2
POPS US Refuses To Allow Monitoring Of WMD “I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent.” – Martin Luther King in his speech: Beyond Vietnam: A time to break silence
0
POPSBarack Obama Nobel Prize speech in Oslo Highlights from President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo. Evil does exist; an approach of non-violence could not have saved the world from Hitler, nor can it save us from radicals who rely on terrorism to achieve their ends.
0
POPSBarack Obama Nobel Prize speech in Oslo Highlights from President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo. Juxtaposing just wars and the principles of non-violence espoused by Dr. King and Mohandas Gandhi.
1
POPSI TOOK THE VOW! VOW First, close your eyes and put your awareness in your heart. You can easily focus on someone you love, and feel that love building in your heart, when you feel full of love, ask your self honestly and seriously if you are willing to commit to a vow of nonviolence, in your speech, your thoughts and your actions. A vow is a sacred commitment from which there is no going back. It is like a child that is born, who cannot return to the womb. By committing to the vow, you also agree to have at least two people in their lives take the vow. Are you seriously committed to bringing about a world of peace, harmony, laughter and love by taking this vow and getting two people to join you? If you are ready, please click below to enter your email http://itakethevow.com/en-US/user/register to be counted as a part of our first 100 million people. Take the vow now.. http://itakethevow.com/en-US/home
12
POPSKing And Nonviolence Yes it's true that September 11th changed a lot of things and reminded us how vulnerable we are. It made us realize we face a dangerous and diabolically clever enemy. It strengthened our resolve and triggered important steps to prevent future attacks, actions that made us more secure as a nation. But 9/11 did not and could not change the basic ground rules: War or incitement to violence is justified only when it's in response to a deliberate attack and only when it's undertaken as a last resort. And even during wartime, nations must observe the highest moral standards. It's so easy to incite violence. And it's so wrong.
0
POPSMurder-Suicide in Families (DoJ Report) Previous history of abuse is by far the most dominant risk factor. In one study, 82 percent of the men who killed their intimate partners were known to the authorities — treatment professionals, the military or the criminal justice system, for example . In most cases, the man exhibits possessive, obsessive and jealous behavior. There is a gradual build-up of tensions and conflicts after which an event leads the man to act. The triggering event is often the woman’s announcement that she is leaving. The time immediately after a woman leaves an abusive partner is the most dangerous . Read an article from the NIJ Journal about a tool to help assess a woman’s risk of being a victim of murder suicide (pdf, 6 pages).
6
POPS"Violence is animalistic" meme reduces support for war More: Although right-wing authoritarians "typically show strong in-group bias and support for violence against out-groups, their heightened need to view themselves as non-animals makes them reticent to demonstrate violence when it is linked to animality," Motyl concludes. It should be noted that 104 of the 136 participants in the test were women. Before generalizing these results too widely, one would like to see them duplicated with a mostly male sample, preferably one from outside the walls of academia. Nevertheless, these are hopeful findings for those looking for ways to inspire peaceful resolutions to problems.
3
POPSThe 1,400 legal benefits of marriage in the US
More: spousal exemptions to property tax increases upon the death of one partner who is a co-owner of the home; veterans' discounts on medical care, education, and home loans; joint filing of tax returns; joint filing of customs claims when traveling; wrongful death benefits for a surviving partner and children; bereavement or sick leave to care for a partner or child; decision-making power with respect to whether a deceased partner will be cremated or not and where to bury him or her; crime victims' recovery benefits; loss of consortium tort benefits; domestic violence protection orders; judicial protections and evidentiary immunity; and more.... Most of these legal and economic benefits cannot be privately arranged or contracted for. For example, absent a legal (or civil) marriage, there is no guaranteed joint responsibility to the partner and to third parties (including children) in such areas as child support, debts to creditors, taxes, etc.
2
POPSDurga Puja is coming up. Swami Sivananda says: do not sacrifice animals for Devi Commentary from Swami Sivananda, founder of the Divine Life society, on the observance of Durga Puja. Traditionally, animal sacrifice has often been a part of the ritual, but Sivananda declares this a violation of the principle of ahimsa, which is binding on all Hindus no matter what caste, jati, or situation they belong to. An interesting example of second-order discourse in contemporary non-Western religion.
9
POPSDid bad care spur a mother to kill her disabled daughter? More: She wrote that the aides bathed Yvette "like a car," with cold water at times to punish her. When Yvette would scream, the aides would turn the hot water back on before the nurse in charge could arrive, according to the letter. "There's much more but you can ask my family. "... They can tell you. I can't go on like this. She has been begging me to end it for two years," Diana Harden wrote. "My health is failing and I don't want to leave her alone."… Because she was partially paralyzed, Yvette Harden could get around only with a wheelchair. But staff took away the motorized chair after Harden broke a glass patio door and bent the metal on a gazebo fixture in July 2008. She was given a manual chair that she had to be strapped into because it was too small and made the pain in her legs and back worse, according to Department of Public Health records. She told her mother, "I want to die; I don't want to live without my wheelchair…"
4
POPSCharges Against ‘New Black Panthers’ Dropped The Obama administration won the case last month, but moved to dismiss the charges on May 15. Aren’t what these guys were charged with federal offenses? These thugs were allowed to get away with threatening voters at polling stations and hate crimes. The acting Assistant Atty General for civil rights Loretta King, a career senior executive service official named by President Obama to temporarily fill the position, ordered a delay after a meeting between political appointees and career supervisors. What could possibly have take place in that meeting to lead to dropping these despicable charges? If anyone knows, please comment and let us all know.
