Playing For Change: Song Around the World "Stand By Me"

Thanks to both Diana and April for sharing this amazing song:

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-TVg40ExM

You can also go here for more about Playing For Change:

http://playingforchange.com/pop.html

For the Bill Moyers Journal episode from 10/24/08 which focused on

Mark Johnson, the man who began this incredible project and the documentary,

PLAYING FOR CHANGE: PEACE THROUGH MUSIC, please go here:

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10242008/profile2.html

You can also look at my post from November 2nd -

Playing For Change: Peace Through Music

Peace,

Molly

"You know, I remember, as I started this project, it started to build more and more importance. And I remember at some point or another, realizing that we were going to represent the eyes on the faces of the kids on this planet... And that that was going to be our motivation. So there was no chance we were going to stop. Because the truth is, they need us to inspire each other and to create a better world. I mean, there's so many problems now with the economy and with war and a lot of depression. But at the end of the day, there's also so much hope because I can assure you, all over the world, people are beautiful and they want to unite together." ~ Mark Johnson

Roy Zimmerman: Funny Songs About War, Ignorance, and Greed

Warmest Greetings

I just recently heard of Roy Zimmerman for the first time. Once again I am moved with the diversity of ways in which human beings tap into their creativity, their hearts, their gifts to in some way bestow blessing upon humanity. The below is just a glimpse into what I have found. It is powerful for me to note a common theme in this man's music: the use of satire to largely focus in some way upon the impact of an underdeveloped experience of compassion and consciousness. Roy Zimmerman's songs demonstrate how that lack of heartfelt awareness finds fertile ground in individuals, communities and nations, which then surfaces in "war, ignorance, and greed." Yet, Roy Zimmerman does not despair. With a smile and a wink and a nod - and a beautiful heartfelt smile - this artist's brilliant use of humor and satire makes looking at the paradoxes and shadows of ourselves palatable and possible.

Isn't it amazing the many forms that paths of the heart can take? And isn't it amazing how many beautiful faces a big heart can wear? Rooted in these eyes that twinkle, and songs that use laughter to illuminate and move us into greater awareness, are Roy Zimmerman's tireless efforts to work toward creating a more caring, kind, and compassionate world. I thank Roy Zimmerman for his form of Spiritual Satire which, I believe, seeks to grow the heart of humanity...

Peace & blessings ~ Molly

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From http://www.royzimmerman.com/bio.html:
What's funny about war, poverty, ignorance, bigotry, neo-conservatism, homophobia, greed, lust and fear? Ask Roy Zimmerman. He's been writing satirical songs for twenty years.

"There's nothing funny about World Peace," Roy observes. "Social Justice never killed at The Comedy Store. If we ever attain a worldwide consciousness of peace and justice, I'll be happily out of a job. But as long as power corrupts, I'll absolutely have a career."

Zimmerman's fourth CD is a Holiday offering called PeaceNick. It's Lefty, Pacifist, Humanist satire celebrating the birth of the Prince of Peace in a time of pre-emptive war. The disc takes a snipe at militaristic merchandising with "Buy War Toys for Christmas," and thumbs its nose at the War on Christmas - an absurd notion promoted by Bill O'Reilly and his ilk - with the Happy Holidays song "Christma-Hanu-Rama-Ka-Dona-Kwanzaa." The Dylan-esque "Christmas is Pain," another Zimmerman classic in the mold of another Zimmerman, receives wide airplay every Holiday Season.

Songs:
From http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYyt4nyaq64: "Sarah Pale In Comparison".
From http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyE5wjc4XOw&feature=channel: "Jerry Falwell's God".
From http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIwiPsgRrOs: "Creation Science 101".
From http://www.youtube.com/royzimmerman: "Thanks For the Support" and others.

Roy Zimmerman's MySpace: MySpace.com - Roy Zimmerman - www.myspace.com/royzimmerman.

