LIBERADIO(!)

The Tennessean’s coverage of Justice Sunday II reports, “As country singer Jett Williams performed, volunteer Sherrie Allen, a Two Rivers Baptist Church member, said, “‘I am overwhelmed. It just amazes me how they are speaking in unity. It’s like God gave each one of them a message and He lined it up so that each one is speaking directly to what the previous said.’”

Here in the reality-based community, Ms. Allen’s quote reads, “”‘I am overwhelmed. It just amazes me how they are speaking in unity. It’s like the Republican Party gave each one of them a message and They lined it up so that each one is speaking directly to what the previous said.’”

There is no need to wait until there’s a draft or until you’re 18. To go on record now as a conscientious objector (or encourage your sons, brothers, nephews, etc. to do so), follow the advice found at www.objector.org:

1) “If you register with Selective Service, write that you are a CO on the card before sending it in. Photocopy the card (the SS will not keep a copy of the original card) and send it to yourself and leave it sealed.

2) Write a statement of beliefs that explain why, how, when, where, etc. that you became a CO. List anything that could have influenced your beliefs against war and killing, such as religion, films, books, events you attended, etc.

3) Find 3 people who know you very well who can write a letter on your behalf supporting your beliefs as a CO.

4) Write a letter to Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors (CCCO) explaining that you are a CO, keep a copy for yourself, with the receipt of it being mailed. We don’t archive these letters but we will send you a letter confirming we have received your letter. Keep that letter from us as part of your CO file. You can send your CO file to the Center on Conscience & War to be archived.

5) Compile all of these documents and get them notarized.

6) Put them in a safe place and if you get drafted you can present this claim to your local draft board and your chances of getting a CO exemption will be much stronger.

You need to build a paper trail and document everything possible that could help define you as a person who could not go to war. If you go to any anti-war events, document them somehow as proof that you went, keep the flyers, have your photo taken at the event, etc. They basically want to see that you are genuinely opposed to war, and not just somebody who doesn’t want to fight. You must be opposed to all wars, this doesn’t mean you can’t use violence in personal self defense.”

For more info on what is a conscientious objector, go here.

ADDITION: You can be a CO with conditions, as in “I object to certain wars or military actions but not all.” The “Just War” tradition, which can be based on religious doctrine or international law, can be one exception and it can be specificed as such when declaring your CO status. However, keep in mind that governments lie and manipulate and what they tell us is a “just war” isn’t always a “just war.” Gotta keep on your toes!

This Sunday, join “The Community of Faith and Unity” (a gathering to counter Justice Sunday II), at 3 p.m., at the Cathedral of Praise (Pentecostal Tabernacle), 4300 Clarksville Pike, Nashville.

Several Nashville and national organizations will gather to counter the elitist and exclusive message of Just Us Sunday II.
Local Speakers: Bishop Maynard, Cathedral of Praise Tabernacle; Bishop Walker, Mt. Zion Ministry; and numerous others to be confirmed later this week.
National Speakers: Rev. Rita Brock, theologian and founder of Faith Voices; Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State; Patrick Mroteck, president of Christian Alliance for Progress, and Rev. Emilee Whitehurst, director of Austin Area Interreligious Ministries.

If you need motivation to attend the counter gathering at the Cathedral of Praise or the protest at Two Rivers Baptist Church, here are some tidbits about some of the featured speakers at Justice Sunday II:
Tony Perkins, Family Research Council: In 1996 Perkins paid former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke $82,000 for his mailing list. At the time, Perkins was the campaign manager for a right-wing Republican candidate for the US Senate in Louisiana. The Federal Election Commission fined the campaign Perkins ran $3,000 for attempting to hide the money paid to Duke.
Phyllis Schafly said: “Many years ago Christian pioneers had to fight savage Indians. Today missionaries of these former cultures are being sent via the public schools to heathenize our children. [Phylis Schlafly's Eagle Forum]”
Bill Donohue, Catholic League: ““This same guy [Dean Hammer] came up with this idea of the gay gene. I remember when that conversation was going on. Gays were all of a sudden worrying if people would start aborting kids when they found out the DNA suggested the kid might be gay or God forbid, we’d run out of little gay kids, so all of a sudden, they became pro-life. Here we have a situation where some of the atheists; they may want to have abort the kids if they thought in fact there was some type of religious inclined gene. God forbid if they have a kid who believes in God.”

From the Glendale Baptist Church: “Rev. Don Beisswenger, political activist and advocate for the poor, will speak at Glendale Baptist Church on Thursday, August 18, at 7:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

He will share his experience as a prisoner of conscience, following his arrest for nonviolent protest in dissent over U.S. military policy at The School of the Americas (now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation). The retired professor and director of field education at Vanderbilt University Divinity School was sentenced to six months in federal prison in Kentucky for his protest at the Fort Benning, Ga. installation that trains Latin American soldiers.

Ray Waddle, in the December 2004, Presbyterian Voice editorial, said that Beisswenger, a Presbyterian minister, went willingly to prison: “His politics and theology led him there – a commitment to make common cause with voiceless people, whether homeless people in the U.S. or citizens in Latin America who suffer, as he sees it, at the hands of U.S. foreign policy. Several SOA graduates have been implicated in killing of missionaries or torture. The Army says no courses there advocate torture or abuse.”

Glendale Baptist Church, a Welcoming and Affirming congregation, is located at 1021 Glendale Lane, between Lealand Lane and Granny White Pike.”

Americans deserve to know the truth – no matter how horrible. What tidbits in this story remind you of what’s going on now? Is it the cover-up? The accusation that the enemy is using propaganda to further their agenda? The smear campaign? The journalist on the government’s payroll?

