Archive for December, 2014

Big Money Buys Elections

Tuesday, December 30th, 2014

Top 100 Political Donors Give Nearly as Much as 4.75 Million Small Donors Combined

http://tinyurl.com/kermlff

#1 New Year’s Resolution

Tuesday, December 30th, 2014

#1 New Year’s Resolution:

Prosecute the Torturers, War Criminals, &

Wall St. Banksters!

war criminals2Rumsfeld, Bush, and Cheney 

President Obama, you have one slim chance to do what is right. Prosecute the torturers, war criminals and Wall St. Banksters and stop these criminal policies that you have carried forward. If you fail to act, your name, and the names of your abettors, will be added to the list for prosecution.

“In signs of a slow deep sea change in what can and cannot be done in our name, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights has filed a criminal complaint against Bush torture program architects, accusing them of war crimes, rejecting the “golden shield” of a U.S. legal defense, and calling for a German prosecutor to hold an investigation to “help to ensure that those responsible for abduction, abuse and illegal detention do not go unpunished.” More astonishingly, the New York Times has written a blistering editorial likewise calling for prosecution of “the torturers and their bosses” who broke federal and international laws. It argues “no amount of legal pretzel logic can justify the behavior detailed in the (Senate) report,” slams “the distance officials in the executive branch went to rationalize, and conceal, the crimes they wanted to commit,” and condemns “blinkered apologists… desperate to call these acts anything but torture, which they clearly were…The nation cannot move forward in any meaningful way without coming to terms, legally and morally, with the abhorrent acts that were authorized, given a false patina of legality, and committed by American men and women from the highest levels of government on down.”

See http://www.commondreams.org/further/2014/12/22/simply-crimes-german-human-rights-group-seeks-prosecute-torturers-and-hell-even

https://www.popularresistance.org/criminal-complaint-against-bush-era-torture-architects/

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40530.htm  http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n01/david-bromwich/working-the-dark-side

Justice Delayed, is Justice Denied! Prosecute Now!

  1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject war as a solution. 3. Defend civil liberties. 4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, anti-Hawaiian, etc.
    5. Seek peace through justice in Hawai`i and around the world.
    Contact: Malu `Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Kurtistown, Hawai`i 96760.
    Phone (808) 966-7622. Email:ja@malu-aina.org http://www.malu-aina.org

Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet (Jan. 2, 2015 – 693rd week) – Friday 3:30-5PM downtown Post Office

Merry Christmas!

Thursday, December 25th, 2014

Photo of Christmas eve vigil in Hilo

2014 Christmas eve vigil

Dec. 26, 2014 Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet on 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS APOLOGIES

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2014

PEACE ON EARTH!

12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS APOLOGIES

The apologies that should be forthcoming from America’s ownership class

Edited version below. See full version by Paul Buchheit here:

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/12/22/12-days-christmas-apologies

 If Christmas magic were real, America’s political and business leaders — the people with power and money — would speak on behalf of the nation they’ve debased:

  1. To Our Most Neglected Citizens

To Americans without a place to live, we apologize for a society that allows almost all of its new wealth to be redistributed to people who are already rich.
2. To Our Most Vulnerable Citizens
Eight years ago 2 out of every 100 children were homeless. Now it’s over 3 out of 100, a stunning 50% increase. Almost half of retirees report less than $10,000 in savings.
3. To the “Broken Windows” Victims
Bank executives don’t break windows. Their crimes are a billion times worse. Yet not a single banker was prosecuted for contributing to the mortgage collapse.
4. To Our Students, the Newest Products of Business
Pre-school funding has been drastically cut. Business leaders see profits in our children, especially if education can be automated, standardized, and commodified.
5. To Our Soldiers
We celebrate you in TV commercials, at football games, in holiday parades. But we should be saying “sorry” instead of “thank you.” —-One out of twelve Iraq/Afghanistan veterans with PTSD—-57,000 homeless vets—-Veterans much more likely than the general population to commit suicide—-Unemployment much higher among post-9/11 vets
6. To the Victims of Our “Exceptionalism”
Greed knows no boundaries. Drone strikes, torture, targeted assassinations…
7. To Those To Whom Nothing Ever “Trickled Down”
It’s a lie that lower taxes on the wealthy stimulates the economy and benefits everyone.
8. To People Who Believe in Society Over “Winner-Take-All” Greed is NOT good!
9. To the Victims of Free-Market Capitalism

Big business is largely unregulated. It prospers through its partnership with Congressional members, who have fallen out of touch with average Americans.
10. To the People Who REALLY Built the Technology Industry
11. To Those Who Have To Defend the Best Government Programs in U.S. History
Social Security and Medicare keep nearly half of our seniors out of poverty.
12. To the Most Generous, and Least Appreciated, Among Us
These are lower-income households, who give 7.6 percent of their income to charity, while those earning $100,000 or more give just 4.2 percent.

And If the Super-Greedy Refuse to Apologize and Make Amends for Their Treatment of Less Fortunate Americans? Let Visions of Occupy II Dance in Their Heads.

  1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject war as a solution. 3. Defend civil liberties. 4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, anti-Hawaiian, etc. 5. Seek peace through justice in Hawai`i and around the world.
    Contact: Malu `Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Kurtistown, Hawai`i 96760.

    Phone (808) 966-7622. Email:ja@malu-aina.org http://www.malu-aina.org

Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet (Dec. 26, 2014 – 692nd week) – Friday 3:30-5PM downtown Post Office

Reminder: Hilo 2014 Christmas Eve Candlelight Vigil for Peace

Tuesday, December 23rd, 2014

Christmas Eve
ANNUAL SILENT CANDLELIGHT-VIGIL

FOR PEACE

 ALL ARE WELCOME

WHEN:  Wednesday,  December 24th, 4:00 p.m.–5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Hwy 11, Hilo (between Ross and Walgreens)

Let’s overcome the holiday message of materialism and instead hold a light to its spiritual message of loving kindness, peace and good will to all.  Global, AND LOCAL suffering is increasing with on-going wars, poverty, and destruction of our environment. May the glow of our candles and our SILENT presence serve as testimony that a better way is possible. Let us strengthen our resolve to end suffering and dedicate our lives to caring for each other and working for justice, peace, and aloha ‘aina (love for the land), here in Hawaii and around the world.

COME JOIN US

AS WE RAISE A CANDLE FOR PEACE

AND THE HEALING OF OUR PLANET

If you can, please bring a peaceful sign and a wind-protected candle or lantern, and be prepared for a chance of rain.

 

  1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject war as a solution. 3. Defend civil liberties. 4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, anti-Hawaiian, etc.
     5. Seek peace through justice in Hawai`i and around the world.
    Malu `Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box AB Kurtistown, Hawai`i 96760.
    Phone (808) 966-7622.  Email ja@malu-aina.org http://www.malu-aina.org