From Roy Zimmerman's Newsletter at http://www.royzimmerman.com/news/110308/basic.html: "... And I think about the tiny, simple world they've wedged between two leather covers, and I stop laughing altogether. Because these are the people Karl Rove jerks around. These are the people who vote against their own economic interests, against their own workplace safety, against the real security of the country they love, just so gay people can't get married. These are people who accept things on faith - things like, "Barack Obama is a Muslim," and "Sarah Palin is a reformer" and that there's a "Pro-Abortion Movement" in America... I suspect that my funny songs wouldn't change their way of thinking, but that doesn't make them my enemies. My enemies are the powerful people who exploit the simple desire to have simple answers."

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"Compassion is that singular quality of heart that has the power to transform resentment into forgiveness, hatred into friendliness, anger into loving-kindness. It is that most precious quality of our being that allows us to extend warmth, sensitivity, and openness to the world around us and to ourselves rather than being burdened by prejudice, hostility, and resistance. It is a quality far more profound than pity. It is a deep, heartfelt caring for the dignity, well-being, and integrity of every single life in our world - from the smallest creature to the most powerful person." ~ Jack Kornfield & Christina Feldman, Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart

Thomas Tamm: American Hero

Tonight I heard whisleblower Thomas Tamm interviewed on Rachel Maddow's show. This was his first television interview and it was exceptionally powerful. This is a man who is definitely following in the courageous footsteps of Daniel Ellsberg, who of course was the whistle-blower who first revealed the Pentagon Papers. When we look to heroes in our midst, Thomas Tamm is certainly among them. Please go here for the video interview with Thomas Tamm called "Truth and consequences": http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/28120228#28244931

For other pieces, please go here:
-- Thomas Tamm to Vaughn Walker: They Knew It Was Illegal
And there's Mark Bradley, who told Tamm,"This may be [a time] the attorney general gets indicted."
-- NSA Domestic Surveillance Whistleblower Revealed
Tamm agonized over what to do. He tried to raise the issue with a former colleague working for the Senate Judiciary Committee. But the friend, wary of discussing what sounded like government secrets, shut down their conversation. For weeks, Tamm couldn't sleep. The idea of lawlessness at the Justice Department angered him. Finally, one day during his lunch hour, Tamm ducked into a subway station near the U.S. District Courthouse on Pennsylvania Avenue. He headed for a pair of adjoining pay phones partially concealed by large, illuminated Metro maps. Tamm had been eyeing the phone booths on his way to work in the morning. Now, as he slipped through the parade of midday subway riders, his heart was pounding, his body trembling. Tamm felt like a spy. After looking around to make sure nobody was watching, he picked up a phone and called The New York Times.
-- The Whistleblower Who Exposed Warrantless Wiretaps Newsweek ...
The story of Tamm's phone call is an untold chapter in the history of the secret wars inside the Bush administration. The New York Times won a Pulitzer Prize for its story. The two reporters who worked on it each published books. Congress, after extensive debate, last summer passed a major new law to govern the way such surveillance is conducted. But Tamm—who was not the Times's only source, but played the key role in tipping off the paper—has not fared so well. The FBI has pursued him relentlessly for the past two and a half years. Agents have raided his house, hauled away personal possessions and grilled his wife, a teenage daughter and a grown son. More recently, they've been questioning Tamm's friends and associates about nearly every aspect of his life. Tamm has resisted pressure to plead to a felony for divulging classified information. But he is living under a pall, never sure if or when federal agents might arrest him.

This is the address for Thomas Tamm's Legal Defense Fund:
Thomas Tamm Legal Defense Fund
Bank of Georgetown
5236 44th Street
Washington, DC 20015.
For more, please go here: The Thomas Tamm Legal Defense Fund

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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

Boogie Man - A Documentary Tracing the Roots of Rove and Other Political Strategists

I have ancestors who were life-long Republicans who would have found the actions and legacy of Lee Atwater deeply unacceptable. Yet, amidst all the darkness, are many teachable moments. That is why this film, among a plethora out there, is so important... Peace ~ Molly

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'Boogie Man' Lee Atwater: Truly Scary

By Neely Tucker

Washington Post Staff Writer

In the can't-look-away documentary "Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story," the career of the wildly successful, and wildly controversial, late Republican political operative comes back to us in ways that are funny, sad and mean. There is more than one moment in this film that will likely pop your jaw open.

