Gaia: BULLETIN BOARD - PROGRESSIVE POLITICS

Turn off the Lights ... For Five Minutes

http://gypsyladee.gaia.com — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 21:51:51 GMT

Original Website: www.lalliance.fr/50-5-Minu...La-Planete
Translation: portal.campaigncc.org/node/1750

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The idea of turning off your electricity for five minutes on Thursday started in France. It's catching on worldwide.

The 1st of February 2007: Participate in the biggest mobilization of Citizens Against Global Warming! The Alliance for the Planet (a group of environmental associations) is calling on all citizens to create 5 minutes of electrical rest for the planet.

People all over the world:turn off your lights and electrical appliances on the
first of February 2007, for FIVE minutes 6:55pm-7:00pm(GMT). That's:

between 13:55 and 14:00 pm in New York (1:55pm - 2:00pm)
18:55 for London (6:55pm - 7:00pm)
and 19:55 for Paris, Bruxelles, and Italy (7:55pm - 8:00pm)
13:55 in Ottawa (1:55pm - 2:00pm)
10:55 on the Pacific Coast of North America (10:55am - 11:00am)

This is not just about saving 5 minutes worth of electricity; this is about getting the attention of the media, politicians, and ourselves.

Five minutes of electrical down time for the planet: this does not take long, and costs nothing, and will show all political leaders that globalwarming is an issue that needs to come first and foremost in political debate.

Why February 1? This is the day when the new UN report on global climate change will come out in Paris. This event affects us all, involves us all, and provides an occasion to show how important an issue global warming is to us. If we all participate, this action can have real media and political weight.

Please circulate this call to your network at you see fit.

Re: PROJECT FOR THE NEW AMERICAN CENTURY

http://manonfyre.gaia.com — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 14:54:43 GMT

"Some have argued the American-led 2003 invasion of Iraq, commenced in March of that year under the code name Operation Iraqi Freedom, is the first major step toward implementing these objectives."

Bitter irony, the thing kicked off under the name "Operation Iraqi Liberation."

Re: PROJECT FOR THE NEW AMERICAN CENTURY

http://manonfyre.gaia.com — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 14:31:56 GMT

To pull back the curtain even further, consider the influence of Leo Strauss's ideas on some of the PNAC signatories and US policy makers; the machinations of dirty little neocon, Michael Ledeen, key adviser to Karl Rove (both implicated in the Niger Forgeries mess); and the unholy alliance between these "mayberry machiavellis" and the "dominionist" theocrats.

A hallmark among their crafty little creations: the Office of Special Plans.

PROJECT FOR THE NEW AMERICAN CENTURY

http://karuna.gaia.com — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 09:27:42 GMT

Project for the New American Century

Rebuilding America's Defenses (RAD)" is a policy document published by a neoconservative Washington think tank called the Project for the New American Century (PNAC). Its pages outline an aggressive military plan for U.S. world domination during the coming century. It seems that relatively few Americans are expressing alarm at this published document that is a blueprint for many of the present actions of the Bush administration, actions which have begun to destabilize the balance of power between the nations of the world.

There is, indeed, much reason for alarm because PNAC is not an ordinary think tank and "RAD" is not an ordinary policy paper. Many PNAC members now hold key positions in the White House, Defense and State Departments, among them Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Elliot Abrams, Lewis Libby, and John Bolton, along with others in lesser positions. William Kristol, writer for the conservative magazine, the Weekly Standard, is chairman of the group.

~ excerpted from the website antiwar.com

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The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) is an American think tank, based in Washington, DC. The group was established in early 1997 as a non-profit organization with the goal of promoting "American global leadership". The chairman is William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard and a regular contributor to the Fox News Channel. The group is an initiative of the New Citizenship Project, a non-profit 501c3 organization that is funded by the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the John M. Olin Foundation and the Bradley Foundation. [1]

Some critics allege the organization proposes military and economic, space, cyberspace, and global domination by the United States, so as to establish — or maintain — American dominance in world affairs (Pax Americana). ^{[citation needed]} Some have argued the American-led 2003 invasion of Iraq, commenced in March of that year under the code name Operation Iraqi Freedom, is the first major step toward implementing these objectives.

