from: William Hughes

On Monday, Oct. 5, 2009, a spirited antiwar rally was held in front of the White House. Sixty-one protesters were arrested in a nonviolent “Civil Resistance” action. Prior to the arrests, I talked with various pro-Peace activists who shared their views on the current situation with respect to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; the torture issue; closing Gitmo and Bagram prisons; the administration of President Barack Obama; and related Peace and Justice Movement matters.
For an overview of the Nonviolent Resistance Movement, go to: “A Conversation with Phillip Berrigan” by Father John Dear, S.J. at: http://www.fatherjohndear.org/pdfs/berrigan.pdf and to this article on Mahatma Gandhi, at:
http://www.ccsf.edu/Resources/VOICE/instructorslessonplans/individualrights/gandhi/reading.pdf and to this piece on Martin Luther King, Jr., at: http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/martinlutherking/a/mlks_philosophy.htm and http://www.jonahhouse.org/ and
See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l9PEDaSyqU

from: William Hughes

On February 11, 2008, then U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) made a campaign stop at College Park, MD. This was the day before the Democratic presidential primary in Maryland. At this event, Sen. Obama promised a cheering audience at the Comcast Center: “We can go ahead and tell the lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington are over...They will not run my White House and they will not drown out the voice of the American people when I am President of the United States of America...I’ve put forward a plan that every person in America will be able to get health care as good as the health care as a member of Congress...We will do it by the end of my first term as President of the United States of America.” For background on the Feb. 11, 2008 rally, see: http://baltimore.indymedia.org/newswire/display/16834/index.php and for recent questions about President Obama’s allegedly all-too-cozy relationship with the big insurance companies, check out: http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/healthcare/60879-does-obama-have-a-secret-deal-with-insurance-companies

from: William Hughes

On Wednesday afternoon, September 30, 2009, the “Mad as Hell Doctors” rallied in front of the White House, in Lafayette Park. The group supports a Single Payer Healthcare System. Two of their slogans are: “Everybody In! Nobody Out!” and “Single Payer or Bust!” The doctors have been on a nationwide tour promoting their cause. One of the speakers at the spirited event was Dr. Katherine Ottoway, a family physician. She’s a “mad as hell doctor” from Port Townsend, WA. She related how the current medical system, in a particular case of a heart attack victim who was denied insurance coverage, is destroying the “American Dream. We need single payer, now!” Dr. Margaret Flowers of Baltimore, who helped to organize the rally, also served as the MC for it. For background on Single Payer and the “Mad as Hell Doctors,” check out their web site, at: https://madashelldoctorstour.com/Home_Page.html

from: William Hughes

On Wednesday afternoon, September 30, 2009, the “Mad as Hell Doctors” rallied in front of the White House, in Lafayette Park. The group supports a Single Payer Healthcare System. See, madashelldoctorstour.com

from: William Hughes

On Wednesday afternoon, September 30, 2009, the “Mad as Hell Doctors” rallied in front of the White House, in Lafayette Park. The group supports a Single Payer Healthcare System. Two of their slogans are: “Everybody In! Nobody Out!” and “Single Payer or Bust!” The doctors have been on a nationwide tour promoting their cause: via a huge Care-A-Van; staging many rallies, town hall meetings and giving speeches; canvassing numerous neighborhoods for new advocates; and, often times getting their message out by traveling in a caravan, while proudly displaying their symbolic white ribbon. Their laudable initiative, which sees “healthcare for all” as a moral and social justice issue for all Americans, was launched in Sequim, WA, on Aug. 28th. Dr. Margaret Flowers of Baltimore, who helped to organize the rally, also served as the MC for it. For background, see their web site, at: https://madashelldoctorstour.com/Home_Page.html

from: William Hughes

On Wednesday afternoon, September 30, 2009, the “Mad as Hell Doctors” rallied in front of the White House, in Lafayette Park. The group supports a Single Payer Healthcare System. Two of their slogans are: “Everybody In! Nobody Out!” and “Single Payer or Bust!” The doctors have been on a nationwide tour promoting their cause. One of the speakers at the spirited event was Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH). He is one of the key champions in the House of Representatives of HR 676, a Single Payer Bill. Dr. Margaret Flowers of Baltimore, who helped to organize the rally, also served as the MC for it. For background on Single Payer and the “Mad as Hell Doctors,” check out their web site, at: https://madashelldoctorstour.com/Home_Page.html

Like the conventional weapons aren't bad enough, Israel has several hundred nukes as well.

Police used teargas pepper spray and rubber bullets against University of Pittsburgh students during the Pittsburgh G20 Summit. Many of the students were not part of any demonstration but bystanders, curious to find a mass of armed riot police on their campus. The police were eager to use their weapons and to demonstrate their police state tactics on a population of docile human sheep, what the American people have been reduced to. In a similar video we also see an unmarked car filled with men wearing military fatigues grab someone off the street, force them into the car and drive away. Who these men were and where these poor victims are being taken nobody knows. It’s something that used to happen to people in Chili under the Pinochet regime, a brutal dictatorship that disappeared and killed thousands. I never thought ‘it could happen here’, but then what could we expect from a government that ignores the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and now arrests and imprisons it’s own people as terrorists holding them indefinitely and without charge, a government that tortures women and children, a government that has already killed nearly two million innocent men, women, and children in Afghanistan and Iraq, a government that has hundreds of CIA torture prisons around the world.

from: William Hughes

He’s an activist, political gadfly and author. His name is Ralph Nader and he has a new book out. This time it’s a fictional one and its subject, naturally, is political. The title is: “Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!” On September 26, 2009, at the Baltimore City’s Book Festival, Nader discussed some of the reasons that caused him to write his tome. He spoke for over an hour and half before a standing room only audience. Nader’s speech was sponsored by Red Emma’s Bookstore Coffeehouse, See: http://redemmas.org/ For further background, check out: http://www.sevenstories.com/book/?GCOI=58322100712790 and
http://www.onlythesuperrich.org/release.php

from: William Hughes

At a press conference, on Friday, Sept. 25, 2009, activists demanded that the Baltimore Gas & Electric Company (BGE), roll back its electric rates to 2006 levels and for it to grant “immediate rate relief.” BGE is a subsidiary of Constellation Energy, (CE). The event was held in front of the office of the Public Service Commission, a state regulatory agency located in Baltimore, MD. The “Maryland Coalition for BGE Reregulation” sponsored the press conference. Leo Burroughs is one of its leaders. He was sharply critical of elected Maryland politicians for their do-nothing conduct in this matter, particularly Governor Martin O’Malley. Burroughs labeled him, “the biggest phony.” Burroughs also announced a “new Petition drive.” A similar social justice effort was recently staged by activists in the Washington, D.C. area against the electric utility giant, PEPCO. See: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=liamh2#play/search/1/pJQkBssFc4I