Annie Birdsong's Homepage



    On the Left: Bold Vision for Re-Inventing Our World    line on annie birdsong's webpage


May we be a tolerant nation.
North Koreans Mourn Death of Leader

  
How might we teach the children harmony?
Carter: USA a Most War-Like Nation


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USA -- a rogue state
Propaganda for War Is Illegal

I love the great New York Times and have it set as my home page. Nonetheless, I say the editor of the paper and the author of a certain editorial should be sent to prison because the paper published an editorial reccommending that we "bomb North Korea."

This advocacy is an extraordinarily serious violation of human rights, for The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights says:

ARTICLE 20

1. Any propaganda for war shall be prohibited by law.

2. Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.

keep in mind that Article 6 of the United States Constitution makes a treaty "supreme law of the land" and says, "The judges of every state shall be bound thereby."

Nothing is higher than "supreme law of the land."
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USA -- a violent nation
USA Terrifies North Korea

As a socialist country, North Korea is terrified that U.S. would invade.

President Jimmy Carter said in a speech on Youtube that the U.S.A. has troops stationed in 120 countries with military bases in 63 of them.

"American presidents have used these military forces in combat about 50 times," since he left office, he said.

This is why North Korea is developing a nuclear weapon.

But the U.S.A. should not be overly concerned about about this effort since North Korea knows there would be destruction if a nuclear weapon was used against the U.S.A., which has many nuclear weapons. (We had about 30,000 in the year 2000.)

Furthermore, analysts say North Korea is years away from having the technology needed to mount a nuclear warhead on a missile and accurately hit a target.

And while North Korea yearns for unification with South Korea, its leaders know that South Korea is protected by the United States, which has a military base there, and if an attack wer to be launched, there would be destruction.

Nonetheless, the U.N. and the U.S.A. have both imposed sanctions out of concern for nuclear proliferation. (Let's keep a close watch on this because sanctions can starve people.)

However, the sanctions have failed to deter the nuclear tests and rocket launches.

The country has conducted three underground nuclear tests, with the last one, conducted on Feb. 12, being more powerful.

The U.S.A. and South Korea have inflamed tensions by carrying out war games -- days and days of bombing and the firing of arsenals -- just 50 miles from North Korea's border.

Furthermore, the USA has terrified North Korea by flying B-2 bombers over North Korea.

North Korea said these drills are "an open declaration of a war" and that America could "meet a miserable destruction.”

Let us keep in mind the words of Alfred Nobel, that "War is the horror of all horrors and the greatest of all crimes."

War is like sending thousands of Columbine killers to a country.

Let us promote peace in our churches, for Jesus was "the Prince of Peace," who instructed us to love even "our enemies," but I certainly don't see North Korea as the enemy.


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The advertising supported newspapers don't tell the story correctly
North Korea's Website Describes Their Horror

Here is what

Korea: Land of the Morning Calm

Koreans are a quiet, gracious and
gentle people who seek after harmony
in all that they do.
North Korea wrote on its website about the military drills (war games) being conducted near North Koreas border: (Keep clicking buttons on the website and you will find English)

"Since 2008 the U.S. has hurled all ultra-modern nuclear attack means including the largest-ever nuclear aircraft carrier and strategic bombers into Key Resolve, Foal Eagle and Ulji Freedom Guardian joint military exercises.

"B-2A flew into the sky above south Korea from the U.S. mainland for the first time in U.S. history to stage a mock drill for dropping nuclear bombs as part of Key Resolve and Foal Eagle.

"John S. McCain and Decatur, Aegis destroyers carrying interceptor missiles, and SBX-1 were dispatched and two nuclear carrier flotillas were deployed in the waters off the Korean Peninsula.

"As seen above, military drills being staged by the U.S. and the south Korean puppet warmongers under various codenames, claiming they are for "defensive" and "annual ones" are, to all intents and purposes, premeditated provocations to launch a war on the Korean Peninsula and nuclear war maneuvers to preempt a nuclear attack on the DPRK.

"All facts go to clearly prove that they are the arch criminals escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula and provocateurs, aggressors harassing peace and increasing the danger of war."
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The utter insanity of war
Nobel Winner and Harvard Economist: Iraq War Costed Taxpayers $3.3 Trillion


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Without love we have nothing.
We Need Love -- Not Hate, Intolerance and War

  

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The priorities and vision of leaders is important
Investing in Peace Rather Than War



The priorities and vision of leaders is important
Democrats Investing In Peace by Breaking Dependence on Fossil Fuel

We must really let Obama and the Democrats know we are pleased the way they have made significant investments in high speed rail, amidst opposition from Republicans, as well as $90 billion in renewable energy, amidst unrelenting criticism from Republicans when these investments were unfruitful.

Below is a video on the need to prepare for living in a world without oil, featuring Richard Heinberg, the senior fellow at the Post Carbon Institute.