Consider then-Secretary of State James A. Baker eulogizing Atwater at his 1991 funeral as "Machiavellian . . . in the very best sense of that term." (My dictionary defines the term as "characterized by unscrupulous cunning, deception, expediency or dishonesty.") There's Ed Rollins, the veteran Republican campaign manager, describing how Atwater went from protege to backstabber in such outrageous fashion that Rollins profanely threatened to beat him up. And then there's one of Atwater's musician buddies, a white guy, insisting that Atwater had so much soul that he was actually a "black person in a white body."

The last is particularly jolting, since we also see Howard University students staging a massive (and successful) protest to have Atwater, a veteran race-baiter, kicked off the university's board of trustees.

Such morsels help shape this riveting look at a green-eyed South Carolina kid who grew up under the political wing of Strom Thurmond and rose to become a consultant to three presidents, including a stint as the 1988 campaign manager for George Bush the elder. He helped perfect the ugly art of "wedge issues" and "driving up the negatives" on opposition candidates. Entertaining, guitar-playing, insecure and hardworking -- he delighted in achieving a victory through fair means or foul -- Atwater was compared by one journalist to a "wolverine . . . sort of always chewing through the plywood."

More... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/25/AR2008092504489.html

* * *

Atwater was a trusted advisor of U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. He was also a political mentor and close friend of Karl Rove. Atwater invented or improved upon many of the techniques of modern electoral politics, including promulgating reputation-destroying rumors. For more, please go here: Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story.

From Frontline, Nov 11, 2008 ... The rise and fall of the charming, Machiavellian godfather of modern take-no- prisoners Republican political campaigns. More... FRONTLINE: boogie man: the lee atwater story PBS

From NPR, 'Boogie Man': The Paradox Of Lee Atwater -- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94931206

* * *

"How is one to live a moral and compassionate existence when one is fully aware of the blood, the horror inherent in life, when one finds darkness not only in one's culture but within oneself? If there is a stage at which an individual life becomes truly adult, it must be when one grasps the irony in its unfolding and accepts responsibility for a life lived in the midst of such paradox. One must live in the middle of contradiction, because if all contradiction were eliminated at once life would collapse. There are simply no answers to some of the great pressing questions. You continue to live them out, making your life a worthy expression of leaning into the light." -- Barry Lopez, Arctic Dreams

INSPIRING - Pete Carrol: A Different Kind of Coach

A Different Kind Of Coach

Tonight on 60 Minutes "Byron Pitts speaks with USC college football coach Pete Carroll, who, in addition to his success with the Trojans, is making a difference toward decreasing gang violence in Los Angeles."

* * *

Please go here for the video of tonight's moving story of this amazing human being:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4667942n

Please go here for the transcript:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/11/60minutes/main4663108.shtml

Please go here to learn more about Pete Carroll's project "A Better LA",which takes on violence, builds community, and more in LA: http://www.abetterla.com/

* * *

Tonight I happened to watch 60 Minutes and after the stories about politics and the economy, I nearly turned off the television when I heard the last story was going to be about "some" football coach. (Football is obviously not the passion for me that it is for my son Matt!) I am so grateful that I didn't turn off the TV because this final story is what pierced right through to my heart. It's impact was so important that I knew I would be moved to share it here. Perhaps some of you already know about this story, but it was certainly new to me...

