington Post: <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_23456028/daniel-j-solove-five-myths-about-privacy">http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_23456028/daniel-j-solove-five-myths-about-privacy</a></span></div>
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In my own opinion, the loss of privacy should be of utmost concern to every citizen, and I quite agree with the sage advice of Benjamin Franklin of many years ago.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6kgp_BPhESAYI7wBXA0gX0ZKUGdZ2A8LiptZTv4LU0V9brT724tsPGeGdKheVExtawENpSzDNqXQqyUoFWNK2g32MLuWdHgKW6KHGdi089ggF3ERr9Xp8-l28NDXk2dVRcuV7ul0IFE/s1600/fap165_t.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT6kgp_BPhESAYI7wBXA0gX0ZKUGdZ2A8LiptZTv4LU0V9brT724tsPGeGdKheVExtawENpSzDNqXQqyUoFWNK2g32MLuWdHgKW6KHGdi089ggF3ERr9Xp8-l28NDXk2dVRcuV7ul0IFE/s1600/fap165_t.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">US author, diplomat, inventor, physicist, politician, & printer (1706 - 1790)</span></div>
Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-79157152715217162282013-06-15T21:15:00.000-07:002013-06-15T21:15:13.891-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/AlGore.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/AlGore.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #37404e; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #37404e; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>
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<h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #37404e; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Al Gore unequivocal on NSA surveillance, that it violates the American way and our Constitution.</b></span></span></h2>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #37404e; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #37404e; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/nationalsecurity/al-gore-nsa-surveillance-violates-the-constitution-20130614">http://www.nationaljournal.com/nationalsecurity/al-gore-nsa-surveillance-violates-the-constitution-20130614</a></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #37404e; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #37404e; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span>
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<h3>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #37404e; font-family: lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Former Vice President Al Gore, and probable winner of the 2000 presidential election, the supreme Court notwithstanding, speaks truth here on revelations of NSA surveillance, and recommends that President Obama and Congress amend the laws </span></span></span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">that permitted such surveillance, calling it a violation of our Constitution. </span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">What is there not to understand about our Constitution?</span></span></div>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">US author, diplomat, inventor, physicist, politician, & printer (1706 - 1790)</span><br />
Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-71582037004370672642013-06-14T08:39:00.000-07:002013-06-14T08:39:43.971-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJU1wWKHma_3YFt4pq1GLZbK_r-8tXLrp_Ho5XIYVPxb1-_5yHzkDqpORDS-NyG3T2cQrPaPjL8fhQ34IUK-qMbrNQ7vD2GOVbDlzMUoAarC3yhq3audfy8luvcRMNJHsAEJjU88r3JI/s1600/Constitution.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBJU1wWKHma_3YFt4pq1GLZbK_r-8tXLrp_Ho5XIYVPxb1-_5yHzkDqpORDS-NyG3T2cQrPaPjL8fhQ34IUK-qMbrNQ7vD2GOVbDlzMUoAarC3yhq3audfy8luvcRMNJHsAEJjU88r3JI/s1600/Constitution.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />
Hark, a passionate progressive patriot, takes Americans and President Obama to task over the trade of constitutional freedoms "safety"!! We must take heed. Magnify Pitts voice by sharing it. You have nothing to lose but your freedom. <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_23452354/leonard-pitts-jr-surrendering-our-civil-liberties?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com">http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_23452354/leonard-pitts-jr-surrendering-our-civil-liberties?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com</a><br />
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I cry for the beloved country I once had and long to have it back!! Nay, nothing less will do!!<br />
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Let us get our priorities right!!<br />
<br />
Passionate Progressive Patriot!!<br />
<br />
Karita HummerKaritahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-42771809687683818282012-09-15T18:57:00.000-07:002012-09-15T18:57:11.154-07:00"We Have a Choice!" I vote Obama!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaQFiBF9AzyuXmr7E8IZRb7TYNy7rfGAgzBS1TCLbPU3MkOCVhwygoEw5dFKTb6qs8rcHJx53Kb9uItPEWDQGG8pk3x7Xt6YfRzpaYRezyeAtc36vpd9KO-1w3PT-PGwGcQM2Llcw6Plo/s1600/Barack+Obama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaQFiBF9AzyuXmr7E8IZRb7TYNy7rfGAgzBS1TCLbPU3MkOCVhwygoEw5dFKTb6qs8rcHJx53Kb9uItPEWDQGG8pk3x7Xt6YfRzpaYRezyeAtc36vpd9KO-1w3PT-PGwGcQM2Llcw6Plo/s320/Barack+Obama.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
