August 2, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

Why we’re still marching

Social Action 2014

Fifty years after the historic March on Washington, the struggle for justice continues.

August 1, 2013

Protesters gathered in the wake of the not-guilty verdict for George Zimmerman

THE 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom is one of the most famous moments of the 20th century. Every schoolchild learns about Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The image of the crowd in front of the Lincoln Memorial, packed into every available space around the Reflecting Pool, is instantly recognizable.

But this high point in the struggle for justice is almost always treated as a matter of history–a powerful, important, inspiring event, yes, but one that belongs to the past. After all, we’re told, King and the civil rights marchers were challenging a system of legalized segregation where Blacks had to sit at the back of the bus–whereas in the United States of the 21st…

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August 2, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

Hunger Strikers, Supporters Vow to Continue Fight as Mediators Conclude Meeting with CDCR Secretary

Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity

Mediators working on behalf of California prison hunger strikers just concluded their meeting with CDCR Secretary Jeffrey Beard. Today’s meeting comes on the heels of nearly 100 family members of hunger strikers visiting the Capitol Tuesday, where they presented a petition signed by over 60,000 people demanding negotiations with hunger strikers to Governor Brown’s office.

The hunger strike mediators’ statement included, “We gave [Secretary Beard] ideas that would help bring the prisoners’ hunger strike to a just end in short order. We provided input for revisions to CDCR’s Security Threat Group Policy and Step Down pilot program. Our revisions are intended to create more humane conditions and circumstances. We urged him to follow the lead from other states, such as Illinois, Colorado and Mississippi, to end harsh and long term isolation practices.”

Support for the hunger strikers and pressure on Governor Brown and the CDCR has continued to grow, with…

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August 2, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

The Face Of Stand Your Ground Law: White, Republican, Male Gun Owners

End Stand Your Ground

A telephone poll of 1,468 voters, conducted July 28 – 31, 2013 by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, on hot-button political issues like immigration, abortion, the economy, and Stand Your Ground law, indicated the majority of those voters who supported Stand Your Ground laws 53-40% at the time fit a composite profile of white, male, and Republican.

The numbers reflected the partisan & racial divides paradigmatic to America. President Barack Obama’s approval rating at the time showed the same divisions as Stand Your Ground law.
“‘Stand Your Ground’ splits the country sharply along political, gender and racial lines,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

According to the survey, white voters supported “Stand Your Ground” laws 57-37%, while black voters were opposed 57 to 37%. Men supported Stand Your Ground laws 62-34%, while women were divided – 44% in favor to 47% opposed.

Support was 75-19% among Republicans and 57-37% among independent voters, with…

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August 2, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

This Body

We love our bodies and Mother Earth

This Body That You Love so Much

This body that you love so much

will take its turn,

abandoned briefcase,

lost papers, old

sacks of news.

You love its fires, its ears,

and how it moves, it moves,

this body

that you love so much.

It wants sun,

daylight, feet

moving. Music.

Not to be skull

or star.

It hangs on so,

old suit of bones,

on its way to

the final room,

last speck, look

or sun or dust,

this body

its feathers,

old stems and pieces,

what you could give away.

Your dreams, where

they go: become

a fragment of some story,

an edge of afternoon

in another city.

Then you are wind

maybe, shimmering

in winter, as of

a spool winding

as you begin

hopefully

the long turn

toward light.

—-Barbara Angell

The Pagan religions look at the body in three stages. The maiden, the mother, and the crone or wise women. At a certain stage we much change our lives. I used to hike, camp, play racquetball, cross country ski and dance and dance and dance. As the wheel of life turns, our bodies change in what we can do. And I have also had to change. I blog, and paint, do photography ( been doing this since early 80’s ). I read and cook and have a small but beautiful garden.

Though the body, at some point will begin to hamper your activities. It is important to remember that the corporal body is just a vessel. Our souls are who we really are and they are never scarred. They are pure white light. The inner landscape is not scarred by the traumas and tragedies we survive in life. Divinity dwells in the inner landscape.

It is who we really, who you are. On the show Inside the Actor’s Studio, James Lipton asks, “‘ If there is a heaven, when you arrive, what would you like to hear?” I want to hear, “Welcome Home.” What would you want to hear?