In my posts, as in my life and as best as I can, I seek balance. I seek to share about life - it's challenges, joys, tragedies, triumphs, that which plunders, oppresses, destroys and needs healing and that which points to beauty, hope, courage, transformation, a positive path to take, and deep heartfelt caring. It is my belief, for instance, that it is equally as important to not turn away from violence as it is to not get stuck in either denial or despair about the violence that is part of our world. While it is invaluable to nurture connection with beauty, joy, laughter, and love, my experience is that it is also equally as important to be conscious of things such as loss, pain, and violence - whether that hurt and violence is in our own hearts, in our own families, in someone else's family, community, nation, or wherever it exists. Cultivating a culture of caring is critical to us all. Yet how can we be inspired to care, to truly care - much less take any action to bring about change - about something we deny?

What an inspiration Pete Carroll is. He does it! - This man builds his players up rather than tearing them down. Rather than losing himself in celebrity and wealth and ego, he goes to where a world of hurt is happening and takes on the horrific violence and tragedy that he finds there - without losing his hope and joy. Pete Carroll understands teachable moments in the depths of his being. Bless him. What a brave, beautiful, caring human being. And what a role model as someone who faces and takes on violence while at the same time not losing touch with gratitude and peace and the belief that something good is about to happen. This human being smiles from his heart...

There are so many heroes in our midst, so many stories that do not make the evening news. Just think of how different our world would be if we really knew what was going on - everything from the torture that's been done by our government to people joining together worldwide to sing a song of caring to people like Pete Carroll and what he does for the children. Just think how different the world would be if we knew, truly knew and with increasing depth, the power we each carry individually and collectively in our minds, hearts, and souls. We can all find our own ways to be that difference. This post is in honor and deep gratitude of all who walk paths with heart.

Peace & blessings,

Molly

* * *

From tonight's 60 Minutes following a fight between players:

"We don't fight. Fighting is nothing in this game, it’s no aspect in this game. It’s just not okay, c’mon," he told the player... That's what he calls a teachable moment. Take a mistake and learn from it. It's part of a philosophy that he calls "Win Forever." ... Asked what "win forever" means to him, Carroll said, "It’s about finding out how good you could become at something and then making it come to life." ... Carroll sees that as his life's work: teach young people, not just ball players, to seize every opportunity and make the most of it.

* * *

"Peace is found not in the absence of challenge but in our own capacity to be with hardship without judgment, prejudice, and resistance. We discover that we have the faith to begin to heal ourselves, and the world, through an openheartedness in this and each moment." ~ Jack Kornfield & Christina Feldman, Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart

The Torture Presidency

Published on Sunday, December 14, 2008 by Harper's

by Scott Horton

The Levin-McCain Report, when fully declassified and circulated, will tell Americans a good deal about our history. It will help define what will become known as the "torture presidency" of George W. Bush. But it is also a remarkably incomplete document, testimony to the Bush Administration's conscious policy of obfuscation, misdirection and deceit-its mockery of Congressional oversight, and its corruption of our Constitution and system of government. It gives us a clear lesson. As John McCain stated: "This must never be repeated. Never."

More: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/12/14-5

* * *

For more on Cheney just admitting to his connection to torture policies, please go here for one of many resources on the subject: Cheney Admits Central Role In Torture For First Time. It is very noteworthy that Cheney now openly discloses his role and advocacy for things such as waterboarding - which is a technique that our government deemed such a horrific crime following World War II that those found guilty of it were put to death. (I am, of course, absolutely and without exception against the death penalty, torture, and all inhumane practices.) In the very least, Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld, John Yoo, Ashcroft and all those whose actions resulted in the violation of the law and principles of our nation - and most nations - absolutely need to be indicted and brought to justice. Peace ~ Molly

* * *

"Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." ~ George Santayana

"History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived,

but if faced with courage, need not be lived again." ~ Maya Angelou

"The first principal of nonviolent action is that of

noncooperation with everything humiliating." ~ Cesar Chavez

Senate to Middle Class: Drop Dead

Having grown up outside of Detroit, this letter and the circumstances it addresses holds even more significance for me...

Friday, December 12th, 2008

Friends,

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers start building only cars and mass transit that reduce our dependency on oil.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers build cars that reduce global warming.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the automakers withdraw their many lawsuits against state governments in their attempts to not comply with our environmental laws.