Why, after all these years, have we learned nothing? Why hasn’t our government learned to trust us with the truth? Why haven’t we learned to be more skeptical of the lies our government tells us? Why in holy-hell are we giving away billions of dollars in subsidies and incentives to the nuclear power industry when we know it will heighten the proliferation risk?

AP/Ipsos Poll: Americans’ Approval Of Bush’s Handling Of Iraq Reaches Low point; Fewer Than Half Say He’s Honest. Read more…

And in a Newsweek Poll: 61 percent of Americans polled say they disapprove of the way President George W. Bush is handling the war in Iraq. Read more…

Tom Friedman (NY Times) glimpses the future of electoral politics.*

The internet has flung wide open the doors of access to, and communication with, our public servants and if the Democrats don’t use it to their advantage, if they continue to use the old model, they will lose out on the single biggest opportunity to advance their agenda – freedom, equality, opportunity, prosperity, fairness and security for all Americans.

*”The technological model coming next – which Howard Dean accidentally uncovered but never fully developed – will revolve around the power of networks and blogging. The public official or candidate will no longer just be the one who talks to the many or tries to listen to the many. Rather, he or she will be a hub of connectivity for the many to work with the many – creating networks of public advocates to identify and solve problems and get behind politicians who get it.

“‘One elected official by himself can’t solve the problems of eight million people,” Mr. Rasiej argued, “but eight million people networked together can solve one city’s problems. They can spot and offer solutions better and faster than any bureaucrat. … The party that stakes out this new frontier will be the majority party in the 21st century. And the Democrats better understand something – their base right now is the most disconnected from the network.’” Read more…

ADDENDUM: To find about more about Andrew Rasiej and his campaign for NYC Public Advocate, come to http://www.rasiej.com.

And if you want to support our campaign for municipal wifi, go to http://www.wifi4ny.com.

Micah Sifry
eCampaign Director
Advocates for Rasiej

Finally, lottery money is funneled into something that will make a difference! If we reach kids when they’re itty bitty and give them a headstart on their education we’ll have less social problems as they get older. Good on ya, Governor, and please be smart about spending the money.

Metro Receives State Pre-K Funding (Nashville City Paper) By Katharine Mosher – “The influx of dollars will triple the number of children in pre-K, moving Tennessee from the bottom 10 states to the top 20 in terms of access, according to National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) Director Steven Barnett.” Read more…

Roberts Donated Help to Gay Rights Case – “Roberts’ work on behalf of gay rights activists, whose cause is anathema to many conservatives, appears to illustrate his allegiance to the credo of the legal profession: to zealously represent the interests of the client, whoever it might be.” (LA Times) Read more…

Roberts’ Gay Bias Case Role Debated - “It ‘is a red herring meant to divide the right,’ said Sean Rushton, executive director of the Committee for Justice, which helps coordinate strategy on judicial nominations for conservative groups. Similarly, liberal activists said the revelation did not temper their concern that Roberts was less supportive of civil rights than they would like. (LA Times) Read more…

Roberts Admits Lobbying Omission in Sworn Documents – “Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts failed to include his lobbying of Bush administration officials on behalf of the cosmetics industry in 2001 in his Senate questionnaire released yesterday. The omission is notable because the Senate asked for a list of all of his lobbying, and his work for the Cosmetics, Toiletries and Fragrance Association resulted in the controversial suspension of stricter rules for labeling sunscreen products.” (Newsday) Read more…

Design for Confusion by Paul Krugman (NY Times) – “The important thing to remember is that like supply-side economics or global-warming skepticism, intelligent design doesn’t have to attract significant support from actual researchers to be effective. All it has to do is create confusion, to make it seem as if there really is a controversy about the validity of evolutionary theory. That, together with the political muscle of the religious right, may be enough to start a process that ends with banishing Darwin from the classroom.” Read More…

Vanity Fair floats allegations GOP chief Hastert took Turkish bribes – Vanity Fair’s September edition, now out in New York but yet to hit national newsstands, packs a punch with an article about Sibel Edmonds, the FBI translator who has been gagged by the Bush Administration from revealing information about conversations she translated surrounding a seemingly major corruption scandal involving Turkish nationals and U.S. lawmakers.” (Raw Story) Read more…

On this morning’s show, a caller directed us to www.creationresearch.org for more information on how fossils support the concept of creationism as opposed to the Theory of Evolution.

A couple of problems. 1) I couldn’t find any scienctific methodology on the site and 2) they want me to buy their books to read their “research.” Sorry, that’s not going to happen. None of my hard earned dollars are going to the CRS. Let them publish on the web if they’re so confident in their hypotheses. They state that they were “unable to publish in established journals scientific information favorable to the creation viewpoint” which I’m sure they view as prejudicial. Perhaps they couldn’t publish because their articles are chock full o’ bad science?

Also, the CRS requires that “All members must subscribe to the following statement of belief:
1. The Bible is the written Word of God, and because it is inspired throughout, all its assertions are historically and scientifically true in the original autographs. To the student of nature this means that the account of origins in Genesis is a factual presentation of simple historical truths.”

If this is the point from which they start then they can’t possibly be real scientists. According to this statement, the scientific method is unnecessary since they already hold firm and unshakeable beliefs (which will skew any findings).

Can anyone point me in the direction of free and readily available information that illustrates where the scientific method is used to formulate, develop and evaluate the concept of creationism or intelligent design?

NEW: Evolution dispute now set to split Catholic hierarchy (The Independent)