Inside the Belly of the Beltway Beast

I went to a rally for Trayvon Martin, a Florida teen who was murdered in late February by a violent racist for being himself, yesterday in front of DC City Hall. At the time, Martin was wearing a hoodie and carrying a bag of skittles.  Under the insanely fascist "Castle Law" in that state (and I believe a dozen others), his murderer, George Zimmerman, remains free. Carrying a gun, Zimmerman uttered a racial slur ("f#@king coons") and said "these assholes always get away" into his cell phone during his 911 call. You can listen to the recording .  A 17 year-old walking home and chatting with his girlfriend on his cell phone should never be murdered. And yet it happens. What is so horribly wrong here is George Zimmerman has not been prosecuted. Shame on Florida. And shame on us if we let this stand. My hope is that people will really be motivated to act. At the rally yesterday there was a lot of urging people to vote. That is not what we need. We need p...

At the beginning of October, I met a couple of the folks who were in their first week of occupying McPherson Square, located along the corporate lobbying corridor of K Street in my hometown of DC. They were determined to stay and spread a message about income inequality, crony capitalism, and the wrong direction our government was headed. They stayed and they multiplied. At the time I was attending The Stop Machine multi-day rally at Freedom Plaza. I had earlier been associated with helping to organize this older, more strictly anti-war mobilization, but I had withdrawn from the steering committee both because of constraints on my time (busy work days and moving to a new apartment with my dog) and disagreements with the organizing style of others involved. I fell in love with Occupy DC at McPherson Square and even as I attended Stop the Machine at Freedom Plaza, I became even more disenchanted with them. This is my story about the two occupations in DC, and how one has always bee...

Last week and this week has been the pre-trial Article 32 hearing for the brave whistleblower Pfc. Bradley Manning. I am proud that OccupyDC joined the rally last Saturday demanding Bradley's freedom. The military wants to put this great gay American behind bars for life. His crime? Reporting war crimes and widespread government corruption, which helped light the fire of the Arab Spring. That in turn inspired Occupy here in the states. This is a good review of Bradley's case at this point: Punishing the whistleblower? - Inside Story Americas - Al Jazeera English

Today is Gandhi's birthday, and yesterday I think I witnessed a hopeful future for humanity. David, Laurel and I went to lower Manhattan to take part, if only for a day, in Occupy Wall Street centered in Zuccotti Park, about a block from the New York Stock Exchange. What I saw there was a few hundred young folks (and a few older folks) occupying a space, and creating a community of resistance to the burgeoning and oppressive plutocracy in the U.S. One of the most frequent, and powerful in my mind, themes touched on by this growing movement is the concept that we are the 99% and we are being sold out and exploited by the richest 1% and their enormous corporations (recently given First Amendment rights by the US Supreme Court). The ones who get generous tax breaks and simply want to feed their own greed with no concern for the overall health of the nation. The disparity between the billionaires and the rest of us has increased and is quickly beginning to resemble many third worl...

With the passing of the 48th anniversary of the great March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King’s milestone speech, “I Have a Dream,” once again, a gay black civil rights organizer and strategist has been forgotten. This man was someone who greatly influenced both Dr. King and the civil rights movement of the late 1950s and 1960s, and deserves to be remembered by all Americans and honored by the LGBT community as a hero. Bayard Rustin, born in 1912, studied the nonviolence philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, and never sought the spotlight, but his impact on American social movements of the 20th century is undeniable. A Quaker and a talented singer Rustin became involved in the gay rights movement during his later years. Sadly the dedication ceremony of Dr. King’s Memorial was rained out because of Hurricane Irene. Yet his legacy will never be dimmed or overlooked. However many are unaware of Rustin who played an incredibly influential role in the young Atlantan preacher’s life...

