"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

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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

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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

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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

Even the Best Meditators Have Old Wounds to Heal

This article speaks deeply to my experience.

Blessings ~ Molly

* * *

by Jack Kornfield

For most people meditation practice doesn’t "do it all." At best, it’s one important piece of a complex path of opening and awakening.

In spiritual life I see great importance in bringing attention to our shadow side, those aspects of ourselves and our practice where we have remained unconscious. As a teacher of the Buddhist mindfulness practice known as vipassana, I naturally have a firm belief in the value of meditation. Intensive retreats can help us dissolve our illusion of separateness and can bring about compelling insights and certain kinds of deep healing.

Yet intensive mediation practice has its limitations. In talking about these limitations, I want to speak not theoretically, but directly from my own experience, and from my heart.

Some people have come to meditation after working with traditional psychotherapy. Although they found therapy to be of value, its limitations led them to seek a spiritual practice. For me it was the opposite. While I benefited enormously from the training offered in the Thai and Burmese monasteries where I practised, I noticed two striking things. First, there were major areas of difficulty in my life, such as loneliness, intimate relationships, work, childhood wounds, and patterns of fear, that even very deep meditation didn’t touch. Second, among the several dozen Western monks (and lots of Asian meditators) I met during my time in Asia, with a few notable exceptions, most were not helped by meditation in big areas of their lives. Many were deeply wounded, neurotic, frightened, grieving, and often used spiritual practice to hide and avoid problematic parts of themselves.

When I returned to the West to study clinical psychology and then began to teach meditation, I observed a similar phenomenon. At least half the students who came to three-month retreats couldn’t do the simple "bare attention" practices because they were holding a great deal of unresolved grief, fear, woundedness, and unfinished business from the past. I also had an opportunity to observe the most successful group of meditators - including experienced students of Zen and Tibetan Buddhism - who had developed strong samadhi and deep insight into impermanence and selflessness. Even after many intensive retreats, most of the meditators continued to experience great difficulties and significant areas of attachment and unconsciousness in their lives, including fear, difficulty with work, relationships wounds, and closed hearts. They kept asking how to live the Dharma and kept returning to meditation retreats looking for help and healing. But the sitting practice itself, with its emphasis on concentration and detachment, often provided a way to hide, a way to actually separate the mind from difficult areas of heart and body.

More: http://www.buddhanet.net/psymed1.htm

* * *

Joy comes not through possession or ownership

but through a wise and loving heart.

~ Jack Kornfield

Unequal Protection

This is perhaps the best book on corporate personhood.

Peace ~ Molly

* * *

Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate

Dominance and Theft of Human Rights

by Thom Hartmann

Click here to go to the site Click here to buy it from amazon.com
Unequal Protection is a book about how corporations are trying to hijack democracy – and what we can do about it.

In Unequal Protection, author Thom Hartmann tells a compelling, can’t-put-it-down story that tracks the history of the loss of democracy in America. It starts with the birth of the modern corporation with the founding of the East India Company in 1600, through the Boston Tea Party revolt against transnational corporate domination of the early American economy, the rise of corporations during the Civil War, the ultimate theft of human rights before the Supreme Court in 1886, and into the modern-day theft of human rights in the US and worldwide by corporate interests and the politicians they own.

“If you wonder why the corporate world constantly lurches from malaise to oppression to governmental corruption and back, Unequal Protection reveals the untold story. Beneath the success and rise of American enterprise is an untold history that is antithetical to every value Americans hold dear. This is a seminal work, a godsend really, a clear message to every citizen about the need to reform our country, laws, and companies.”-Paul Hawken, author, Natural Capitalism

More: http://www.thomhartmann.com/2007/11/08/unequal-protection/

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You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.

~ Eleanor Roosevelt

All serious daring starts from within.

~ Harriet Beecher Stowe

Whoever said anybody has a right to give up?

~ Marian Wright Edelman

Business vs. Business…Corporate Personhood

From Thom Hartmann's blog:

In response to the Supreme Court’s terrible decision giving corporations First Amendment rights “dozens of current and former corporate executives” from corporations including Delta, Playboy Enterprises, Ben & Jerry’s, Seagram’s liquor company, toymaker Hasbro, Delta Airlines Men’s Wearhouse, and Crate & Barrel sent a letter to Congress asking it to immediately pass the Fair Elections Now Act, which would publicly finance all congressional campaigns out of a special fund created by a fee levied on TV broadcasters. They say they are tired of getting fundraising calls from lawmakers and now it will get worse. Actually, these relatively smaller corporations really have nothing to worry about when it comes to getting more fundraising calls from members of Congress. Their smaller contributions will be replaced by billions from Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Agriculture, Big Retailing, and Big Manufacture in China. What they really have to worry about is that these huge corporations will use their new Supreme Court-granted political power to wipe them out altogether. Robber Baron industries can now drop billions to lobby to simply make illegal smaller companies, or force them to sell to giant conglomerates. Reagan and Clinton brought us “good buy small business” – our malls and downtowns are now totally almost totally national chains. Now you can say “good bye” to medium sized businesses – and even big American corporations – as well, as transnational, German, Japanese, and Chinese corporations can legally buy our politicians and use the power of the state to put their competitors out of business.

More: http://www.thomhartmann.com/2010/01/25/business-vs-business-corporate-personhood/

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One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.

~ Maya Angelou

There are no magic answers, no miraculous methods to overcome the problems we face, just the familiar ones: honest search for understanding, education, organization, action that raises the cost of state violence for its perpetrators or that lays the basis for institutional change -- and the kind of commitment that will persist despite the temptations of disillusionment, despite many failures and only limited successes, inspired by the hope of a brighter future.

~ Noam Chomsky

The best way out is always through.

~ Robert Frost

It's Fascism, I Tells Ya!

by Tom Degan

"Fascism should more properly be called 'corporatism' because it is the total merging of corporate and state power."

Benito Mussolini

the Founding Father of the Fascist state

... Ascribing humanity to a corporation, to a company like Exxon or Disney for example, raises too many questions to even list here. But let's at least attempt to ask a few of them, shall we, boys and girls? Here goes....

Are corporations really persons?

Do corporations think?

Do corporations weep?

Do corporations fall in love?

Do corporations grieve when a loved one dies as a result of a lack of adequate health care?

Do corporations have loved ones?

Are corporations even capable of loving?

Do corporations sometimes lose sleep at night worrying about disease, violence, destruction, and the suffering of their fellow human beings?

Do corporations feel your pain?

Can a corporation run for public office?

Is a corporation capable of having a sense of humor? Is it capable of laughing at itself? (EXAMPLE: "So these two corporations walk into a bar....")

If a corporation ever committed an unspeakable crime against the American people, could IT be sent to federal prison? (Note the operative word here: "It")

Has a corporation ever walked into a voting booth and cast a ballot for the candidate of its choice?

We all know that corporations have made a shit-load of cash throughout our history by profiting on the unspeakable tragedy of war. But has a corporation ever given its life for its country?

Is a corporation capable of raising a child?

Does a corporation have a conscience? Does it feel remorse after it has done something really bad?

Has a corporation ever been killed in an accident as the result of a design flaw in the automobile it was driving?

Has a corporation ever written a novel or a dramatic play or a song that inspired millions?

MORE: http://tomdegan.blogspot.com/2010/01/its-fascism-i-tells-ya.html

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A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.

~ Edward R. Murrow