Why I choose Obama:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlpdXF_FRfg">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlpdXF_FRfg</a><br />
<br />
The President's finale words are utterly inspiring, and is my reason for staying the Democrat I continue to be: inclusive for everyone. When all boats rise, we all rise! No-one gets left behind!<br />
<br />
Karita Hummer<br />
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<br />Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-19948815506611929062012-07-02T15:29:00.000-07:002012-07-02T15:41:33.539-07:00Footprints Guild<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7M2uj9yffkfLw6tfVxKhGkgvXbo3huEqdT5rmiDSU6t3PD4wAfshCRm2L3IinxgyS1l_Qe31IfCO-h4t7D0Qrcp61ANHLPU78UczIB5BF_c0CHUOy5RU3fY2f9WpdDvhfkGnqRmAUH44/s1600/download_005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7M2uj9yffkfLw6tfVxKhGkgvXbo3huEqdT5rmiDSU6t3PD4wAfshCRm2L3IinxgyS1l_Qe31IfCO-h4t7D0Qrcp61ANHLPU78UczIB5BF_c0CHUOy5RU3fY2f9WpdDvhfkGnqRmAUH44/s1600/download_005.jpg" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">The Footprints Guild is newly constituted under the umbrella of FACTR. <a href="http://www.factr.org/">www.factr.org</a>.</span></span></blockquote>
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Here are some of the artisan products that the Footprints Guild exhbited and sold in its Miracle Shops, called "miracle" shops because of what the refugee and immigrant artisans endured to resettle in the United States. It is part of our mission at FACTR, to ameliorate the pain of displacement and ensure the rootedness as newcomers to this soil, by helping them plant the seeds of creativity still within them as formerly nurtured in their homelands. KH<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 12px;"> Footprints Guild brings together artists from
around the world and helps them in entrepreneurship on a community scale. The
Guild exists for the benefit of the refugee and immigrant artisan and/or artist
or vendor of such products who participate in the Guild. This microenterprise
project allows the artists to present their work in the marketplace for
self-sufficiency and realization.
Footprints showcases the diversity of the community, and enhances the
cultural education of the region. With
Footprints you can experience a variety of world cultures in your own back
yard.</span></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPMt6I1tnm5n3CRN1RP0PooHsB7roH1VDy0YSigNrZxQoclvzAN4MQCemYgm17L9uLP9W1o8_OfbqyVxJcKRpujWOKDqqBwKsFJKQ2f5ezTTWThZXetfhwbfzoqNcNrxEiv-YR9y-FIFg/s1600/download_011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPMt6I1tnm5n3CRN1RP0PooHsB7roH1VDy0YSigNrZxQoclvzAN4MQCemYgm17L9uLP9W1o8_OfbqyVxJcKRpujWOKDqqBwKsFJKQ2f5ezTTWThZXetfhwbfzoqNcNrxEiv-YR9y-FIFg/s1600/download_011.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; text-transform: uppercase;">Footrpints Guild/FACTR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; text-transform: uppercase;"> c/o Karita Hummer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; text-transform: uppercase;">1922 The Alameda, sTE 425<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; text-transform: uppercase;">95126<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; text-transform: uppercase;">(408) 993-8188<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; text-transform: uppercase;"><a href="mailto:karitahummer@therapyplus.us">karitahummer@therapyplus.us</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Designed to help refugee and immigrant artisans:</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt;">· <b>Restore a sense of connection to homeland </b>and
to ameliorate loss and separation from family and homeland.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt;">· <b>Preserve cultural expression</b> and meaning
in their newly adopted country and a sense of continuity for themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 10pt;">·<b>
Supplement income</b> through skills they had honed in their countries of
origin, restoring sense of competency and ability</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 11pt;">.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizvE79FZhwOD1OKecRYh-IyGGrRS7bPuPpokLWo8duUN1dQd73h-p1-dbIZWBgxXiwoaunoalvYczvB0jA_u0iOmpubwx_7YOFAk10P224VhKtu-O4YHeWpGTk9nTEK_xPlmJzCV7zjvg/s1600/download_015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizvE79FZhwOD1OKecRYh-IyGGrRS7bPuPpokLWo8duUN1dQd73h-p1-dbIZWBgxXiwoaunoalvYczvB0jA_u0iOmpubwx_7YOFAk10P224VhKtu-O4YHeWpGTk9nTEK_xPlmJzCV7zjvg/s1600/download_015.jpg" /></a></div>
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Designed to help refugee and immigrant artisans:</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 11pt;">·
Obtain recognition, understanding and welcoming from the larger community.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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· Participate in and contribute to the life of the larger community and gain a
greater comfort and sense of belonging in it<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 15px;">· Achieve solidarity, support, sense of commonality and encouragement from