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May we understand the horror of the Afghani people
War Is Illegal




Using violence to protect interests
Republicans Deceived the Public About War Aims


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Go left
The True Nature of Strength



Have you been brainwashed?
You're Probably a Liberal and Just Don't Know It.



Author of "Why we're liberals"
Dr. Eric Alterman: Most Are Left Wing


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When the Supreme court stands with powerful interests
Conservative Supreme Court Justices Deliver a Blow to Democracy




scholars

Nominating candidates for office
Finding the Best and Brightest in the Country to Serve as President

Here's America's backward political system:

We all stand around idle and wait until someone announces himself a candidate for office.

It is extraordinarily difficult to get your name on the ballot in all 52 states, so the candidate must go directly to the petroleum industry, health insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, polluters, banking barons, auto giants, agribusinesses, media giants and many other vested interests and promises to promote their corrupt agenda if they will give him astronomical sums of money to fund air time (instead of passing legislation to give him free air time on broadcast tv. The airwaves are legally owned by the people.)

Then we scratch our heads and wonder why America is so desperately violent. President Carter says we invaded 50 countries since he left office.

And we wonder why our water is so dirty, the breast milk polluted, why fish are getting tumors and why one in two men and one in three women in the USA come down with cancer at some time in their lives and the countryside is being destoryed.

In the Republican primaries, all of the candidates were found to be deeply corrupted, with the possible exception of John Huntsman, who couldn't get any media attention and dropped out.

What we need is a national conversation on a very progressive, intelligent strategy for nominating our candidates for office so that only our best, brightest and most innovative -- only those who have spent thousands of hours searching for solutions to the vast complex problems we face can make it to the top.

We must get money completely out of the system.

A good way to fix this problem is to have our college professors select the candidates that will participate in our primaries.

Perhaps our professors could select a prestigious governing board made up of our most influential individuals -- a board that selects candidates to participate in the primaries.

I envision an amazing board of directors made up of such individuals as Dr. Paul Krugman, a Nobel lauret; Dr. Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel lauret; President Jimmy carter, a Nobel lauret; Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a courageous author and environmental attorney; Ralph Nader; Bill Gates; Dr. Frances Moore Lappe, a Right Livelihood Award recipient: Dr. Herman Daly, a Right Livelihood Award recipient; economists from leading universities and many more.

We have many wonderful scholars in America. Let's bring out their vast potentialities.

I would like our Democratic Party to have various wings, with each wing putting forth a candidate that participate in the primaries. For instance, we could have the Greens, the Social Democrats and others -- each wing overseen by a prestigious governing board selected by our college professors in a secret ballot.

The Republicans could do something similiar.

The governing board of each wing of the democratic party could have a website with endorsements from high ranking individuals, voting records of candidates for office, newpaper and magazine articles and more.

Everyone could learn to come these websites for information about the candidates so no money is needed to run for office.

Each wing of the Democratic Party might be awarded a broadcasting license to oversee a news agency that is not supported by advertising dollars, but is funded instead by party member dues.(No funds from corporations.)

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It's a dirty dirty system!
The Supreme Court Directs Us to Give Free Air-Time to Candidates for Office

Imagine the dirty compromises that had to be made to raise the campaign funds to purchase political ads.

"Politics would be transformed beyond recognition if free air time were given to candidates," wrote Mary McGrory in the Washington Post.

Most countries have fixed this problem. "The United States is the only major democratic country that does not provide some free air time to parties or candidates," say Karen O'Connor and Larry J. Sabado in the college text, "American Government: Continuity and Change."

However, the U.S. Supreme Court has given us legal counsel that can help us clean up our dirty and violent political system so we can find excellent leaders.

In Buckley vs. Valeho, the Court explained that we might interpret the "general welfare" clause of the U.S. Constitution, as a mandate to facilitate "communication by candidates with the electorate" and a mandate to free candidates "from the rigors of fundraising."

This is a clear mandate for free air time by candidates for office.

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Let's get the money out of the system.
Senator Bernie Sanders On Billionaires Controlling Elections


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The implications are far reaching..
Campaign Funds Are Bribery

"We would be the only human beings in the history of the world who, on a regular basis,
took significant amounts of money from perfect strangers and made sure it had no effect on our behavior"

Former Representative Barney Frank

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California always leads the way.
Fixing Our Election System with Rank Choice Voting

Did you know there is a new election system in place in Oakland, California, that would allow third party candidates to participate, without spoiling the election?

Here's how it works. Let's say there are three choices in the election, Ralph Nader, Al Gore and George Bush. Let's say I want Nader -- really really want Nader. I mark my ballot this way: first choice, Nader, second choice Gore.

Then, if Nader really bombs out and gets very few votes, he is threwn out of the election and those who voted for him now get their second choice counted. My second choice was Gore, so now my vote goes to Gore instead of Nader (since Nader was threwn out.)

This way you are not threwing away your vote if you vote your heart for a third party.

