Are you willing to be strong enough to pay attention?

I’m going to write a word in this blog, but before I do, I’d like you to promise to stay focused. I know that it is easiest to tune out, especially when talking about something this big. In fact it is easiest to pretend you don’t know. That way you won’t feel bad for not doing anything. But, I’m going to fix that. I’m going to give you three actions you can take today, and that should help alleviate that feeling. Are you ready? OK, I’m going to say it now, but I want you to remember your promise. You will stay focused on this blog even after I say this word. Ready?

Darfur

There. I said it. Are you still with me? OK, I’m going to tell you why I think you should care, and then I’m going to tell you what you can personally do about this situation.

Background

Here are a few background facts you might want to know. Sudan is in Eastern Africa, just south of Egypt, east of Chad and west of Ethiopia. Darfur is in Western Sudan near the border with Chad.

Starting in February 2003 the Sudanese government armed the Janjaweed, a collection of fighters claiming Arab background. The Janjaweed raid peaceful farming villages, mutilating and killing the villagers, and burning their homes. Those villages that are seen as “African,” are completely destroyed, while “Arab” villages stand nearby, sometimes as close as 500 meters, and are left untouched. Amnesty International calls this “a scorched-earth campaign of murder, rape and destruction.”

The people of Darfur have fled to makeshift camps. These are the most primitive of conditions, living in the dirt and mud. Some are lucky enough to have some sticks and cloth to shelter them from the sun and rain. These shelters are certainly are not tents as you and I would picture them. They’re much more primitive that that. Even at the refugee camps, the rape and violence toward women continues.

By the Numbers

Here are a few numbers that you might want to know:

18 million – The amount in US dollars that the Sudanese government spent on weapons in 2003.
3.5 million – Number of Sudanese who are dependent on humanitarian aid for food, shelter and medicine.
1.8 million – Number of people in Darfur currently living in makeshift camps.
300,000 – Estimated number of people in Darfur who have been killed or died as a result of the conflict.
250,000 – Number of Darfur refugees blocked from receiving aid because of fighting.
215,000 – Number of Sudanese who have fled to Chad because of the continuing violence.
30 – The factor by which arms and ammunition exports to Sudan from China increased between the years 2000 and 2003.
5 – 6 – Average number of guns per Janjaweed militiaman.
3 – UN Permanent Security Council members who are major suppliers of arms to Sudan (China, Russian and France).
0 – Number of Sudanese war criminals prosecuted since March 2005, when the International Criminal Court established a Sudanese war crimes tribunal.

Three actions you can take TODAY!

In the spirit of full disclosure, I want to confess that I shamelessly stole most of these ideas from Amnesty International. Here are the three actions you can take RIGHT NOW that will help change the world.

1. Go to Darur.org and look up the voting record of your federal representatives. Then make a phone call expressing, either your sense of concern or your thanks for a job well-done.

2. Write to your federal legislator urging them to ask President Bush to help establish a strong global agreement on arms brokering. Also, please strongly encourage cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC). Ask them to press the Sudanese government to cooperate with the investigation by the ICC. The address for your Senator is:
The Honorable (your senator)
US Senate
Washington, DC 20510

The address for your US Representative is:
The Honorable (your representative)
US House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

3. Write to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to strongly encourage US cooperation with the ICC in Darfur. Ask her to press Sudan to cooperate with the investigation by the ICC. The address for the Secretary of state is:
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
US Department of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520

Bonus Action: Just in case taking three actions is not enough, here’s one for extra credit. Contact the Chadian ambassador in Washington, DC, requesting that the government of Chad provide full protection to the uprooted civilians in the eastern part of the country and ensure a safe environment for aid organizations to enter and do their work. The address for the Chadian ambassador is:
His Excellency Mahamoud Adam Bechir
Ambassador
Embassy of Chad
2002 R Street NW
Washington, DC 20009

Why don’t you add a comment below and let everyone else know what you did? I’d love to have you join this conversation. The more voices we can unite, the greater the chances we can make a serious difference in Darfur and in the world.

Do you feel safer now than you did six years ago?

I have an important question for you. I invite you to spend just a little bit of time focusing on this essential question:

Do you feel safer now than you did in the year 2000?

In the year 2000, the last year that year that the Democrats controlled one of our branches of government, how many terrorist plots to kill Americans were uncovered? For that matter, how many were successful? How many wars were we fighting in 2000? How many people came close to blowing up airplanes or crashing them into US landmarks? Did you even know what a “dirty bomb” was in the year 2000?

