Speak truth to power!

Dear White House,

A foreign policy of aggression does not honor our military service personnel. We must bring troops home. We must end this international belligerence! Stop bullying!

Berd
www.facebook.com/WhiteHouse/posts/226512484028704
[memorial day peace vigil video]

I watched this video, 9/11 and American Empire recently, and then I saw the film Fair Game at the OFS Capitol Theatre last night. Fair Game is about the White House push for war in Iraq, and what happened when Joe Wilson spoke out about the way the White House lied the USA into war with Iraq. After seeing Fair Game, I think that Sean Penn would make a great President of the USA. I am also left wondering why Bush Administration officials are not being prosecuted for driving the nation into what was/is a clearly wrongful war—a war of aggression.

I also saw Howl! A film about Allen Ginsberg, poetry, and the USA. Thanks to OFS for consistently having such great films, both of these current ones are definitely important and well worth seeing.

Here is the video of several contributors to 9/11 and American Empire speaking in Berkeley in 2006 about the book and its contents.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3195658770053494633#

Here's a note I sent to the White House via Facebook on November 14, 2009. It includes a photo of me sign-holding at Percival Landing:

Here's a letter I just sent to the White House (via facebook):

Friday, October 16, 2009

Dear President Obama and Family, and White House Staff,

Another congratulations to President Obama on winning the Nobel Peace Prize!

In my opinion, winning the election and maintaining a rhetoric of hope and change is worthy cause enough to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

But I think more is possible - I think it is possible to REALLY challenge and change the fundamentally destructive and harmful effects of under-regulated capital.

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Description from Official White House Flickr Photo Page:
"President Barack Obama, Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Sergeant James Crowley toast at the start of their meeting in the Rose Garden of the White House, July 30, 2009.
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza"

The White House Organic Farm Project www.thewhofarm.org

(You can sign a petition to the President-Elect at website.)

This is enough to bring Milton Friedman to tears. I remember from my US history lessons that it was a deregulated market (particularly in the financial sector) which brought on the market collapse of 1929 and the ensuing severe economic recession.

Despite their affiliation with many of the ideological underpinnings of Milton Friedman's "Chicago School" economics (privatization, disaster and gun capitalism, totally unregulated markets) - it seems that the current decision makers see that sometimes the government has to step in - in order to prevent disaster. (But I thought these decision-makers like disaster - disaster means major investment opportunity and profit potential...) Of course, this last gasp effort to save these struggling mortgage giants could have been avoided with increased oversight and appropriate regulatory devices/actions. But hey, hindsight is 20/20, right? I mean, what fun would it be to simply learn from mistakes?

Well, I am of the opinion that in the severe unethical environments of business and government, that regulation is essential. Perhaps if we had a world that was ethical to the point where people didn't do harm to each other, or seek to exploit others for their own (supposed) advance, then we wouldn't need government. I believe in a vision of "utopian" anarchy. But how will that be possible while these massive corporations have so much power and influence? So much power.

From Yahoo! (I don't know if the link will stay so I am posting the whole story):

AP US Government takes over mortgage giants

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER and ALAN ZIBEL, AP Business Writers 2 hours, 25 minutes ago

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