Bring this about in your city!

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Why the party you vote for REALLY MATTERS
Part 1: The Bitter Legacy of Ronald Reagan

Budgeting and Regulating the Financial Sector:


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Why the party you vote for REALLY MATTERS
Part 2: The Bitter Legacy of Ronald Reagan

Breaking Our Dependence on Foreign Oil:


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Why the party you vote for REALLY MATTERS
Part 3: The Bitter Legacy of Ronald Reagan

Environmental Protection:


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Why the party you vote for REALLY MATTERS
Part 4: The Bitter Legacy of Ronald Reagan



The Invasion of Nicaragua


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Why the party you vote for REALLY MATTERS
Part 5: The Bitter Legacy of Ronald Reagan

Trade

Reagan's trade representative, Carlton Yeutter, bullied other countries like Japan, Korea and Taiwan into opening their markets to tobacco.

He also dismantled carefully crafted trade strategies set up to protect wages and maintain full employment.

"Reagan and George Bush set the state for the new free trade agreements that began eating away at the manufacturing base of the country," said Senator Byron L. Dorgan, D-North Dakota. "They passed the batton to President Clinton, who pursued the same strategy."

The result is that in the last 10 years, more than 50,000 factories have moved overseas to take advantage of cheap labor, according to Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Furthermore, millions of small farmers across the world have been pushed off the land.

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Why the party you vote for REALLY MATTERS
Part 6: The Bitter Legacy of Ronald Reagan



CLICK HERE to hear biased propaganda of the rich and the need for a Fairness Doctrine.


A mad dog of a party
The Pursuit of Peace: The Party You Vote For Really Matters

During elections, you should look at the party and the history of the party, especially when it is the Republican Party, because the people behind the scenes that give the candidate money to enable him to run form a SHADOW GOVERNMENT that you should take in consideration when choosing a candidate.

When Republicans come through the door of the capital building, Ralph Nader said if the thumb is up, they vote yes. If the thumb is down, they vote no.

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So much is at stake
Will the USA Succumb to Political A.I.D.s?

I fear the United States is at risk of the political A.I.D.s virus.

In the A.I.D.s virus, the body does have plenty of white blood cells that are able to work and willing to work. Nonetheless, any old mold, bacteria and virus can take root in the body.

That is because the T cells that give direction to the white blood cells have been disabled. They stand around and do nothing.

And in America, we see disloyal business interests engaged in a brutal effort to restrain information. which means that our political T cells -- our journalists, governing officials, environmentalists, amateur gentlemen scholars, professors, scientists, citizen scientists, activists and pastors etc. are increasingly suppressed -- unable to give direction and guidance.

Sometimes the problem is outright bribery.

Sometimes the problem is campaign funds -- money from corporations to governing officials with strings attached.

Sometimes the problem is that the newspaper or broadcasting station is owned by business interests disloyal to the people, hostile to free speech.

Often, the problem is that business interests that support the newspaper or broadcasting with their advertising dollars are repressive.

It's what happens in the midst of moral decay.
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Playing hardball for privatization
Be Angry! Republicans Crushing the U.S. Postal Service


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Lowering the standard of living of our seniors
Do We Want Republicans and the Privatization of Medicare?



Do you really want to vote for Romney?
The Medicare Killers



Will we let Republicans impoverish the elderly?
The Privatization of Social Security and Medicare



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Who do you trust?
Unbelievable. Romney Promises To Repeal Our Health Care Reform

Can you believe it?

Again and again, Romney promises to repeal our wonderful health care reform legislation, the Affordable Care Act, which was passed by Democrats without Republican support.

Romney must be in the hip pocket of health insurance companies.

If Obama Care is repealed, approximately 50 million people will have no insurance and many of them will not be able to go to the doctor. Many will die.

Furthermore, 138,000 Americans with pre-existing conditions will not be able to purchase health insurance.

Also, if the legislation is repealed, pain staking, well-advised efforts to REDUCE OUR DEFICIT while CONTROLLING THE COSTS of healthcare will fall by the wayside.

The health care bill contains four cost control mechanisms that were devised by twenty-three prominent economists, including Nobel laureates and members of both Democratic and Republican administrations.