They could have given the loan on the condition that the management team which drove these once-great manufacturers into the ground resign and be replaced with a team who understands the transportation needs of the 21st century.

Yes, they could have given the loan for any of these reasons because, in the end, to lose our manufacturing infrastructure and throw 3 million people out of work would be a catastrophe.

But instead, the Senate said, we'll give you the loan only if the factory workers take a $20 an hour cut in wages, pension and health care. That's right. After giving BILLIONS to Wall Street hucksters and criminal investment bankers -- billions with no strings attached and, as we have since learned, no oversight whatsoever -- the Senate decided it is more important to break a union, more important to throw middle class wage earners into the ranks of the working poor than to prevent the total collapse of industrial America.

We have a little more than a month to go of this madness. As I sit here in Michigan today, tens of thousands of hard working, honest, decent Americans do not believe they can make it to January 20th. The malaise here is astounding. Why must they suffer because of the mistakes of every CEO from Roger Smith to Rick Wagoner? Make management and the boards of directors and the shareholders pay for this.

Of course that is heresy to the 31 Republicans who decided to blame the poor, miserable autoworkers for this mess. And our wonderful media complied with their spin on the morning news shows: "UAW Refuses to Give Concessions Killing Auto Bailout Bill." In fact the UAW has given concession after concession, reduced their benefits, agreed to get rid of the Jobs Bank and agreed to make it harder for their retirees to live from week to week. Yes! That's what we need to do! It's the Jobs Bank and the old people who have led the nation to economic ruin!

But even doing all that wasn't enough to satisfy the bastard Republicans. These Senate vampires wanted blood. Blue collar blood. You see, they weren't opposed to the bailout because they believed in the free market or capitalism. No, they were opposed to the bailout because they're opposed to workers making a decent wage. In their rage, they were driven to destroy the backbone of this country, not because the UAW hadn't given back enough, but because the UAW hadn't given up.

It appears that the sitting President has been looking for a way to end his reign by one magnanimous act, just like a warlord on his feast day. He will put his finger in the dyke, and the fragile mess of an auto industry will eke through the next few months.

That will give the Senate enough time to demand that the bankers and investment sharks who've already swiped nearly half of the $700 billion gift a chance to make the offer of cutting their pay.

Fat chance.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

* * *

"It's time for greatness -- not for greed. It's a time for idealism -- not ideology. It is a time not just for compassionate words, but compassionate action."

Marian Wright Edelman

U.S. Arms Deployed in Wars Around the Globe

By Ali Gharib
Published on Friday, December 12, 2008 by Inter Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (IPS) - Pundits these days warn of a Middle East arms race if Iran brings its alleged nuclear weapons programme to fruition, while others fear that missile defence in Eastern Europe could spark escalation involving Russia.

But despite all the fear in Washington, it turns out that the U.S. need look no farther than its own shores to find the greatest single source of weapons proliferation around the globe.

It's the U.S, according to a new report from the New America Foundation, which "is the world's largest arms supplier". And with 23 billion dollars in receipts in 2007 and 32 billion dollars in 2008, including only foreign sales, the U.S. is also cashing in.

From escalating hostilities to encouraging human rights abuses, these arms deals have a plethora of potential negative effects.

"Arms transfers can serve as a U.S. government 'seal of approval' for governments engaged in unacceptable behavior, not to mention being used as tools of internal repression and instruments of warfare with neighboring states," said the report.

But with a change of administration rapidly approaching, and President-elect Barack Obama ready to take the helm of government, the U.S.'s unique and dominant position in the global arms industry could be ripe for a change.

"We are at another moment when we can reevaluate what our role [ought to be]," said the director of New America's Arms and Security Initiative, William Hartung, during a press conference on the report Wednesday.

The last shift, said Hartung, came under outgoing Pres. George W. Bush, who "subsumed [the arms trade] under the global war on terror" so that if a country could make the case of being an ally in the effort, it could get arms and perhaps even subsidies towards their purchase.