The Republicans, who have had six years to make us safer, have been claiming that a vote for Democrats is a vote for terrorists. But really, haven’t the policies of the Republican Party made us LESS safe instead of more secure? The Republicans have inspired MORE people to devote their lives to killing Americans than in 2000.

The Republicans invaded a country, using a preemptive strike based on a lie. The Republicans wrote legal briefs justifying torture, shipping untried civilians to other countries for torture and arbitrarily detaining people without benefit of charges or trials. The Republicans have stirred up an insurgency in Iraq, killing American Service Men and Women as well as the Iraqi people. Their policies made Jihadists into movie stars, inspiring millions of otherwise peaceful Muslims to take up arms. Their bullying of countries and people around the world has stirred up an unprecedented anger against all Americans. Hundreds of years of diplomacy have been abandoned in favor of neo-conservative ideology.

The Bush Administration has certainly been aggressive in one area – shredding the US Constitution and its promise of civil rights. Their idea of making us safer from our enemies is to strip us of the very character that has made America the land of the free.

To claim that a vote for Democrats is a vote for terrorists is disingenuous. If you want to feel safer than you did six years ago, do what I’m doing. Campaign for, donate to and vote for peace-loving candidates. If we do that, we will be safer than we were six years ago.

It's the Constitution, Stupid

I am amazed, though not surprised by the response of the Bush Administration regarding the recent ruling on the NSA Warrantless spying program. White House press secretary Tony Snow as said that the Bush Administration “couldn’t disagree more.” He also claimed that the program has helped stop terrorist attacks and saved American lives, but of course he provided no evidence to support these outrageous claims.

Here’s my problem with the position or the White House. In her ruling on the NSA warrantless spying program, Judge Anna Diggs Taylor used the word constitution or constitutional no less than 60 times. She left no room for doubt that the Bush Administration had, not just violated the law, which it did, but also that the Administration overstepped its constitutional bounds of separation of powers. Judge Taylor also pointed out that the program clearly violated the constitutional ban on warrantless search and seizure found in the Fourth Amendment.

Not to be dissuaded, the response of the Bush Administration could be encapsulated to say “We’re not going to let a little thing like the Constitution stand in the way of what we want to do!”

This year, I’m working for anyone who will fight this runaway rightwing of the Republican Party. I am so angered by this Administration’s record on human rights and civil rights; I am doing more than changing my vote. I am contributing money to candidates who will protect human rights and civil rights. I am out knocking on doors for progressive candidates. And yes, I am even putting a yard sign out in my yard.

Of course there are still moderates in both parties, those who understand that the Constitution is not a recommendation, but the bedrock of our civil society. To them I would recommend they fix a banner on their wall and look at it everyday. The banner should read “It’s the Constitution, stupid.” Please protect it with all of the power you have.

Freedom of Kafka Act

Here's a warning for those who have previously read my business blogs. We're about to head in a slightly different direction here - a decidedly more political direction. I've been keeping up with all of the shenanigans of the Bush Administration and, though I have counted myself a life-long Republican, I have to speak out. Let me give you an example.

I suppose you have read that Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) claims to have reached a compromise with the Whitehouse on warrantless and illegal spying by the National Security Agency (NSA). You may recall that the NSA is eavesdropping on the phone calls of Americans without first obtaining the warrant that is required by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and by that pesky little thing called the Fourth Amendment. When President Bush was caught violating the law, instead of being contrite he went on the offensive claiming that he had to violate our rights in order to protect our liberties. There’s a word for that kind of logic. It’s called Kafkaesque. It’s a strange, rarely used word, but somehow when describing the recent activities of the Bush Administration and the Republican-controlled Congress it’s hard to think of a better word. If you’re not familiar with the word, Kafkaesque is the quality that puts us in mind of the writings of Franz Kafka: the quality characterized by surreal distortion and a sense of impending danger.

Now Senator Specter has introduced his compromise bill, S.2453. In this bill the Whitehouse has been brought to its knees, agreeing to (drum roll please) continue to spy on Americans without a warrant. Ta-dah! Yes, that’s right. In this bizarre twist of legal logic, the Whitehouse will continue to do exactly what it was already doing, violating the Constitution. And what pound of flesh has Senator Specter extracted from the Bush Administration in exchange for this “compromise?” Well, this bill includes:

• Making the illegal spying program legal! That’ll show ‘em!


• A reduced role for the FISA court that is supposed to oversee the NSA's domestic spying, making review by FISA “optional.” I’m curious. If the President didn’t seek approval of the court when it was required by law, why would he ever seek their permission when it is an option?