Here are the economists that devised the cost control mechanisms:

Dr. Henry Aaron, The Brookings Institution
Dr. Kenneth Arrow, Stanford -- Nobel Laureate
Dr. Alan Auerbach, University of Calif, Berkeley
Dr. Katherine Baicker, Harvard University
Dr. Alan Blinder, Princeton University
Dr. David Cutler, Harvard University
Dr. Angus Deaton, Princeton University
Dr. J. Bradford DeLong, Univ. of Calif, Berkeley
Dr. Peter Diamond, Mass. Institute of Tech.
Dr. Victor Fuchs, Stanford University
Dr. Alan Garber, Stanford University
Dr. Jonathan Gruber, Mass. Institute of Tech.
Dr. Mark McClellan, The Brookings Institution
Dr. Mark McClellan, The Brookings Institution
Dr. Mark McClellan, The Brookings Institution
Dr. Daniel McFadden, U.of Calif., Berkeley, Nobel Laureate
Dr. David Meltzer, Univ. of Chicago
Dr. Joseph Newhouse Harvard University
Dr. Uwe Reinhardt, Princeton University
Dr. Robert Reischauer, The Urban Institute
Dr. Alice Rivlin, The Brookings Institution
Dr. Meredith Rosenthal, Harvard University
Dr. John Shovern, Stanford University
Johnathan Skinner, Dartmouth College
Laura D'Andrea Tyson, Univ. of Calif., Berkeley


Obama is standing on the shoulders of our best and brightest!

The cost control mechanisms the economists devised are not only projected to prevent double digit premium increases, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that these cost control mechanisms will also reduce the federal budget deficit by $143 billion over the next ten years.

Over the last two years, health care cost did continue to rise, but the rise was slower than at any time in the last 50 years.

Romney blames the increase in costs on Obama Care and spits out free market, libertarian rhetoric that government is "not affective in bringing down the cost of ANYTHING."

The best strategy of Democrats for controlling healthcare costs was to form a non-profit, government-ran program to compete with the private health insurance companies. However, this proposal was defeated when one Democrat, Joe Liberman, a senator from Massachusetts, decided to vote with Republicans against it.
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Columnist for Harper's Magazine
Exposing Every Lie: Ryan Not a Deficit Hawk

"Mr. Ryan -- who has proposed $4.3 trillion in tax cuts over the next decade, versus only about $1.7 trillion in specific spending cuts -- is still posing as a deficit hawk," wrote Dr. Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize recipient in economics, journalist with the New York Times and professor with Princeton University.

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Romney: Radical Budget Ideas


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Budget deficits are not acceptable
Krugman: High Taxes on the Rich Would Shave More Than a Trillion Off Deficit



Profit seekers do serious harm to the country
Romney: Give Subsidies to Wealthy Oil Tycoons



Columnist for Harper's Magazine
Romney Wants to Deregulate Wall Street (Repeal Dodd Frank)


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Profit seekers do serious harm to the country
Our Sick and Dying Earth: Do We Want Romney And Deregulatory Policies?



We can repair the economy.
Our Urgent Priority

We need to deal with the employment crisis by restoring the tariff barriers and trade policies in place when Jimmy Carter was in office.

This will bring back the more than 50,000 factories that moved overseas in the last 10 years to take advantage of cheap labor.

Our leaders might also examine the tariff barriers and trade policies in place in Sweden during the 80 or 90 year period of time when they maintained 2 percent unemployment.

See more on the urgent need to reverse globalization and localize the economy in the "Right Livelihood" section of my website.
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Profit seekers do serious harm to the country
Mitt Romney and the Fever to Be Rich



Capitalism and the old hankering after free money
Professor Robert Reich Sheds Light on the Election

Don't Need Tax Cuts for Rich
 
How Mitt Got Rich

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Radical people are trying to gain power.
The Party You Vote For Matters: Environmental Reasons to Say No to Romney



"Let the nations gather together, let the people be assembled." Isaiah 43:9
Focus on the Family Lied About U.N. Treaty for Children



Be alert -- not brainwashed.
The Southern Strategy

Ronald Reagan came up with the "southern strategy" -- a trick or conspiracy for how to get Christians to turn against their party and vote for Republicans, which most of them hated at that time.

I learned in a political science class that one scheme of the southern strategy was to use Jerry Falwell to draw christians to the republican tent. He attacked Jimmy Carter, a liberal -- even told lies about him, according to President Carter in his book "Keeping Faith."

By observation I can see that this southern strategy is enormous and sets out to redefine the word liberal -- wrongly associating it with sin.

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All character flows from love.
Is This Really What You Want?

Today's music videos are amazing, provocative and sexy. But is this what you want your 14 year old daughters or sons watching?

Do do want our teenage girls dancing like that before sexually arroused guys at a party?

What about the old-fashioned values that nurture the family unit, that keep love from being torn asunder, that keep our hearts from being confused? Modesty and self control.

Do you want women with no restraint coming after your daughter's husband?

I'll resist the allure of the new videos-- thank you -- for I'm not thinking about the "I" but the "we," about the character of the civilization we want.

When we live our lives well, we influence future generations.

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The people under attack
What Does It Mean to Be a Liberal?

  
One of nation's top environmentalists
Robert Kennedy Jr.: Unholy Alliances



"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light,
and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" Isaiah 5:20

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A party of vested interests
Republican Obstinance and Gridlock

The best news out there, to me, is the Pelosi Update, which is on House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's website.