fellow refugee artisans from various cultures.</span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3_Uebs8zkgrSZYoAH1KIDRNpAKCWwMdXxchsLq-1EnTVzKp7uLAWOBgVfepOM_fITA9KT6QUXTHQl6rWp6Rcki6m7lm5o_EsdWcYYnIxZ-WcFYOY0evRzqKX5Db3fnrxh0IHOlNH2AQ0/s1600/download_019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3_Uebs8zkgrSZYoAH1KIDRNpAKCWwMdXxchsLq-1EnTVzKp7uLAWOBgVfepOM_fITA9KT6QUXTHQl6rWp6Rcki6m7lm5o_EsdWcYYnIxZ-WcFYOY0evRzqKX5Db3fnrxh0IHOlNH2AQ0/s1600/download_019.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></span>Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-73313326715716347212011-04-06T00:03:00.000-07:002011-04-06T00:39:19.058-07:00Greatness could arrive on High Speed Rail: Silver Pen Award to Bruce McF for Great Writing and Ideas<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAgDXllvok-ZdnKYQxEwY3cR_0cKMclyeD96tlj4_Z03nmTcQ2vTptQHxzmGR2za6byTmUnJ1YkdNeab3xjkfGO_Ol5hM85WrSGjy3lyYznAzYf45dnPIiSvy5w7tgAK4b9VJpS_J2fO4/s1600/Silver+Pen+5.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 87px; height: 130px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAgDXllvok-ZdnKYQxEwY3cR_0cKMclyeD96tlj4_Z03nmTcQ2vTptQHxzmGR2za6byTmUnJ1YkdNeab3xjkfGO_Ol5hM85WrSGjy3lyYznAzYf45dnPIiSvy5w7tgAK4b9VJpS_J2fO4/s200/Silver+Pen+5.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592371790174514738" /></a><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.progressiveblue.com/diary/6052/sunday-train-american-greatness-and-high-speed-rail">http://www.progressiveblue.com/diary/6052/sunday-train-american-greatness-and-high-speed-rail</a><br /><br />Bruce McF continues to write with utmost passion and conviction on how high speed rail could spell out greatness for America. <br /><br />His has been a steady beacon of light on the subject and he deserves praise and recognition for his research and development of such an important theme to America's future.<br /><br />How can we get the policy makers to listen up? If only we could!Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1925282420305550092.post-62475638317679776472011-01-28T00:17:00.000-08:002011-01-28T09:13:10.059-08:00How to deal with the right tilting Center: Empathy. Responsibility and Excellence<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCjCfjFGQJvLq16cGhkXLjiwZBtlWluLhvFydGLwliqBF39gZHvQthMTyOPzmPIGWW0hfDGx9TAFRRf-1xDGlGYATttF_-qr-Y2vGQ_CBAyDgfV3P0zg1OQg0voXSgfx6EToGHNlkSyLs/s1600/4772George_Lakoff.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 100px; height: 130px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCjCfjFGQJvLq16cGhkXLjiwZBtlWluLhvFydGLwliqBF39gZHvQthMTyOPzmPIGWW0hfDGx9TAFRRf-1xDGlGYATttF_-qr-Y2vGQ_CBAyDgfV3P0zg1OQg0voXSgfx6EToGHNlkSyLs/s200/4772George_Lakoff.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567154079698576258" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">"George Lakoff, Richard and Rhoda Goldman Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley" (Common Dreams) still provides the kind of language and concepts for Progressive Persuasion. </span><br /><br /><br />It's just amazing that the same advice we needed in 2004, in the aftermath of the 2004 election, with all its anomalies and questionable results, and politics of distortion, we are now getting from George Lakoff, once again, in the aftermath of the Tea Party's influence on the last election and, perhaps even worse, that of the impact of Citizens United on our electoral process and rightward trending. See Common Dreams, "The “New Centrism” and Its Discontents"<br />by George Lakoff <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/01/25-0">http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/01/25-0 </a><br /><br />To George Lakoff, of Rockridge Institute fame and author of "Don't Think of an Elephant", language does matter, and when Progressives package themselves as Conservatives they hand victory to the right. Heed, George Lakoff, we should! <br /><br /><blockquote>"...progressives have to organize around a <span style="font-weight:bold;">single morality,</span> centered on <span style="font-weight:bold;">empathy, both personal and social responsibility, and excellence </span>- being the best person you can be, not just for your own sake, but for the sake of you family, community, and nation. All politics is moral; it is about the right things to do. Get your morality straight, learn to talk about it, then work on policy. <span style="font-weight:bold;">It is patriotic to be progressive."</span></blockquote><br /><br />His advice is quite similar to that of the Network for Spiritual Progressives and Rabbi Michael Lerner (<span style="font-weight:bold;">The Left Hand of God: Taking Back Our Country from the Religious Right )</span> See http://www.spiritualprogressives.org/<br /><br />OK, so let's stay focused and never give up on ourselves, passionate progressive patriots that we are, as a counterweight to the rightward tilt in this country. Not to despair!! Focus on: <span style="font-weight:bold;">empathy, both personal and social responsibility, and excellence</span> Back to language and conceptual basics, under the tutelage of thinkers like George Lakoff and Rabbi Michael Lerner.Karitahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11730808605390721805noreply@blogger.com0