• A new process which I consider unconstitutional. The law would set up a secret appeals court composed of judges hand-picked solely by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who just so happens to have been hand-picked by the President.


• The law would create an information blackout so that Congress and our courts (and of course the American people) will never know the names and number of Americans monitored by the spying program. Can you say “imbalance of power?”

Wow, the Bush Administration must really be stinging after giving-in like this. They probably haven’t hurt this much since Congress passed the USA Patriot Act!

Senator Specter seems to think that if we call up down and justice injustice, everything will be fine. Of course the Bush Administration has been masters of redefining terms such as “compassionate” (as in “compassionate conservative”), “uniter” and “freedom.” Kafka would be so proud!

Action Alert! Speak out Against Big Media While You Still Can

You need to decide something and you need to do so now. The question at issue is, “Does media consolidation really matter?” The FCC has opened up a narrow window of opportunity for you to comment on further consolidation in the media industry. I think every American should file a comment with the FCC.

Here are the top three reasons

1. Free press grants power to the people. According to the Supreme Court, "An informed public depends on accurate and effective reporting by the news media. No individual can obtain for himself the information needed for the intelligent discharge of his political responsibilities. For most citizens the prospect of personal familiarity with newsworthy events is hopelessly unrealistic. In seeking out the news the press therefore acts as an agent of the public at large. It is the means by which the people receive that free flow of information and ideas essential to intelligent self-government. By enabling the public to assert meaningful control over the political process, the press performs a crucial function in effecting the societal purpose of the First Amendment." Saxbe v. Washington Post Co., 417 U.S. 843 (1974)



2. A free press allows diversity in points of view. More media owners (less consolidation) mean more views and greater public debate. Wouldn’t that have been nice during the run-up to the war in Iraq?



3. A free and diverse press serves local communities. They focus on important local issues, not just what is pushed down from headquarters.

Click here for a light-hearted view of the topic.


The FCC is pushing through a ruling that would permit large conglomerates, like News Corp, Viacom and General Electric, to control more local television, radio and newspapers.

Visit this URL to check out what's at stake and send a loud message directly to the FCC: http://www.stopbigmedia.com/comment.php

Friends don’t let Friends Kill Civilians

As a friend of mine, Dave and I sat in a small Italian restaurant in Wisconsin, amid red-checkered table cloths and the smell of garlic; I pitched a book idea to him. He listened intently, but as I spoke I saw a dark look coming across his face. After several minutes I stopped talking, waiting for his response. He sat back looking at the table in front of him, as if trying to decide to say what was on his mind. Finally he took a deep breath, leaned forward, looked me in the eye and said “I would not be your friend if I did not tell you that you are totally f@%&ed up in the head.”

You can imagine my surprise from his verbal slap. I was stunned into silence. Dave then systematically yet sympathetically unraveled all of the logic I had just laid before him. Worst of all, he was absolutely right. I had allowed my thinking to get way out of whack.

I’ll never forget that night when Dave laid that sentence on me, or the moral courage it took to call me on my stuff. I was wrong and he was friend enough to tell me. A lesser friend would have let me continue in my delusion until reality eventually caught up with me.

As I think about the status of the US as a “Friend of Israel,” and a "Friend of Lebanon," I wonder if we will ever have this same kind of courage. Friends don’t let friends get away with misguided thinking. They call them on it.

Yet, based on the events of the last three weeks, I would say that we are no friend to Israel or to Lebanon at all. When the Prime Minister of Iraq dared to speak out, the US Congress, Republicans and Democrats alike howled anti-Semitism. But does criticizing Israel make you an anti-Semite? No more than my friend confronting me made him my enemy. It’s what friends do.
We have the same situation internally within the US. If you dare to challenge the Administration on their misguided thinking, you’re likely to be called a traitor, unpatriotic or even treasonous. Teddy Roosevelt had it right when he said:

“The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly as necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else.”

- Theodore Roosevelt, “Lincoln and Free Speech,” The Great Adventure (vol. 19 of The Works of Theodore Roosevelt, national ed.), chapter 7, p. 289 (1926)

If we are a friend to Israel, a friend to Lebanon, and a friend to our own government, it’s time that we let them know what we think about the insanity in the Middle East. It’s time for a complete ceasefire.

Who Wants to be a Superhero?