Supporters of the PNAC counter such criticisms as little more than conspiracy theories and that the organization's stated mission is mainstream conservative foreign policy proposals.

~ from Wikipedia

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IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THIS YET, I URGE YOU TO PLEASE

READ THIS POLICY DOCUMENT, AND PASS IT AROUND:

Rebuilding America's Defenses:

Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New Century
A Report of the Project for the New American Century
September 2000

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A critical analysis of this document can be found at Antiwar.com

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Stopping the Genocide in Darfur and Chad

http://maryrives.gaia.com — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 02:46:42 GMT

Stopping the Genocide in Darfur and Chad

Friends,

I've joined ColorOfChange.org's campaign asking President Bush to take decisive action to stop the genocide occurring Darfur, Sudan. I wanted to let you know about the effort, and invite you to do the same. By raising our voices now, we can make a real difference in the way our government addresses this crisis.

http://www.colorofchange.org/darfur

Since 2003, as many as 400,000 Black Africans have been killed and over 2 million have been driven from their homes, in what the UN has called the biggest humanitarian crisis in modern history. It's genocide, plain and simple, but no one is doing what's necessary to stop it. It's time for Black Americans and our allies to take a stand against the genocide in Darfur.

Our voices should be among the loudest calling for an end to the mass murder of Black Africans, and, as citizens of the most powerful country in the world, we have a very real ability to make a difference. Speaking of the genocide in Rwanda, the late Senator Paul Simon said, “If every member of the House and Senate had received 100 letters from people back home saying we have to do something about Rwanda, when the crisis was first developing, then I think the response would have been different.” Those voices, coming from every corner of America, would have echoed in our leaders' ears. Congress and, more importantly, the President would have been forced to act. It's a tragedy that there were not 100 people in each district to speak up for the Rwandans who were being slaughtered in 1994. We can't let a similar tragedy unfold today.

Let's take advantage of the opportunity that we have: let's get 100 people in each of the 435 districts in America to demand that our government stop dragging its feet and take decisive action to stop this genocide:

http://www.colorofchange.org/darfur

This week, the time is right to make our voices heard. Tens of thousands of people will march in Washington, on Sunday, April 30th, to demand that President Bush take the steps necessary to end the genocide and build a lasting peace. National media will be focused on the horrors of this genocide in a way they haven't been since it began.

The people of Darfur are victims of a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing and murder because they're from the same ethnic group as rebels fighting the Sudanese government. The government has used pre-existing ethnic conflict in Darfur to its advantage, arming and supporting Arab militia (known as Janjaweed) who carry out attacks on rural villages, killing large numbers of civilians, raping and assaulting women and girls, burning and looting homes and communities, and preventing emergency food, water and medical supplies from reaching refugees. As the situation worsens, the army and the Janjaweed militias are even attacking refugee camps in Darfur and across the border in Chad.

There is agreement that a UN peacekeeping force, with the authority to protect civilians and the resources necessary to do so, is the best hope to stop the killings. The United States, more than any other country, has the ability to make that peacekeeping force a reality. But while President Bush says that he cares about what's happening in Darfur, and even though he and Congress have officially called what's happening in Darfur a genocide, his actions suggest otherwise - he simply hasn't made Darfur a priority.

Why not?

The United States reportedly worries that pressuring the Sudanese government could interrupt easy access to terrorism-related intelligence. The administration would also have to apply real pressure on China and Russia, countries with veto power in the UN Security Council who rely on the Sudanese for access to cheap oil and therefore don't want to pressure them.

Essentially, our government is calculating that it's worth tolerating genocide, and the loss of hundreds of thousands of innocent Black lives, to avoid rocking the boat. But it can't continue to look the other way if we don't let it.

Now is the time to speak up. When we say enough is enough, it changes the political calculus, and it can force them to act. Let's demand that our government take action which sends a powerful message to the international community, the government of Sudan, and, most importantly, to the people of Darfur: we will do everything in our power to end the genocide immediately and to establish long-lasting peace and justice for the region.

http://www.colorofchange.org/darfur

Thanks.