flyingrose/activism

Here is an author I am told has a similar vision to mine.

Kern County is in central California and includes Bakersfield and the Mojave desert. There have been wind generators on the pass there since I was in Junior High School.

From the page: "State-of-the-Art Wind Power Project Unveiled Today in Mojave - Large Wind Project to Generate More Jobs for Kern County & Boost Economy
Alta-Oak Creek Mojave Project to Help Fulfill California's Renewable Energy Requirements"

From the page: "The quote is from Martin Niemoeller (1892-1984), a Pastor in the Confessing Church, not by Bohoeffer who was executed by the Nazis shortly before the end of World War II.

The quote appears in the Congressional Record 14 October 1968, page 31636:

When Hitler attacked the Jews I was not a Jew, therefore I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the Catholics, I was not a Catholic, and therefore, I was not concerned. And when Hitler attacked the unions and industrialists, I was not a member of the unions and I was not concerned. Then, Hitler attacked me and the Protestant church -- and there was nobody left to be concerned.

Although there are some variations that have been published on that famous quotation, the words shown above are the exact ones that Niemoeller spoke in Congress.

Yours sincerely,
Harry W. Mazal OBE"

I remember one thing clearly from my childhood that I believe was printed in a Dear Abby or Ann Landers column. I loved reading and never missed those columns as a child. I share it again now:

They came for the Communists, and I didn't object - For I wasn't a Communist;
They came for the Socialists, and I didn't object - For I wasn't a Socialist;
They came for the labor leaders, and I didn't object - For I wasn't a labor leader;
They came for the Jews, and I didn't object - For I wasn't a Jew;
Then they came for me - And there was no one left to object.

~ Martin Niemoller, German Protestant Pastor, 1892-1984

People like me who choose to speak out publicly are taking a calculated risk. Even if we are individually affected, there are so many of us now that the word will still be spread and whatever happens will have been for the greatest good of all.

The stage is set for a tragedy. Only through enough individuals being willing to act courageously will it be averted. Will you join us? Will you speak out if someone who has risked all to warn you is unjustly treated? Will you be wise enough not to fall for propaganda asking you to turn in innocent people who are your friends, family or neighbors?

From the page: "most Americans do not realise that since September of last year - when Congress wrongly, foolishly, passed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 - the president has the power to call any US citizen an "enemy combatant". He has the power to define what "enemy combatant" means. The president can also delegate to anyone he chooses in the executive branch the right to define "enemy combatant" any way he or she wants and then seize Americans accordingly.

Even if you or I are American citizens, even if we turn out to be completely innocent of what he has accused us of doing, he has the power to have us seized as we are changing planes at Newark tomorrow, or have us taken with a knock on the door; ship you or me to a navy brig; and keep you or me in isolation, possibly for months, while awaiting trial. (Prolonged isolation, as psychiatrists know, triggers psychosis in otherwise mentally healthy prisoners. That is why Stalin's gulag had an isolation cell, like Guantánamo's, in every satellite prison. Camp 6, the newest, most brutal facility at Guantánamo, is all isolation cells.)

We US citizens will get a trial eventually - for now. But legal rights activists at the Center for Constitutional Rights say that the Bush administration is trying increasingly aggressively to find ways to get around giving even US citizens fair trials. "Enemy combatant" is a status offence - it is not even something you have to have done. "We have absolutely moved over into a preventive detention model - you look like you could do something bad, you might do something bad, so we're going to hold you," says a spokeswoman of the CCR.

Most Americans surely do not get this yet. No wonder: it is hard to believe, even though it is true. In every closing society, at a certain point there are some high-profile arrests - usually of opposition leaders, clergy and journalists. Then everything goes quiet. After those arrests, there are still newspapers, courts, TV and radio, and the facades of a civil society. There just isn't real dissent. There just isn't freedom. If you look at history, just before those arrests is where we are now.

I remember one thing clearly from my childhood that I believe was printed in a Dear Abby or Ann Landers column. I share it again now:

They came for the Communists, and I didn't object - For I wasn't a Communist;
They came for the Socialists, and I didn't object - For I wasn't a Socialist;
They came for the labor leaders, and I didn't object - For I wasn't a labor leader;
They came for the Jews, and I didn't object - For I wasn't a Jew;
Then they came for me - And there was no one left to object.

~ Martin Niemoller, German Protestant Pastor, 1892-1984

Warning: if you wish to continue being in denial avoid this stumbler at all costs. If, on the other hand, you are ready to be part of the solution and open your eyes - visit immediately and frequently. George Orwell (Author of the book 1984) had the year wrong but that is all. His predictions are rapidly coming true and what is in the image below is now:

"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act."

I and others like me who continually tell the truth loudly and specifically online know they do so at their own risk. Gandhi somehow managed to inspire an entire country to risk their lives to obtain their freedom. We may be called to do the same at any time and I hope sufficient numbers will be ready to lead when that time comes. (Even better perhaps we can change the world fast enough that it never comes to that.)

There are many alternative news sources. This Canadian-based site with an International focus has a wealth of information. Those interested in the current Iran situation will find much here.

From the page: "Global Research has received for four years in succession, the Goodwriters Democratic Media Award, classified among the best 80 alternative news sites.




Global Research is also classified among the top 50 Alternative News Sources by world-newspapers.com [world-newspapers.com]

Global Research has also become a source of specialized information and analysis for journalists.

How you can Help Global Research

It is crucial that the articles published on Global Research reach a broad readership.

We encourage our readers to cross-post and/or forward Global Research articles, submit them to internet discussion groups, send them to your friends on your e-mail lists, etc. This will help Global Research in its endeavors.

While Global Research operates on a shoe string budget compared with the well-endowed establishment think tanks, it has more readers than the powerful Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)"

New Social Networking site with a focus on improving the world.

From the page: "In 1977 the inmate population of California was 19,600. Today it is 159,000--more inmates in its jails and prisons than do France, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Singapore, and the Netherlands combined. After spending $5.2 billion on prison construction over the past fifteen years, California now has not only the largest but also the most overcrowded prison system in the United States. The state Department of Corrections estimates that it will need to spend an additional $6.1 billion on prisons over the next decade just to maintain the current level of overcrowding."