I dream of a Star Trek world. This think tank will focus on creative actions
designed to initiate a global paradigm shift towards a world where racism, poverty
and war will be a thing of the past.
All our systems are in crisis: Competition and greed have led to ever more conflict and chaos.
The only way out is through cooperation and sharing: Justice and freedom for all.
Adamski: Knowledge is useless unless it is combined with action.
World teacher: Nothing happens by itself. Man must act and implement his will.
of
the
world,
unite
against
the
fascist
corporate
police
state.
Ernesto “Che” Guevara (June 14, 1928 â October 9, 1967), commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural symbol of rebellion and global insignia within popular culture.
As a young medical student, Guevara traveled throughout Latin America and was radically transformed by the endemic poverty and alienation he witnessed. His experiences and observations during these trips led him to conclude that the region’s ingrained economic inequalities were an intrinsic result of capitalism, monopolism, neocolonialism, and imperialism, with the only remedy being world revolution. This belief prompted his involvement in Guatemala’s social reforms under President Jacobo Arbenz, whose eventual CIA-assisted overthrow solidified Guevara’s political ideology. Later, while living in Mexico City, he met Raúl and Fidel Castro, joined their 26th of July Movement, and sailed to Cuba aboard the yacht, Granma, with the intention of overthrowing U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Guevara soon rose to prominence among the insurgents, was promoted to second-in-command, and played a pivotal role in the victorious two-year guerrilla campaign that deposed the Batista regime.
Following the Cuban Revolution, Guevara performed a number of key roles in the new government. These included reviewing the appeals and firing squads for those convicted as war criminals during the revolutionary tribunals, instituting agrarian land reform as minister of industries, helping spearhead a successful nationwide literacy campaign, serving as both national bank president and instructional director for Cubaâs armed forces, and traversing the globe as a diplomat on behalf of Cuban socialism. Such positions also allowed him to play a central role in training the militia forces who repelled the Bay of Pigs Invasion and bringing the Soviet nuclear-armed ballistic missiles to Cuba which precipitated the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Additionally, he was a prolific writer and diarist, composing a seminal manual on guerrilla warfare, along with a best-selling memoir about his youthful motorcycle journey across South America. Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to foment revolution abroad, first unsuccessfully in Congo-Kinshasa and later in Bolivia, where he was captured by CIA-assisted Bolivian forces and executed.
Guevara remains both a revered and reviled historical figure, polarized in the collective imagination in a multitude of biographies, memoirs, essays, documentaries, songs, and films. As a result of his perceived martyrdom, poetic invocations for class struggle, and desire to create the consciousness of a “new man” driven by moral rather than material incentives; he has evolved into a quintessential icon of various leftist-inspired movements. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, while an Alberto Korda photograph of him entitled Guerrillero Heroico , was cited by the Maryland Institute College of Art as “the most famous photograph in the world”. (read more)
“Guerrillero Heroico”
Che Guevara at the La Coubre memorial service.
Taken by Alberto Korda on March 5, 1960.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 â April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African American civil rights movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi.
King is often presented as a heroic leader in the history of modern American liberalism. A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. King’s efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. There, he expanded American values to include the vision of a color blind society, and established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history.
In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other nonviolent means. By the time of his death in 1968, he had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and stopping the Vietnam War.
King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986. (read more)
The Wisconsin State Capitol bulged with thousands of union members, including teachers, Thursday protesting Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s bill that would limit union bargaining rights.
Wisconsin is one of about 30 states with collective bargaining laws covering state and local workers. The Wisconsin Education Association Council, the biggest teachers union in the state, says they understand the budget crisis but feel the legislation will strip away the rights of workers.
“We know these are tough times and we have made it clear to the governor and legislators that we are prepared to do our part to help our state recover. This isn’t about protecting pay and benefits – it’s about protecting the right to collectively bargain. That’s what’s being stripped away here – the rights to be represented,” council president told ABC News.
President Obama told WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee that public workers should be ready to give up some slack. He did, however, call Walker’s plan “unduly harsh.”
Today, it was widely reported that Senate Democrats disappeared as a protest, making a vote on the bill impossible. (read more)
……………………………………………………………………….
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English) is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members (rank and file members) and negotiates labour contracts (collective bargaining) with employers. This may include the negotiation of wages, work rules, complaint procedures, rules governing hiring, firing and promotion of workers, benefits, workplace safety and policies. The agreements negotiated by the union leaders are binding on the rank and file members and the employer and in some cases on other non-member workers.
The origins of unions’ existence can be traced from the 18th century, where the rapid expansion of industrial society drew women, children, rural workers, and immigrants to the work force in numbers and in new roles. This pool of unskilled and semi-skilled labour spontaneously organized in fits and starts throughout its beginnings, and would later be an important arena for the development of trade unions. Trade unions as such were endorsed by the Catholic Church towards the end of the 19th Century. Pope Leo XIII in his “Magna Carta”âRerum Novarumâspoke against the atrocities workers faced and demanded that workers should be granted certain rights and safety regulations. (read more)
Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 â April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African American civil rights movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. King is often presented as a heroic leader in the history of modern American liberalism.