Tonight my wife and I caught our first look at the new Sci-Fi channel series, Who Wants to be a Superhero? While it was about as tasteless as you would expect, one scene caught my attention. The would-be superheroes were given a task that involved putting on their uniforms and responding to an emergency under a time trial. As each contestant ran through a courtyard, they encountered a small girl crying out that she had lost her mommy. Most of the contestants ran past the girl and did not offer to help, thinking that they had a superhero feat to accomplish. What they did not know was, the little girl had been placed there by the show’s producers and she was the real test. Would the would-be superhero ignore the plight of a young girl to win a contest?

While we’ve all had fantasies of being a superhero (I know I spent many a summer day with a towel around my neck pretending to be Superman), we often miss the small piece of heroics that is right in front of our eyes. Let me give you an example of a simple heroic step any of us can take today and it could make all the difference in the world.

On July 29th, the Supreme Court was clear with the Bush Administration – What you are doing in Guantanamo is illegal. In Hamdan vs. Rumsfeld the Supreme Court chastised the Bush Administration, clearly telling them that they cannot ignore Article 3 of the Geneva Convention.

Now the President and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales would like Congress to once again abandon the rule of law and pass a proposal that violates the Supreme Court’s decision.

In essence, if the President gets his way, the very military commissions that were declared illegal would now be called legal. This proposal would take away the most basic process protections from detainees who are being held indefinitely.

If you believe that America should still stand for truth and justice, then go to http://action.aclu.org/tribunals and let your voice be heard!

According to the ACLU, the proposed bill would:

• Gut the enforceability of important Geneva Convention protections
  Allow the use of evidence obtained through coercion, including horrific abuse
  Sanction convictions based on secret evidence
  Bar a defendant from being present at his or her own trial
  Allow the use of hearsay evidence

Maybe it’s just me, but aren’t these the very values that this country was founded on? Are you heroic enough to do something about it? Well, start by going to http://action.aclu.org/tribunals, and then contact your Senators and Representatives directly to let them know how you feel. It’s best to call their local office. You should be able to find them in the phone book. After that pass this message on to others so they can be just as outraged and take action also.

If you want to be a superhero, at least in my eyes, please take action today. Take a stand for truth, justice and what used to be known as the American way.

YouTube – "That’s Immoral" song contest

When the President stood before the Republican-controlled Congress and confessed boldly that he broke the FISA law, how did Congress react? It gave him a standing ovation. While Israel and Lebanon are on fire and civilians die by the truckload, the right-wing Congress yawns. More than 2,500 of our precious men and women in uniform have died in Iraq. Republicans say “more of the same!”

If these earth-shaking issues don’t interest Congress, what are they interested in? Well, while the world is going to hell in a hand basket, the Neo-Conservatives are attempting to pass what they call a "Values" agenda.

So far the Republicans have expressed the following values:

Immigrants: bad
Ignorance: good

Speaking your mind in Washington: bad
Spying without a warrant: good

Flag burning: bad
Fag bashing: good

You get the idea. I don't know when “hate” became an American value, but that seems to be the only agenda this Congress knows.

Well, in this atmosphere of a few right-wingers trying to shove their values down our throats, I have a challenge for you! Almost everybody is familiar with the song "That's Amore" as sung by Dean Martin. Well, there are so many things the Republicans stand for that seem immoral to me. So, I've written a little takeoff called “That’s Immoral.” The words are below.

I’d like to hold a “YouTube – ‘That’s Immoral’ song contest.” Here are the rules. There are no rules. All you have to do is sing some version of the song below, post it on YouTube.com, and then send me the link at tloyd@cultureshift.com! It doesn’t have to be these exact words. If you have suggested improvements for the words, send them to me, and I’ll take a look at them. If appropriate I will post them here on this blog.

The contest will run through August 2006. At the end of the contest I’ll select my favorite(s) and post them here.

So, how about it? The next time you’re going to stand up at a bar and sing Karaoke, you might as well insert your own words and have someone videotape you. Or, you know that car in your garage? Well, move it out and pretend you have a garage band. There are no rules. Just have fun.

Oh, and the prizes? Well, there are no prizes either: just a chance to be world-famous, and the fun of singing a song that sticks your thumb in the eye of the Republicans. So go for it!

That’s Immoral
Sung to the tune of “That’s Amore”

When the NSA spies and the President lies

That's immoral

The commander-in-chief as identity thief

That's immoral

Bells should ring, ting-aling-aling, ting-aling-aling

And you’ll say “off to prison!”

Bush will pay, tippy-tippy-tay, tippy-tippy-tay

Like an illegal gay man!


When they tortured for days at Abu Ghraib

That's immoral

When your bottom is beat in a cloud of deceit

Out of luck

When you walk in a dream but you don’t like dreaming

Oh-well-a

Scuzza me, but you see, criminally

That's immoral