6
POPSIllinois Public Opinion Turns Against President Obama's Health Care and Economic Policies
his individual policies have far less support. Recent non-tribune polling has shown that a majority of Illinoisans do not support the the current Democrat Health Care reform. The Tribune poll reflects this sentiment as only 42% approve of the President's handling of Health Care. On the contrary, 43% of Illinoisans disapprove of the President Obama's handling of health care reform. In addition, Illinois residents who have experienced an unemployment rate that has risen from 6.7% to to more than 10.5% in July are increasingly losing confidence in the President's economic policies. 49% of respondents indicated that the President Obama's economic policies have had a negative or no impact on job creation, as opposed to only 45% that believe his policies have had a positive impact. Tribune polling also indicated that the President's support among Independents in Illinois has all but disappeared. 58% of independents believe that his economic policies have had no impact or a
2
POPSSouthern Poverty Law Center Report: Climate of Fear Latino Immigrants in Suffolk County, N.Y.[ Less than one year ago, on Nov. 8, 2008, Marcelo Lucero, an Ecuadorian immigrant, was murdered in the town of Patchogue, N.Y. The killing, police say, was carried out by a gang of teenagers who called themselves the Caucasian Crew and targeted Latino residents as part of a sport they termed "beaner-hopping." ,,, The situation in Suffolk County, in fact, is a microcosm of a problem facing the entire United States, where FBI statistics suggest a 40% rise in anti-Latino hate crimes between 2003 and 2007, the latest numbers available. The number of hate groups in America has been rising, too, climbing more than 50% since 2000, mainly by exploiting the issue of undocumented non-white immigration.
1
POPSGunmen kill 17 people at a drug rehab in Mexico
What an act of insane massacre. And this is just one chapter in a multi-volume murderous campaign. And while the USA is 12,000 miles away burning opium fields in Afghanistan -- (while the opium crop in Turkey is used for medicines) -- this goes on in our backyard and inner cities. If leaders DID learn from history you'd think they should know that the policy of Prohibition (against booze) led to gang wars and murderous violence, out-of-control, non-stoppable. But the Drug Wars are a nice excuse for covert wars or sounding like you're "doing good," -- and a handy way to put lots of citizens in jail, esp. those who are more 'non-conformist." The U.S. has a myth/story of the 'Valentine's Day Massacre.' but this is far worse...yet we continue to rerun our old B&W charade stories while vivid reality is exploding all around. IMO: Legalize it. Tax it. Get out of debt. Use the Afghan opium crop for medicines. Stop the covert drug wars. Free the prisoners. Stop waving our flag f
7
POPSBahamas Proposal to Ban Marital Rape Sparks Controversy Sandra Dean-Patterson, director of a nonprofit that aides abuse victims continues to speak out in support of the bill. She told the Associated Press that the bill "says that our nation will no longer condone violence in the family. If you have to force your husband or your wife to be sexual, something is wrong with the relationship." *applauds*
2
POPSAndrew Sullivan: Where this far-right rage is coming from More: If that is what you really believe - that people in cities or suburbs, that minorities, that gays, that blacks and Hispanics are not part of "real America" - then of course, you are angry. You believe a fake America has taken over. You cannot understand this. So you start believing that we have a fascist/communist dictatorship, that there was some fraud allowing a non-citizen to become president, that the government is about to "take over" all healthcare provision ... and on and on. And no one is left in the GOP to challenge this, to calm it down, to present practical alternatives to the obvious crushing problems the country and the private sector have in paying for increasingly costly healthcare.
12
POPSAfrica's albinos seek their place in the sun Lack of pigmentation causes many to be killed to make potions for the superstitious. In a recent incident in Ruyigi, Burundi, according to Al Jazeera, a young albino man was reportedly killed and chopped up by his older non-albino brother, who sold his body parts for $240 before escaping to Tanzania. As of this writing, he has not been captured.
4
POPSU.N. body adopts resolution on religious defamation
Defamation of religious is a serious affront to human dignity leading to a restriction on the freedom of their adherents and incitement to religious violence," the adopted text read, adding that "Islam is frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and terrorism." It called on states to ensure that religious places, sites, shrines and symbols are protected, to reinforce laws "to deny impunity" for those exhibiting intolerance of ethnic and religious minorities, and "to take all possible measures to promote tolerance and respect for all religions and beliefs." ISLAMOPHOBIA, CHRISTIANOPHOBIA, ANTI-SEMITISM The 47-member Human Rights Council has drawn criticism for reflecting mainly the interests of Islamic and African countries, which when voting together can control its agenda. Addressing the body, Germany said on behalf of the European Union that while instances of Islamophobia, Christianophobia, anti-Semitism and other forms of religious discrimination s
1
POPSJihadist Group Hizb-Ut-Tahrir America Host Conference in Chicago July 19 Presumably that includes here in the U.S., like at the mall or the corner pub. Further, HT preaches the establishment of Sharia (Islamic) law and the eradication of both the U.S. Constitution and our legal system. The duty of the State is to implement Islam as a whole and to deem its implementation upon the non-Muslim as an invitation to Islam for them, because Shari’ah is ordained upon mankind; thus the State implements it upon every country that comes under its authority with the aim of conveying the Da’awah to it, because the secret behind the Islamic conquests is to carry the Da’awah to Islam. -- The Concept of Hizb ut Tahrir, page 30 As for the useful idiots who believe the cavalier exhortation that Jihad is a spiritual battle within oneself, HT helpfully clears that matter up quite succinctly. ...supplication is an action that achieves a spiritual value and Jihad is a physical action that achieves a spiritual value.
1
POPSPraying the Devil Back to Hell - Redux Those who have committed political crimes when given mercy - try to rekindle the flames of war and hate again and again. That should not stop you from using non-violence to end the violence but it surely tries the soul. Pray that those working for peace have the strength to continue!
2
Pops
Newest Clips
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Print
Save
Turn on live update