Now more than ever, we are one. In the world of global economy and global media, it is possible to consume products from the other side of the planet on a daily basis and to understand something of far away places as our cultural input speeds thousands of miles in a split second to reach us. But this is a degraded and degrading version of unity, a destructive process of planetary robbery which injures not just the billions living in poverty or war zones, but also the peoples of the rich nations.

It is, in the end, a question of values - of what we value - which decides how much misery or joy there is to go around. It is a question of how much we value our own humanity above and beyond the trivia of 21st century materialism to the point where we can act decisively to help rescue the denied humanity of others and the ransacked resources of the natural world.

People all over the world are indeed fighting right now for exactly these goals. But it is also correct to say that the revolution will not be televised and that brave, sometimes beautiful efforts of successful resistance are ignored or poisoned with misinterpretation by our corrupt media.

Contrary to the idiot pronouncements of the corporate media, there is no 'anti-globalisation' movement. There is instead a massive, articulate and energetic movement for an alternative form of globalisation, a movement which is passionately committed to the cause of global justice. It is inspiring to be part of this.

It is both easy and difficult to join. First of all, you must be able to convince yourself that global justice is something to be valued more than the inducements of a privileged western lifestyle. Get past the idea that a global free market economy is the only thing that can keep a roof over your head, provide good schools and health care and throw big, big parties. It isn't. But we all need to stop believing it is and start to move forward, dispelling the myths, exposing the lies, and developing together a new practice. Because the cost of not doing so is just too high.

Anarchism, socialism without the unaccountable executives, participatory economic systems... whole populations need to start talking about and developing these alternatives. Because, look around, capitalism has failed. Privilege is blood soaked. The briberies and fake hopes of the free market system disguise the fact that it is out to get you too and for every lotto winner there are neighbourhoods of the poor. Not acceptable. The free market is sustained through coercion but also because it constantly degrades our values, lowering our levels of expectation so they conform to the economic system, so we begin to believe in its inevitability.

We are in a difficult situation because our leaders - and I am talking right around the world - in government, in religion and in academia have failed us. Profiteering politicians are annointed by vain and cruel preachers while intellectual apologists cover their tracks. It is difficult to know what information to trust. Much of it will be incoherent because the context is lost but context can be gained if you value knowledge above ignorance and enquiry above passivity. Whatever our level of knowledge, understanding events must always be based on a simple value of equally shared human worth. Gone are racism, sexism, homophobia and bigotry.

Here in the west, our culture of decadent consumerism leads us to believe that far away horror is normal or justifiable because it is commonplace. But foreign horror is the displaced cost of our lifestyle here - a state of affairs which is neither inevitable nor justifiable. To increase value in humanity it becomes necessary to identify, not with the rich person of the same nationality who you envy and who is in the press, but with everyone else denied justice by the rich. This isn't a luxury of conscience: it can be, and almost always is, done on the cheap. It isn't too much to do either, just a different way to look at the world in which there is value everywhere, and especially in the beauty of nature.

Increasing value improves our own lives: jettison the goals of acquisition and suddenly you are free to pursue other things. The world becomes a bigger, more profound place. Through raising our values we raise our levels of expectation; through raising our expectations and through affirming them with others, we begin the process of change. Go for it.

Dublin Catholic Worker Protests Bush Coronation
& Remembers the Names of the Dead

Pit Stop Ploughshares
 http://PloughsharesIreland.org

Dublin Catholic Worker
 http://geocities.com/DublinCatholicWorker

Photo series continues at...
 http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=68315

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What a bunch of wankers these American Deomcrats are.

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You Republicans avoid invite crime don't you! Death to the Republican Party!
Long Live the Democrats!

"Whenever you Republicans are in power there's always wars!"

You must have missed the sixties with John Kennedy.
Clinton attacked and destroyed Yugoslavia.

Oh yeah...then there was Roosevelt, and that little conflict with Germany...

24 Jan 2005
It's all so George Bush can seem popular to the rest of the world but nobody's buying it. The world knows he's unpopular and they also know he was selected not elected. He's just there to war monger and give money to big contractors and prop up Israel. Well, if there were a total diverstment from Israel I bet all this fighting in the Middle East would stop because most of this is done to protect them , which is protecting ourselves because they are our presence in the Middle East. As sooon as all this money funneling stops it will all dry up. I know am going to be called anti-semitic but if I know something is made in Israel I jus put it back and If I think stores are using Isreali manufactures I Don't go there anymore. And they are responsible for the knock-off, low-wage garment industry. I stay away from Old Navy, the Gap and the Banana Republic (apt name). They use too many overseas low wage workers and there clothes are cheaply made. I think there should be a wholesale boycott of all these things and all things Israeli until that government can understand that our country will not be used as a bodyguard. It's cost us too many lives and too much credibility as a nation. Let the divestment begin!