Here is something from it about the vast number of times Republicans have voted against efforts to deal with our surging unemployment rate:


  • 19 times AGAINST considering critical “Make It In America” initiatives -- many of which are bipartisan – such as strengthening U.S. innovation and leveling the playing field with China;


  • 13 times AGAINST considering efforts to prevent or discourage the shipping of American jobs overseas and to crack down on offshore tax havens and in favor of pro-outsourcing measures;


  • 19 times AGAINST considering efforts to ensure that tax cuts for the middle class and small businesses get enacted; and


  • 13 times AGAINST other parts of President Obama’s American Jobs Act and considering proposals to rebuild America, like the bipartisan Senate job-creating highway and transit bill.
Understand the importance of good leaders.
The Radical Agenda of Modern Day Conservatives




Renewable energy: no help from republicans
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.:
Corruption of Republicans

  
Understand the importance of good leaders.
Harvard Economist: Bush
Mistakes Costed U.S. $10 Trillion


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Christians should go left
The Stands of Dennis Kucinich, Our Most Liberal and Most Idealistic Congressman




Know the agenda of the party you support.
Nobel Winner Criticizes Tea Party

  
The whole world is shaken.
Nobel Winner: Republicans Radical


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What it means to be a liberal
Tribute to Senator Ted Kennedy

  
What it means to be a liberal
Pres. Carter Endorses Pres. Obama


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Election reform
Holding Congressmen Accountable

Ralph Nader says one way to hold congressmen and congress women accountable is to require by law that each law maker's website have a link to how they voted on all issues in a clearly retrievable fashion.

I think it would also be a good idea to urge news media outlets to display voting records on their websites.

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Creating a better world for the children
Cleaning Up a Dirty Dirty System

  
No to Newt Gingrich for president
Newt Gingrich for War in Iran!


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How the rich would rule.
Newt Gingrich Would Shut Down the EPA

Newt Gingrich is in favor of closing down the EPA, which he calls "increasingly radical."

He sites as evidence a regulation in Iowa to control "particulate matter," which he said is a regulation to control "dust." But particulate matter is a whole lot more than dust.

The EPA estimates that particulate matter in the air kills as many as 160,000 people in just one year many and sickens many others.

The particles are so tiny, they lodge deep in the lungs where they can cause serious damaage.

Particulate matter from coal burning power plants or industrial smoke stacks can often contain such substances as free radicals, mercury, lead, benzene, carbon monoxode, PaHs, heavy metals and even radioactive substances such as uranium and thorium.

Particulates have been linked to irregular heart beat, heart attacks, stroke, cancer, infant mortality, chronic bronchitis, impaired lung function, asthma, as well as reproductive and developmental harm.

Particulte matter can take nine years off the lives of vulnerable residents, such as those with asthma.

Babies and children are very sensitive to pollution. A wrong chemical signal during growth can cause development to go awry.

Researchers in the UK estimate that one in every 50 heart attacks in London may be triggered by air pollution.

There is technology for preventing the release of particulate matter. The EPA has to force businesses to use it.

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Understanding how radical the republicans are
Nobel Prize Recipient: How Gingrich Would Have Impacted Medicare

Here is a quote from the book "The Conscience of a Liberal" by Dr. Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist at Princeton and a columnist with the New York Times:

"Newt Gingrich, the Speaker of the house, was trying to impose a plan that would sharply cut Medicare's funding and, equally important, give healthy seniors an incentive to drop out of Medicare, undermining the program's universality and its financial base.

"In effect, Gingrich wanted to subject Medicare to slow death by strangulation. Gingrich had enough votes to get his plan though Congress, but he didn't have the votes to override a presidential veto.

"So he tried to force Clinton's hand by denying the federal government the funds it needed to keep operating. ... Clinton's impeachment three years later, which seems otherwise a bizarre event, is best understood as Gingrich's attempt to take revenge."

"...And Gingrich, who was carrying on his own affair with a subordinate even as he denounced Clinton's immorality, displayed a combination of grandiosity and hypocrisy rare even among politicians."

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We must break our dependency on foreign oil soon
Amidst Wars Over Oil, Rick Santorum Speaks Out Against Renewable Energy Programs

As you listen to Santorum's speech in the video to the right, you should not believe him that we have 100 years worth of fossil fuel left and do not need to break our dependency on foreign oil. In fact, international tensions are rising -- the world is in crisis over the burgeoning demand for oil.

The oil companies are resorting to melting dirty tar in tar sands to produce fuel.

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Know the importance of good leaders
Santorum Would Have Attacked Iran

  
Understand the agenda of Rightists
Santorum: Cut Social Security Checks


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So much is at stake in this election!
Radical!

Poisoned by mercury
 
Robert F. Kennedy jr.
Santorum Speaks Out Againt Gov. Regulation of Mercury

CNN recently reported that Rick Santorum, a republican candidate for president, was criticizing the EPA's decision to take tough action against mercury.

Click here to see the article.