"As the size, scope, and sophistication of U.S. transfers has increased during the Bush administration, so have the risks," says the report, especially in the developing world, where most violent conflicts occur and where the U.S. does billions in sales.

While arms sales are usually thought of as a defensive or preventative matter -- lopsided support by the world's preeminent military power should clearly be a deterrent -- the fact of the matter is that U.S. deals play a major role in fighting around the globe.

"U.S. arms and military training played a role in 20 of the world's 27 major wars in /2007," said the report, co-authored by New America's Hartung and Frida Berrigan.

More...http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45081

* * *

"Those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth. And let me remind you, they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyrannies. Absolute power does corrupt, and those who seek it must be suspect and must be opposed." -- Barry Goldwater

In The Debate Over The Economic Crisis, It's Crucial To Get The History Straight

Capitalist Fools

by: Joseph E. Stiglitz, Vanity Fair

January 2009 Issue

Behind the debate over remaking US financial policy will be a debate over who's to blame. It's crucial to get the history right, writes a Nobel-laureate economist, identifying five key mistakes - under Reagan, Clinton and Bush II - and one national delusion.

There will come a moment when the most urgent threats posed by the credit crisis have eased and the larger task before us will be to chart a direction for the economic steps ahead. This will be a dangerous moment. Behind the debates over future policy is a debate over history - a debate over the causes of our current situation. The battle for the past will determine the battle for the present. So it's crucial to get the history straight.

What were the critical decisions that led to the crisis? Mistakes were made at every fork in the road - we had what engineers call a "system failure," when not a single decision but a cascade of decisions produce a tragic result. Let's look at five key moments.

More... http://www.truthout.org/121008R

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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

Bush Last-Minute Rules Cement Environmental Legacy

Published on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 by Reuters
by Deborah Zabarenko

WASHINGTON - In his waning weeks in the White House, U.S. President George W. Bush is drawing more fire than ever as he presides over a steady stream of environmentally unfriendly regulations meant to last into the Obama administration.

"While the first 100 days of the Bush administration initiated perhaps the worst period of environmental deregulation in American history, the last 100 days of a Bush presidency could be even worse," the staff of the House of Representatives global warming committee wrote just before the November 4 election.

On his first day in office on January 20, 2001, Bush issued an order that blocked regulations to reduce arsenic in drinking water, sulfur in diesel fuel and raw sewage releases generally.

Throughout his presidency, Bush has rejected any mandatory, economy-wide limits on the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, which is emitted by coal-fired power plants and vehicles running on fossil fuels, as well as natural sources.

This has put the United States at odds with other major developed countries, which have joined the carbon-capping Kyoto Protocol and are working at a meeting in Poland on a successor to this international treaty to fight climate change.

The Bush administration is represented at the meeting but, with most attention focused on the future Obama administration, the prospects for solid progress are slim.

In his last months as president, Bush's team has assembled a long list of so-called environmental "midnight regulations" covering global warming, air pollution, endangered species and coal mining, among other issues.

These last-minute rules overwhelmingly favor industry over human health and welfare, Bush's environmental opponents say. And they are moving through the federal bureaucracy at a pace that will ensure they are in effect when President-elect Barack Obama takes office on January 20.

This means the new rules will be more difficult for the next administration and Congress to undo.

'THE WORST WE'VE EVER SEEN'

"They (Bush administration officials) have been relentlessly opposed to clean energy solutions, climate change responsibility and basic safeguards for air and water and land across all of their agencies over eight long years," said John Walke of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

For Patti Goldman, of the environmental advocacy group Earthjustice, the Bush administration's failings fall into three categories:

-- exploitation of public resources, especially oil and gas development on public land;
-- a refusal to address climate change domestically or internationally;
-- the reversal or delay of public health protections from environmental dangers.

"It's the worst we've ever seen," Goldman said by phone, noting that she has watched environmental policy since the Reagan administration in the early 1980s.

More... http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/12/10-6

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"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root." - Henry David Thoreau