The money that we spend propping up Isreal could be spent on some many other things not to mention the fact that they STILL are using sweatshop labor and there are alot of Ireali manufacturing companies that are funneling money back into their governments for settlements and the like. Now we all know that this policy is resented all over the Middke East and is the source of a lot of friction. So if we divest from Israel than may be we can force a peace process and those settlements once and for all.

"Well, if there were a total diverstment from Israel I bet all this fighting in the Middle East would stop because most of this is done to protect them , which is protecting ourselves because they are our presence in the Middle East. "

Your brain must hurt from trying to figure out how to blame israel, for the murderous ways of many Muslims...
Even if israel NEVER existed, Arabs will still be killing each other and Infidels as well. Islam is violent by nature...1400 yrs ago muslims invaded everything from India to North Africa and Europe...they're still pissed off that the Christians kicked them out of Spain, Malta, and that they lost the bloody battle of Vienna...being forced to sign a treaty on...you guessed it September 11th...
The uslims of the world, particularly the Arabs of the Middle East appreciate your support and that of the other Useful idiots out there.
 http://www.muslimsforisrael.com

Epic Fertility Rite: An Empire Blesses the Wars to Come: The Bush Inauguration


For all of the fools of the Left and the Center (at least 100 million of you) who failed to listen to the voices of wisdom 10, 20 and 30 years ago – and who yet fail to comprehend … You deserve Mr. GW Bush – may you all roast in your self-made HELL !


…And that river of change we thought we floated in, the ever-changing river that would nourish us in the coming years with its clear waters and purifying powers, now only a dream of what might have been. But we are here nonetheless, caught in the flotsam of the past four years that turned this country into a cesspool of lies and deceit, overflowing now with even greater arrogance and vengeance, determined to spread its toxic waste throughout the world.

… America inaugurates a newly elected President, a ceremony that traditionally celebrates the promise of our Democracy… I hear instead the marching drums and shrill patter of the fife leading the congregation of believers in "Onward Christian Soldiers" as they assemble for the final battle Christ has promised them if they are to attain everlasting glory.

These pseudo-Christians, these end-timers, dominionists, Zionist evangelicals raise their collective hands in swaying unison proclaiming passionately their belief in Jesus, damning disbelievers who threaten their institution of marriage with civil unions and their pro-life commandment with a woman's right to choose… God has chosen Bush to fulfill His mission to bring about the Rapture and usher in the 1000 years of peace… a parallel [and a parable?] between this inauguration and that held when Cromwell took power in England in the mid 1600s, another time when mis-guided clergy predicted the coming of Armageddon as that state moved toward a theocracy.

They come to celebrate the crowning of George W. Bush, the self-proclaimed disciple of the only true Lord, sent on His mission to bring His gift to all humankind, a veritable "divinely anointed Emperor" of the world, a return to days of yore when people accepted what their ministers preached, that God blesses those leaders they, on His behalf, anoint, and negate, thereby, the unalienable rights that reside in the body politic, each and every citizen of this nation. (Extremely selective cuts from A Mock Epic Fertility Rite, By WILLIAM A. COOK  http://counterpunch.org/cook01202005.html )

Your Help Needed

On January 20th at the Reclaim the Streets demonstration in downtown San Diego, journalist Carly Delso-Saavedra and activist Janice Jordan were both arrested on charges that, according to witnesses, were fabricated. If you have photos or videotape of any arrests made that night, please contact us immediately at 619-985-9639 or 619-269-4693 or email us at  info@radioActiveradio.org. We are asking you to take action to protect free speech and freedom of the press in San Diego.

Carly' Delso-Saavedra was at the protest as a journalist and photographer for the San Diego Independent Media Center. While taking photographs of police interacting with demonstrators, she was put in a chokehold, falsely accused of assaulting an officer and arrested on the charge of obstruction of justice. Carly was jailed overnight with a bail of $5,000, which members of the San Diego chapter of the National Lawyer's Guild have said is unusually high and might be part of a pattern of intimidation involving arresting a few protesters at random on charges with high bail and imprisoning them. Joni Craig, Executive Director of the San Diego Foundation for Change said about Carly: "I have known the young woman who was arrested for nearly two years. She has been a volunteer for our foundation and is involved in several of our grantee organizations..She is an extremely intelligent, honest, caring, and trustworthy individual. She is adamantly opposed to violence, has worked tirelessly for peace and justice, and is known for being quiet, somewhat shy, and even passive in her interactions with others."

Janice Jordan, a local activist and member of the San Diego Peace and Freedom Party, was arrested on the charge of obstruction of justice for simply asking a member of SDPD a question.

Arresting journalists and demonstrators on false charges not only directly violates their free speech rights and threatens the freedom of the press, but also can act indirectly to discourage the citizens of San Diego from exercising their constitutionally protected right to express their dissent.