Controlling mercury costs money -- Lots of money for expensive technology. But we must protect the public -- especially the babies, who are the most sensitive to pollution. A wrong chemical signal when a baby is developing can cause develpment to go awry.

Examining his voting records in the Senate, The League of Women's Voters gave Santorum a failing environmental grade -- a puny 9 percent out of 100 possible points.

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Pollutions kills, sickens and ages our bodies.
Nobel Winner Reveals How Rick Santorum Is Sold Out to Narrow Interests

Here is a quote from the book "The Conscience of a Liberal" by Dr. Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist at Princeton and a New York Times columnist:

"Until his defeat in 2006 forced him to take a new job confronting America's enemies, Sen. Rick Santorum held a meeting every Tuesday with about two dozen top lobbyists. Here's how Nicholas Confessore described those meetings in 2003:

"Every week, the lobbyists present pass around a list of the jobs available and discuss whom to support. Santorum's responsibility is to make sure each one is filled by a loyal Republican -- a senator's chief of staff, for instance, or a top White House aide, or another lobbyist whose reliability has been demonstrated. After Santorum settles on a candidate, the lobbyists present make sure it is known whom the Republican leadership favors."

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The party you vote for really matters.
Food Safety: A Republican War Against Babies



Radical people are trying to gain power.
Republicans: A Danger to Your Health

CNN reported that Rick Santorum was criticizing the Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to regulate mercury in the water we drink.

Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachman and Ron Paul all want to do away with the environmental protection agency!

That's a government agency with an army of lawyers that haul corporate interests into court and make them pay big big bucks for poisoning people's water and land.

Do we want to go back to the days when rivers were so full of solvents and other industrial toxins that they would catch afire?

Do you want to drink and bath in trichlorethylene, PBC's and mercury?

It's the babys that are the most vulnerable to chemicals. A wrong chemical signal when a baby is developing can cause development to go awry.

Chemicals in the water can cause lower intelligence, weaker immunity, hyperactivity, degraded genes, impulsivity, leukemia and much much more.

In Sweden, it's mothers that go to the government to complain of pollution. They say, "We can not have it."

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote in a newspaper article:

"George Bush will go down in history as America's worst environmental president. In a ferocious three-year attack, the Bush administration has initiated more than 200 major rollbacks of America's environmental laws, weakening the protection of our country's air, water, public lands and wildlife.

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A candidate for U.S. president
Radical: Rick Perry on Social Security

  
He may become U.S. vice-president
Radical: Marco Rubio on Social Security


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An urgent priority
Voting Machines Can Be Hacked

  
Exploding our deficit
This Happens When Vote for Rightists


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We are the 99 percent.
Scenes and Sounds From Occupy Protests Around the Country

When the wealth is inequitable so is the power, says Ralph Nader.

Now, this amazing group of people, the occupy protesters, is forcing the country to discuss the staggering powerlessness of the 99 percent to affect change and control our destiny.

 

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The impacts on democracy are extreme
Lappe: Drastic Inequality
in the United States

Frances Moore Lappe, a recipient of the prestigious Right Livelihood Award, also called the Alternative Nobel Prize, is the co-founder of the Institute of The Institute for Food and Development Policy, co-founder of The Small Planet Institute, which focuses on creating living democracy, and a founding councilor of the Hamburg-based World Future Council.

 
The party you vote for matters.
Paul Krugman: Income Inequality
and the Middle Class

In this video, Dr. Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize-winning columnist for the New York Times, economics professor at Princeton University and author of the book "The Conscience of a Liberal," shows the great power of a president to impact our wages. The party you vote for does matter.



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Occupy Wallstreet
Clips From A PBS Special Report: Drastic Inequality in the United States

 

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A segment of a PBS report on inequality
How Inequality Hurts

  
A segment of a PBS report on inequality
Nicholas Kristof on Extreme Inequality


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Inequities in wealth and power
Is It Wrong to Charge Higher Taxes On the Rich?

Should the rich pay high taxes on their income?

The top 1 percent in America brought in 49.7 percent of total wages in 2007, according to Dr. Emanuel Saez, an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley. The research was published in the Huffington Post.

In fact, the top 5 percent has more wealth the the bottom 95 percent, according to New York University economist Dr. Edward N. Wolff, author of the book, "Top Heavy: the increasing Inequity of wealth in America and what can be done."

Thats not only wealth but incredible power.

Higher taxes on the rich mean $300 billion per year in revenue to the U.S. treasury. To the rich, it is just plain stealing to make them pay that and they are fighting a horrible war on the radio against democrats (labor).

Consider this, the typical top wage earner makes 18,000 times the wages of the typical American. Has he done 18,000 times more work -- or did he have a lot of assistance?

A businessman has taken out a hefty loan to purchase technology, but it is the labor of the workers who paid off the loan.

Moreover, the technology was often created by research in our universities which are supported by tax dollars.

Bill Gates created technology that made him a billionare, but he stood on the shoulders of researchers in universities across the world who helped develop knowledge of programming.