The market is collapsing, unemployment remains high (especially for people of color and recent grads), America's credit rating was just downgraded, and the U.S. is engaged in several hopeless and costly wars and military occupations... I am now actively helping to organize and build the October 6th to whenever occupation of Freedom Plaza. This could be the beginning of the paradigm shift many of us have been pushing for. The time is now to act (before it is too late)! We just need enough people to stop business as usual in DC, the capital of the empire. Here are some videos about October2011 made by Dennie Trainor Jr.: Why I will be in Freedom Plaza

Rep. Kucinich and eight other brave members of Congress are currently suing President Obama for Peace. Their case states that the commander-in-chief is in violation of the War Powers Act when it comes to the War on Libya. Obama absurdly contends that our military is not engaged in "hostilities" when it bombs buildings and kills people in this North African nation. Therefore, the pres claims the law does not apply. The War Powers Act was passed in order to further clarify Article 1 of our Constitution (that Congress and the President need to make such war-making decisions jointly). Passed in 1973, it was designed to check unlimited presidential military actions. Sadly, it has been ignored by presidents and Congress for at least a couple decades now. I doubt this lawsuit, although a very honorable step, will gain much ground. If folks haven't noticed things have not gone well for the peace and justice movement for the last few years... The American people, however, are gett...

There has been a call put out to the entire peace and justice movement to assemble in Freedom Plaza (downtown DC, along Pennsylvania Avenue), and to not leave until the U.S. Government begins withdrawing all it military forces from Afghanistan (this will be at the same time our nation completes a decade of war in this Third World country) and begins to redirect war funds to desperately needed social programs and protections for the environment. The original organizers are encouraging people not to leave until the demands are met. I think this does need to happen. But I also realize that those leaving their homes and camping out on the concrete slabs of Freedom Plaza will need support. They will need food and water brought into them. Folks will need to begin to organize themselves, as did the courageous protesters in first Egypt and Tunisia, and now currently in Spain. So will it last longer than a couple days, will the mass media largely ignore us? Again, I will repeat, this needs to h...

I have neglected my blog for too long. Work at the LoC is going well, although not very exciting. I did pass the criminal background check during the last month, and they know all about my past arrests and convictions. Here is a pic of a lotus at Lake Artemesia where I walk Bruno nearly every day. My current activism remains almost exclusively focused on courageous whistle blower, Bradley Manning (now moved from Quantico to more humane Leavenworth). The prosecution and persecution of Bradley and other whistle blowers reveals the repressive nature of Barack Obama’s presidency. Although he claimed “hope” and even pushed “government transparency” during his campaign, the reality of his time as president has proven to be the opposite. We (the Bradley Manning Support Network) had a tele-press conference for Bradley (exactly one year after his arrest) recently which featured Pentagon Papers’ Daniel Ellsberg and WikiLeak’s Julian Assange. It proved to be wildly successful. Here are a couple n...

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted. Life is good. 3/20 in Quantico was a big success, and now I am signed up with Zipcar so Bruno and I can be a bit more mobile. Here is the latest on Bradley Manning (securing his freedom is my focus now)... Mistreatment of Manning Criticized by UN Torture Investigator, Hundreds of Legal Academics and Hundreds of Thousands By Kevin Zeese Colonel: "Obama Could End Torture with One Phone Call" For Immediate Release For Further Information Jeff Paterson Kevin Zeese (301-996-6582 cell) Bradley Manning Support Network Email address removed 1-202-640-4388 Mistreatment of Manning Criticized by Leading Law Professors & UN Torture Investigator Hundreds of Thousands Write Obama Urging End to Manning Abuse Washington, DC: The eight months of solitary confinement of Bradley Manning at Quantico has drawn national and international criticism in the last week. Support is growing for him around the world with 500,000 writing President Ob...

There is a lot going on for me in March. And the weather was warming up nicely today; Bruno enjoyed his walks. March 13th we have the fundraiser for Bradley Manning's Legal Defense Fund. Location: Busboys and Poets at 5th and K Streets NW. March 19th Veterans for Peace lead a big protest and civil resistance action at the White House. March 20th we have a rally and march to the gates of Quantico (similar to what was done on MLK Day). Buses have been reserved to take folks from Union Station. Meanwhile, the resistance to union busting and the further destruction of the Middle Class intensifies in Wisconsin. Hundreds of protesters have reclaimed their state capitol building in Madison, staying overnight in the rotunda. This same beautiful resistance is now beginning to spread to Indiana and Ohio. I really don't think the corporate servant boy, Gov. Walker of Wisconsin will be re-elected in three years from now. It must also be pointed out that this beautiful show of people standi...