Free speech can only be protected by vigorously exercising it. Therefore, we ask you to contact the Mayor, Members of the City Council and the City District Attorney to ask them to take action to protect free speech and freedom of the press in San Diego by dropping the fabricated charges against Carly and Janice and to make certain that SDPD respects the First Amendment rights of San Diego citizens in the future. You will find a sample letter at the end of this e-mail, followed by contact information for local officials.

In solidarity,
J20 San Diego Legal Support Team

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CONTACT INFORMATION:
INSERT CONTACT INFO HERE

SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear XXXX:

I am writing to request that you take immediate action to protect free speech and freedom of the press in San Diego.

On January 20 during the counter-inaugural demonstrations downtown, journalist Carly Delso-Saavedra and Janice Jordan were both arrested on charges that, according to witnesses, were fabricated.

Carly' Delso-Saavedra was at the protest as a journalist and photographer for the San Diego Independent Media Center. While taking photographs of police interacting with demonstrators, she was put in a chokehold, falsely accused of assaulting an officer and arrested and imprisoned on the charge of obstruction of justice. Community members and co-workers have contrasted the charges with Carly’s stature and reputation in the community: "She has been a volunteer for our foundation and is involved in several of our grantee organizations... She is adamantly opposed to violence... and is known for being quiet, somewhat shy, and even passive in her interactions with others."

Janice Jordan, a local activist and member of the Ground Zero Players and the San Diego Peace and Freedom Party, was arrested on the charge of obstruction of justice for simply being a part of the demonstration.

I am concerned that the arrest of journalists and demonstrators on fabricated charges with extremely high bail not only directly violates free speech and freedom of the press, but also creates a climate in which the citizens of San Diego will be afraid to fully exercise their constitutionally protected right to dissent.

I believe that freedom of speech for all citizens and freedom of the press are essential for a functioning democracy within the city of San Diego. I ask you to stand with me to protect the First Amendment rights of San Diegans by
(1) advocating dismissal of charges against Carly Delso-Saavedra and Janice Jordan
(2) working to make certain that SDPD respects the First Amendment rights of San Diego citizens in the future.

Thank you in advance for acting to protect democracy in San Diego.

Sincerely,
YYYYYY


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Please send this letter, or write your own, to:

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis: 619-531-4040; FAX: 619-237-1351;  publicinformation@sdcda.org

Mayor Dick Murphy: 619-236-6330; fax 619-236-7228;  DickMurphy@sandiego.gov

Councilmember Scott Peters: 619-236-6611 (from North County 858-484-3808); fax 619-236-6999;  ScottPeters@sandiego.gov

Councilmember Michael Zucchet: 619-236-6622; fax 619-236-6996;  mzucchet@sandiego.gov

Councilmember Toni Atkins: 619-236-6633; fax 619-595-1481;  toniatkins@sandiego.gov

Councilmember Brian Maienschein: 619-236-6655 (from North County 858-673-5304); fax 619-238-0915;  bmaienschein@sandiego.gov

Councilmember Donna Frye: 619-236-6616; fax 619-236-7329;  donnafrye@sandiego.gov

Councilmember Jim Madaffer: 619-236-6677; fax 619-238-1360;  jmadaffer@sandiego.gov

Councilmember Ralph Inzunza: 619-236-6688; fax 619-231-7918;  rinzunza@sandiego.gov

The San Diego Union-Tribune., PO Box 120191, San Diego, CA, 92112-0191, or fax (619) 260-5081, or e-mail:  letters@uniontrib.com

Don't be fooled by the Democrats. The Republicans and the Dmeocrats are just two factions of the same party, advancing the same agenda with slightly different methods. Simply put, the Republicans are unilateral fascists, the Democrats are multilateral communists. The Republicans want to merge the rest of the world with America, the Democrats want to merge America with the rest of the world to take us into the New World Order.

It seems that Republicans project their oppression outwards (although I'm sure protesters and Arabs would disagree) and Democrats project it inwards. America has been set up to take a massive fall. FEMA have the concentration camps and the bunkers ready and the Federal Reserve have the crash ready. Once they have your guns it will be over. The UN (the real global police) troops will move in to take over and shoot or imprison any resisters.

All Americans need to understand the hatred being created around the world by the secret cabal in power, and that there will sooner or later be repercussions who the ordinary people will bear the brunt of.

I recommend you stockpile your weapons and buy up gold before its too late.

Good luck.

Just wanted to add to the list of worldwide protests on inauguration day:
In Brussels there were protestactions in fornt og the US-embassy at 5pm, and in the evening at 8.30 pm there was a local "Turn your Back On Bush" action on the stairs of the stock exchange building.
Pictures and reports:  http://www.beam.to/aoc-vub