Notice that his Microsoft and NBC's MSNBC vigorously supports Democrats and higher taxes on the rich.

In one of my classes, an economist said in an ideal economic system, there would be no profit. The prices charged would be what is needed to cover salaries and the overhead costs.

But a text book explained that a profit can be charged so there is surplus in order to invest in starting up new jobs. So the businessman is in effect taxing the public. The profit is a public investment. But we need some of it back in the form of taxes.

If we don't charge higher taxes on the rich, there are huge budget deficits and the government just has to print money to pay its bills. This causes money to lose its value and prices to rise. Then savings for retirement lose their value. For example, $10 used to buy a lot. Now it buys nothing.

While Jimmy Carter almost balanced his budget -- very little debt, Ronald Reagan nearly tripled the deficit. the debt.


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Esteeming that which is wealth indeed
Wisdom From the East

Why is there such disorder in the conservative platform and mitt romneyeconomic and political systems in America? It's the fevered effort to be rich. No amount of money ever satisfies.

As the great Mahatma Ghandi once said, "When people want too much, they figure out how to take it from others."

That goes for not only money, but political power.

We crave inequality.

Our cities have lovely enormous homes on one side of town, where only the wealthy could aspire to live, juxtaposed againt the mediocre homes and the ghettos in the poor part of town.

Everyone wants to be the big "I" looking down on the little you -- to feed our ego off the inferiority of others.

But in England, you can't tell a difference in who is rich and who is poor. There is no poor side of town or rich area -- all have high quality homes.

They live in lovely row houses, japanese culturelike in D.C. (There is compact, tight development in the core so there is room for unbroken countryside on the outskirts of town.)

The Japanese also emphasize equality. Their philosophy instructs them that "that which is high and lifted up must be brought down and that which is low must be lifted up."

They bow their heads low as if to say, "I am beneath you." They say, "The riper the grain, the lower it bows its head."

It's a veneration of humility. All are respected and their inward development nurtured.

How might we come to esteem -- not money -- but that which is wealth indeed: harmony, tranquility, purity and respect -- getting rid of the "I" for the "we."

Jimmy Carter our treasure.
Pres. Carter Discusses
Social Security & More

  
The solution is simple.
Frm. Rep. Elizabeth Holzman
Tells How to Fix Social security


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Many will suffer if we ignore this issue.
Danger! Republicans Seek to Privatize Social Security



The most important issue of this election is Social Security.
Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Compares U.S. to Other Countries -- and more

In this video, Dr. Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize-winning columnist for the New York Times, economics professor at Princeton University and author of the book "The Conscience of a Liberal," gives insights into politics and our economic crisis, including how we can fix our Social Security system.



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Let your voice be heard.
Creating a Participatory Democracy

How can we create a more participatory democracy?

One way is to study for the country -- keeping a wonderful journal of important facts and quotes -- and sending information to our journalists and Congressmen.

This is what Ralph Nader does. One of the great New York Times writers said he still has a letter from Ralph Nader helping him understand globalization.

For instance, Martin Bashir, Chris Hayes and others on MSNBC are great! But you can make them even better!

Love the country.

Here are a few email addresses at MSNBC:

Ed at MSNBC: ed@msnbc.com

Rachel at MSNBC: Rachel@msnbc.com

Chris Hayes at MSNBC: upwithchris@msnbc.com

MSNBC investigates: msnbcinvestigates@msnbc.com

Also to help strengthen our democracy, we can invite people into our homes for a potluck and to watch documentary video on the environment and on politics and on petroleum depletion.

We can also form study groups to read great books together and hold discussions. See the section on Further Reading for suggestions of great books you could read.

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We need to deepen health care reform.
We Need Single-Payer Health Insurance

Health insurance should not be a for-profit business.

A former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, Physician Dr. Marcia Angell, said in a congressional testimony that in our for-profit health care system "it's been estimated, no one knows for sure, but it's been estimated that no more than 50 cents of the health care dollar actually reaches the providers."

In contrast, the overhead (for billing, profit, advertising etc.) of Medicare, a government-ran program, is less than 3 percent.

Across the country, millions of people yearn to see Medicare expanded to all citizens.

Making a profit off the sick

A Bill Moyers report on PBS said the country's largest health insurance companies recently increased their profit by 56 percent to $12.2 billion.

Below are the annual salaries of the top CEOs of some of our top health insurance companies:

Aetna -- Ron Williams -- $24,300,112

Cigna -- H.Edward Hanway -- $12,236,740

Wellpoint -- Angela Braley -- $9,644,212

Coventry Healthcare -- Dale Wolf -- $9,047,469

Amerigroup -- James Carlson -- $5,292,546

Since we are the only industrialized country without non-profit health insurance, our healthcare costs are twice as high as in other countries, which has dire consequences. For instance, it means many businesses have had to move their factories overseas and many families have been bankrupted.