Who is Bradley Manning? In late May 2010, Private First Class Bradley Manning, an intelligence analyst with the US Army in Baghdad, was arrested, suspected of providing the “Collateral Murder” video to Wikileaks. This video was covered widely in the mass media and has been viewed as revealing a war crime. On June 6, 2010, he was charged with violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including eight criminal offenses and four noncriminal violations of Army regulations. The full charge sheet is available at www.bradleymanning.org/3163/charge-sheet-html. Bradley's arrest was precipitated by an alleged online chat confession to convicted felon and hacker Adrian Lamo. The details about and circumstances around this online chat are unconfirmed and somewhat dubious. The military held Bradley Manning in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait until late July, 2010, at which time they transferred him to U.S. Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia. They have continued to hold him there in soli...

Special thanks to my friend Pat Elder for doing my most recent show. He is a real expert on the topic of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test and the access recruiters get to our youth! Maryland fight against militarism in schools 2/1/2011 - GreenTeaParty | Internet Radio | Blog Talk Radio

In a call published on Michael Moore's Website, our house decided to respond. A video will be put together with a cast of hundreds and released on the day of Julian Assange's extradition hearing... We hope that truth and a more transparent government will emerge from this chapter in history.

Happy Birthday to Dr. M. L. King Jr. (his actual birthday was Saturday); we are given a federal holiday for a great man! A man of amazing vision, a revolutionary (on a spiritual/ethical plane) leader, and someone with a prophetic message. Here's one of his quotes, as some of us will be protesting at the FBI Building (due to crack downs on nonviolent peace activists in the Midwest) and Quantico (where Bradley Manning has been held in solitary confinement for more than 7 months): "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere..." I have come to realize that much of this nation -- especially the government -- has reached the spiritual death that Dr. King warned about in his 1967 Riverside speech. This speech was made when King was being criticized for denouncing the war the U.S. waged in Vietnam. Below is an e-mail exchange I had with a devout liberal Democrat. This shows you that many still believe pleading with the politicians of the two wings of the corporate-domin...

In less than 11 hours it will be 2011. I am convinced 2011 will be better than 2010 for progressives and Americans in general. The economy will not fully recover, but more and more people will begin to realize they are being lied to by many powerful folks in government and in multi-national corporations. This increased awareness is healthy and greatly needed. I am hopeful because more people realize the current mainstream lifestyle of outrageous oil consumption is unsustainable and that this will require a major shift of resources and a complete redesigning of the way we live our lives. Many newspapers, magazines, broadcast outlets at this time of year review the top three stories or trends that marked 2010 and a preview of the coming year... So, I've got three lists of my own. Top 3 Local Stories for progressive activists 1. 135, mostly veterans (including Daniel Ellsberg), arrested at White House fence demanding end to wars and occupations in Afghanistan and Iraq AFP article on ...

Happy holidays to everyone! Bruno and I are packing to go over to G'town very soon... Here's the show -- special thanks to Max from Baltimore. Listen to internet radio with GreenTeaParty on Blog Talk Radio

My most recent Internet Radio show. I think it went really well. What is Fracking and why did Pittsburgh ban it?

Sometimes you just need to escape reality, and sometimes you have a hankering for a good game. It's great when these two wants collide. For me that's been fantasy role-playing. My Pathfinder (sometimes called D&D 3.75) campaign has had more than two dozen sessions, and that's what I would consider a long-running campaign. The makeup of the game has changed a couple times, and I think we are settling down to the five players we have now. I am pleased with the gaming troupe we have. I mentioned in a previous blog posting about Mike and how he came late into the campaign and was playing a disruptive character. Honestly I think it was more Mike as a player. I have played several fantasy role-playing games with him in the past -- and as a player he is usually very impulsive and makes poor decisions. Overall, he's a better DM, but even that is not saying much... But anyhow, yes, he was asked not to return to the group. And this last session just had a better feel to it. H...

Many thanks to Julia Willebrand for joining me for an enlightening conversation... Listen to internet radio with GreenTeaParty on Blog Talk Radio