"Citizens United" is the Mirror Image of DRED SCOTT: Properties Are People, it claims

It is so important that we keep alive in our consciousness and continue to help spread the word about the devastating Supreme Court decision of January 21st, the effect of which will be devastating beyond what I can express here in words if we do nothing fight it. Peace ~ Molly

* * *

The infamous Dred Scott decision stood for the proposition that people (slaves) are property.

Today's mirror image of the Dred Scott decision, with the Orwellian name "Citizens United," stands for the proposition that Property is People.

This decision, too, will live in infamy.

Corporations (which are merely property interests) are not the same as, and do not properly have the full political speech rights like individual human beings.Human beings are "endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights".

It's always been an axiom of the law that corporations DO NOT HAVE inalienable rights.

But now, even a 100% vote of both Houses signed by the President is insufficient to re-regulate corporations, at least without the consent of the US Supreme Court, because they grounded their ruling in an interpretation of the Constitution. They've weaponized the Constitution and are using it to tie the hands of what is rightfully the only sovereign and ultimate power in the USA - We the People - forcing us to be subjecting to unlimited propaganda all protected by the new-fashioned First Amendment.

No, it doesn't matter if unions will also be able to engage in unlimited propaganda, it doesn't matter even if they weren't dwarfed in financial power by corporations.

Whether people are deemed property or property is deemed "people" - either way people are enslaved to huge machines of property that do not and cannot know the meaning of the word "democracy."

Today's decision is the reverse echo of Dred Scott. Instead of People are Property, it's Properties Are People. That was BS during the time of Dred Scott, and it's still BS today.

Originally posted January 21st, 2010 here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7533622

* * *

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. ~ C. S. Lewis

The most effective way to restrict democracy is to transfer decision-making from the public arena to unaccountable institutions: kings and princes, priestly castes, military juntas, party dictatorships, or modern corporations.... In this possibly terminal phase of human existence, democracy and freedom are more than just ideals to be valued - they may be essential to survival. ~ Noam Chomsky

In Honor of Howard Zinn

Warmest Greetings

On January 27th I learned that Howard Zinn had died. And I felt this great grief at his passing. I still do. At the same time, I have this depth of gratitude for this great man and the legacy of courage, truth, wisdom, and depth of activism and caring for all people that he has left for us all. One person can make a profound difference, and certainly Howard Zinn is among them. It has come to me to share this final interview that brought two of my most beloved Elders together: Howard Zinn and Bill Moyers...

Please go here for the Bill Moyers Journal video and transcript of the December 11, 2009 interview with Howard Zinn: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/12112009/profile.html.

Please go here for the Bill Moyers Journal interview with Howard Zinn from January 10, 2003: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/archives/zinn_now_flash.html.

Peace & blessings ~ Molly

*****************************

They're willing to let people think about mild reforms and little changes, and incremental changes, but they don't want people to think that we could actually transform this country.

~ Howard Zinn

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.

~ Margaret Mead

Here's to the Crazy Ones

I love this.

Here's to the crazy ones.

The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers.

The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

They're not fond of rules.

And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,

disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.

Because they change things.

They invent. They imagine.

They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire.

They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?

Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?

Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think

they can change the world,

are the ones who do.


(Advertisement for Apple Computer,
adapted from the writings of Jack Kerouac)

http://www.panhala.net/Archive/To_the_Crazy_Ones.html

Web archive of Panhala postings: www.panhala.net/Archive/Index.html

Keep Breathing

Yes...

Keep Breathing

I know
you have been cut.
And deep.
And such cuts
create doubt:
"Can anything of joy
ever come this way again?"
The moment of not-breathing
when cut
is natural.
But keep breathing.
Keep breathing.
Because
what gets cut
isn't really us.
It's why
all the buddhas
male and female buddhas alike
sometimes meditate
in the charnel grounds,
looking upon the rotting bodies,
burning bodies,
bones
they see:
"This
that is really me
is not this body
is not this emotion
is not this spinning mind-trip."
Keep breathing.
It does not
negate the feeling.
And when we are mistreated,
we are mistreated.
And when there is injustice,
there is injustice.
Objectively so.
But there is a part of you
and I have seen it in your eyes
that would be free
even inside a prison cell.
Thankfully
you are
a spirit
of the wide open spaces
and no one
has the power
to fence you in.
The wounding
and healing
that you are experiencing
is never in vain.
The boiling,
the simmering,
the cooking down
of it all
becomes a nectar
that will feed
and heal others.
But don't ever think
you have to do it
alone.
There are others.
Dispensers of
healing nectar
are all around you
AND
within you.
Correct me
if I am wrong,
but some part of you
saw all of this coming.
Maybe it was a small glimpse.
Maybe it was
a slight inner tug
that said:
"Brace yourself dear,
your next life is about to begin."
In any case,
I hold you
in this old lion heart of mine.
And I know
that
which has been
heaved upon you
is not
a matter
of deserving
or not-deserving.
You have so much love to give.
The Forces of Life
do not give such a Giver
without a Receiver.
Keep breathing.

_______________________________
from Tongue on Fire
(c) 2010 / Frank Owen / NEKYIA.POETRY

http://monocle-nekyia.blogspot.com/

The Peace of Wild Things

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair grows in me

and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting for their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

~ Wendell Berry ~

(The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry)

http://www.panhala.net/Archive/Peace_of_Wild_Things.html

Chairwoman of the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers to Speak

Photo: The 13 Grandmothers

It takes five interpreters for the Council of 13 Grandmothers to speak. They come from indigenous tribes from the world over. A few years back I had the deep honor of hearing the Chairwoman, Agnes Pilgrim, speak at a Natural Way event here in Portland, Oregon. It is hard to describe the power of this experience. My heart, spirit, and soul were deeply touched.

Grandma Aggie will now be returning to speak again at a Natural Way event on Friday, February 12th from 7-9pm at the First Unitarian Church located on SW Main and 12th in Portland.

Please go here for more information: http://www.earthandspirit.org/NaturalWay2/NWspeakers/agnesPilgrim20100212.htm

Other websites related to the 13 Indigenous Grandmothers are: http://www.grandmotherscouncil.com/ http://13grandmothers.smugmug.com/Spirituality/THE-FOURTH-COUNCIL-GATHERING/3608823_JQCmq#205331532_4kfEk http://www.grandmotherscouncil.com/INTRO.html http://www.forthenext7generations.com/home.php http://www.agnesbakerpilgrim.org/ http://indigenouspeoplesissues.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1305:interview-with-grandma-aggie-international-council-of-thirteen-indigenous-grandmothers&catid=68:videos-and-movies&Itemid=96 http://www.grandmotherscouncil.com/docs/ICT_aggie.pdf

Please go here regarding the Grandmother's book Grandmothers Counsel the World: Women Elders Offer Their Vision for Our Planet: http://www.amazon.com/Grandmothers-Counsel-World-Elders-Vision/dp/1590302931

I hope you will consider spreading the word about this event and/or about the Grandmothers. Thank you so much. I hope to see some of you there!

Peace & blessings,

Molly

* * * **************************

We know that just because you're gray-headed, you don't need to go to pasture... I have visions of women all over the world empowering themselves and holding prestigious roles. Women are natural nurturers and they will step forward all over the world. And it's happening. More over, men. It is time for the natural nurturers to get this world back in balance.

~ Agnes Baker Pilgrim