Little victories, cont.

North Carolina activist can coax students away from military
RALEIGH, NC (AP) August 12 - A rural North Carolina school district with a proud military tradition is allowing a Quaker peace activist a chance to coax high school students away from careers in the armed forces, attorneys said Wednesday.
For years, Sally Ferrell had been asking permission [...]

“Registering for Peace.”

by Tobin Jacobrown
(YES!) August 6 - On Wednesday, the 29th of July, I filed a lawsuit against the federal government declaring that, because of my religious beliefs, I should not be required to register for the draft unless it could be officially recognized that I claim to object to all war. 
I grew up believing not only [...]

Point to ponder.

Earlier this summer, I told you about the experience I had reading and digesting the book Three Cups of Tea,which is about a lot of things but mainly about a man who had a life-changing experience and who went on to try and improve the lives of other people.  All summer long, the folks at [...]

Here we go again…

Good grief.
Obama’s military spying on U.S. peace groups
by Amy Goodman
(TruthDig) July 28 - Anti-war activists in Olympia, Wash., have exposed Army spying and infiltration of their groups, as well as intelligence gathering by the Air Force, the federal Capitol Police and the Coast Guard.
The infiltration appears to be in direct violation of the Posse Comitatus [...]

What a “radical” idea!

That Tyler Perry  What a “radical” he must be!
Tyler Perry Gives the Gift of Disney World to Philadelphia Campers
(Philadelphia Inquirer) July 21 – Six-year-old Creative Steps camper Dajuan Tucker doesn’t remember much about his last trip to Walt Disney World. He was only 4 years old and has vague memories of water slides and meeting [...]

“Youth of Color Resist Military Recruiting.”

(Dollars & Sense)  In 2006, high school senior Stephanie Hoang started working with Better Alternatives for Youth—Peace (BAYPeace), educating her peers about the potential risks of joining the military and helping to build alternative education and employment opportunities. For Hoang, her truth-in-recruitment work is more than just an internship. “It’s my peers being affected. [Recruiters] [...]

Yet another reason why I am no longer a Democrat.

Democrats Drop Key Part of Bill to Assist Unions
(NY Times) July 16 – A half-dozen senators friendly to labor have decided to drop a central provision of a bill that would have made it easier to organize workers.
The so-called card-check provision — which senators decided to scrap to help secure a filibuster-proof 60 votes — [...]

Go, girl.

WASHINGTON, DC (Courier Post) July 9 – Physically and emotionally bullied as a fourth-grader, Jackie Andrews is fighting back.
She’s doing so not with taunts or fists but with an anti-bullying campaign the 16-year-old high school junior is developing with her sister Josie, 14, that might soon get a national audience.
Wednesday, the Andrews sisters, from Haddon [...]

Remember.

Twenty years ago today.

May 19: Troy Anthony Davis Global Day of Action.

(Newer stuff below.)
From the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty:
Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 19, is Troy Anthony Davis Global Day of Action.  This is an opportunity to “shout from the rooftops” in opposition to what could be the execution of an innocent man.  We invite you to join NCADP by participating [...]

More on “The Army Experience.”

Seven Arrested at Philadelphia Mall Over Military Recruiting Practices

PHILADELPHIA, Pa (CommonDreams) May 2 - Several hundred demonstrators from a coalition of 30 national and regional veteran, youth and peace groups, including the Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Peace, BuxMont Coalition for Peace Action, Student Peace Action Network, protested what they claimed were unethical military [...]

Blogging Against Disablism Day.

First, watch this:

If you still don’t get it, watch this:

Kinda says it all, doesn’t it?
So stop saying it, writing it, blogging it, commenting it, snarking it, thinking it, or tolerating the use of it.
OKAY?

An open letter to the local chapter of the John Birch Society:

This letter is addressed to whoever left a leaflet stuck in my front door on Sunday,  April 26, the one advertising the showing of the racist, anti-immigrant propaganda film “Immigration Invasion” at (a location I will not discuss, on a date I will not disclose).  Ironically, I found it there after returning home from an [...]

Blogging against disablism: May 1.

From Diary of a Goldfish:
Friday May 1 will be Blogging Against Disablism Day.
Blogging Against Disablism day will be on Friday, 1st May. This is the day where all around the world, disabled and non-disabled people will blog about their experiences, observations and thoughts about disability discrimination. In this way, we hope to raise awareness of [...]

Blogging Against Theocracy… sorta.

Today’s the day I’ll post for the now-annual blog-a-bration known as Blog Against Theocracy.
I wasn’t going to do this this year because I haven’t been in much of a mood to post about anything these last few days, and because, frankly, I thought I didn’t have much to add to the conversation.  I still kind of [...]

RAISE your voice for the women of Congo!

Watch.  Learn.
Go here.

Spread the word to end the word.

We’re all friends here, right?
We respect each other?  We listen to each other?  We can speak honestly, in trust and love?
Cool.
So.
Do me a big favor.
It’s not that big a deal, but it means a lot to me and to a lot of other people.
STOP USING “-TARD.”  As in “retard.”  “F#&ktard.”  “Whatevertard.”
On your blogs, on your [...]

Fired for fighting the good fight.

I can’t believe I missed this story last week…
Gay-themed film cost Oklahoma teacher her job
(USA Today) March 16 – Gay rights groups are complaining about the firing of a rural Oklahoma high school teacher who lost her job last week after assigning a play about the 1998 death of a gay college student. But the tiny [...]

Never again?

I did it again.
The time again has rolled around during the school year when the seventh graders down the hall are doing their annual unit on the Holocaust.  It’s a mandated part of their curriculum in social studies for seventh grade.
The teacher teaches them all about The Final Solution.  She pulls no punches and lays [...]

Pants on fire!

Breaking news:
Fox News is lying about the Employees’ Free Choice Act.
A shocking surprise, I know.
Reality check here.
And here.
And here, too.
(Video c/o Think Progress)