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A great leap forward for the country
The Supreme Court Uphold's Healthcare Reform


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You are beautiful, Democrats
Democrats Pass Health Care Reform
to Improve Care and Control Costs

The video below, featuring then-speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), captures an emotional moment when after long years of debate and failed efforts, Democrats finally passed health care reform depite strong opposition from Republicans that weakened their efforts to control costs and efficiency.


  
Learning from other countries!
Sicko: A Documentary by
Oscar-Winning Filmmaker Michael Moore

Below is a small snippit from one of the top ten highest grossing documentaries -- Sicko -- which discusses the failures of the U.S. healthcare system in comparison to systems in other countries.

Click here to order it from Amazon.com.


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Love the mother land.
Jezebel and the Dirty Underbelly of Capitalism




The future may be bleak for privacy and free speech.
Drones Proving To Be a Serious Concern


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Know the importance of good leaders
Sen. Dick Durbin (D) Majority Whip, Tells Radical Agenda of Republicans

During elections in November, Sen. Durbin told told how Republicans are for privatizing Social Security, how they oppose legislation against tax breaks for corporations that move jobs overseas and how they filibuster 100 times in a year to obstruct reform.

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Know the importance of good leaders
Vice-Pres. Joe Biden Tells How Republican Mismanagement Costed U.S. $3 Trillion

In a speech, Biden tells how the democrats get blamed for the bad economy, but it was mismanagement by Republicans (deregulation of the banks, immense tax cuts for the super rich, tax loop holes for corporations etc.) that caused the economic collapse.

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May we be a humane nation.
Let all Be Said: Blood, Tears and Dispossesion in Palestine



One solution in eliminating unemployment
We Need Higher Taxes on the Rich to Redistribute the Wealth

Good people do not tolerate unemployment.

Unemployment means women turning to prostitution. Men breaking into homes and stealing cars -- in your neighborhood. People marketing drugs to your sons and daughters. People committing suicide. Women with no rent money shacking up with men they hardly know and that they care nothing about. Families splitting up. People living on the streets. People losing their minds. Kids giving up on going to college.

One cause of unemployment is drastic inequality. In 1998, the top 5 percent had more wealth than the remaining 95 percent of the populationNew York University economist Dr. Edward N. Wolff, author of the book, "Top Heavy: the increasing Inequity of wealth in America and what can be done."

The gains in the productivity of labor are making their way to the top. It is not unusual to have top CEOs of corporations making $2 million. A labor union would have fixed that.

High taxes on the super wealthy is essential in capitalism to stimulate the economy -- increasing demand by redistributing the wealth. But its a bitter bitter pill for them to swallow.

Indeed, they are fighting a war in the truest sense of the word, trying to wrest control of government from the Democrats.

They buy out newspapers and radio stations -- churning out yellow journalism -- pure deceptive propaganda that shakes democracy to its roots.

They want tax cuts for the super rich, but they often use this money to send jobs overseas and merge, which costs us jobs, or they just sit on the money.

I think we must make it ENJOYABLE for the rich to pay taxes. The rich should be allowed to tell the government how to spend every penny of that portion of their tax dollars over 25% -- as long as the money is spent on projects that generate employment in communities.

For instance, a man might direct the government to give a grant in a specific community of his choosing to hire violin teachers and piano teachers for the children with his tax dollars.

He might direct the government to give a grant to people to write children's books.

He might direct the government to give a grant to put solar panels on libraries, schools, the zoo and churches.

He might direct the government to set up a store in a particular community to sell locally made goods.

He might direct the government to people to plant flowers or trees along the streets in the area of his choosing -- his own neighborhood if that's what he wants.

He might direct the government to give a grant to a specific community of his choosing to repair the roofs of low income elderly people.

He might direct the government to hire activists to study environmental activists to study problems and educate the people on those problems.

He might direct the government to give free bus passes to workers in businesses he specifiies.

He might direct the government to hire people to hold after school programs to tutor children, read to them and play games with them.

He might direct the government to provide free day care to underpaid women in a community of his choosing.

If he is making the world a wonderful much better place with his tax money, he will have joy.

Another cause of unemployment is that farming is being destabilized by free trade agreements as small farmers have to compete with huge subsidized agribusinesses across the world who dump cheap food on the market.

When millions of farmers in developing countries are threwn off the land, each of those farmers will take a job from the us.

The unemployed farmers trudge to the cities. Our factory owners hear about it and send them our jobs. Or, the farmers come to America and take our jobs.

By the way, the Democrats want to STOP giving tax breaks to those who take jobs overseas. But Republicans want tax breaks for them.

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About Annie Birdsong

annie birdsong I have two BA degrees from the University of Maryland, College Park, one in goverment and politics and one in journalism, as well as a minor in environmental studies.

I also have a certificate in electronic imaging (desktop publishing) from Montgomery College, in Rockville, Maryland.

Email me at annie@anniebirdsong.info .