A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. King’s efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. There, he expanded American values to include the vision of a color blind society, and established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history.
In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other nonviolent means. By the time of his death in 1968, he had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and stopping the Vietnam War.
King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986. (read more)
“All my life I’ve heard Latin America described as a failed society (or collection of failed societies) because of its grotesque maldistribution of wealth. Peasants in rags beg for food outside the high walls of opulent villas, and so on. But according to the Central Intelligence Agency (whose patriotism I hesitate to question), income distribution in the United States is more unequal than in Guyana, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, and roughly on par with Uruguay, Argentina, and Ecuador. Income inequality is actually declining in Latin America even as it continues to increase in the United States. Economically speaking, the richest nation on earth is starting to resemble a banana republic. The main difference is that the United States is big enough to maintain geographic distance between the villa-dweller and the beggar”…..Timothy Noah.
(read more) (watch video)
(say this and become powerful)
“I want to help you…
you just tell me what you need…
and I’ll be happy to do it”
Mother and Child
Pablo Picasso
1922
“From woman, man is born; within woman, man is conceived; to woman he is engaged and married. Woman becomes his friend; through woman, the future generations come. When his woman dies, he seeks another woman; to woman he is bound. So why call her bad? From her, kings are born. From woman, woman is born; without woman, there would be no one at all. O Nanak, only the True Lord is without a woman”……Guru Nanak
Tiburcio Vasquez was allegedly the inspiration for Johnston McCulley’s fictonal character “Zorro”.
Tiburcio Vásquez (August 11, 1835âMarch 19, 1875) was a Californio bandit who was active in California from 1857 to 1874. The Vasquez Rocks, 40 miles north of Los Angeles, were one of his many hideouts and are named for him. He was probably the most notorious bandit California ever saw.
In January 1875 Vásquez was sentenced to hang for murder. His trial had taken four days and the jury deliberated for two hours before finally finding him guilty of two counts of murder in the Tres Pinos robbery.
Visitors flocked to Vásquez’s jail cell, many of them women. He signed autographs and posed for photographs. Vásquez sold the photos from the window of his cell and used the money to pay for his legal defense. After his conviction, he appealed for clemency. It was denied by Governor Romualdo Pacheco. Vásquez calmly met his fate in San Jose on March 17, 1875. He was 39 years old.
He stated…”A spirit of hatred and revenge took possession of me. I had numerous fights in defense of what I believed to be my rights and those of my countrymen. I believed we were unjustly deprived of the social rights that belonged to us.” (Dictated by Vásquez to explain his actions)
Vásquez was asked just before his execution, “Do you believe in an afterlife?” He replied, “I hope so… for then soon I shall see all my old sweethearts again”. The only word he spoke on the gallows was…”pronto”…soon. (read more)
“Injustice anywhere
is a threat to justice everywhere”
Martin Luther King Jr.
Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963
I just want to eat
Letâs do it right this time.
Re-post if you donât believe in an authoritative collective dictating what love and passion between two human beings should mean.
http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/TeleviseTheTrial
http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/TeleviseTheTrial
http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/TeleviseTheTrial
The Pledge of Allegiance was written in August 1892 by the socialist minister Francis Bellamy (1855-1931). It was originally published in The Youth’s Companion on September 8, 1892. Bellamy had hoped that the pledge would be used by citizens in any country.
In its original form it read:
“I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Here’s my version from a post I did a year ago:
“I pledge allegiance, to the Family of Man and to the Freedoms for which it stands, One World, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.”
Injustice anywhere…..
is a threat to justice everywhere.
…..Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr…..
by Eric Arthur Blair
(George Orwell)
If those gays want to get married,
I think we should let ’em,
they have the right
to be as miserable as the rest of us.
(hee hee)
I have a dream
that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color
of their skin, but by the content of their character
…..Dr. Martin Luther King…..
Satire
depicting
Fear and
Ignorance
Terrorism is the war of the poor……
and war is the terrorism of the rich.
……Sir Peter Ustinov……
Why are a million young girls being sold into sexual slavery every year?
Why do immigrants want to come here?
Why aren’t their own countries as well off?
Why are 18,000 innocent children dying each and every day from starvation?
Why is our water full of poisons and phamaceuticals?
Why is plastic the bane of our age?
Why do they cut fins off of sharks and throw them back?
Why are young girls subjected to genital mutilation?
Why do they fly airplanes into buildings?
Why are all the ice caps and glaciers melting?
Why do they stone girls who’ve been raped by their brothers?
Why are all the rainforests being destroyed?
Why is one religion the “real” one and another is not?
Why are Jews and Arabs fighting when they are brothers?
Why are priests molesting children?
Why are corporations being allowed to buy our government?
Why is my penis a pornographic thing?
Woman is the nigger of the world, we
Jean Pictet, in his commentary on The Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross points out the universal characteristics of humanitarianism:
The wellspring of the principle of humanity is in the essence of social morality which can be summed up in a single sentence, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” This fundamental precept can be found, in almost identical form, in all the great religions, Brahminism, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism and Taoism. It is also the golden rule of the positivists, who do not commit themselves to any religion but only to the data of experience, in the name of reason alone.
