Saturday, June 28, 2008

Logos Institute of Spiritual Humanism

The Logos Institute of Spiritual Humanism is an online community of
seekers, activists and all those who have been considered outside the
mainstream areas of spirituality and religion. I welcome again all
those who have already become members. Feel free to contribute by posting
messages, uploading files, and photos and links.

Those who are looking for a spiritual home, please join, and make your
contributions and help make this a vibrant community.

In time, we may grow as a community and as individuals. THrough sharing
we can grow, even at moments of disagreement and conflict.

To make this work, all individuals who join should participate and
share. Please feel free to use this group to promote the spiritual
perspective of Spiritual Humanism. Be advise though, that this group
is established for sharing and dialog. Violence, bigotry, racism,
sexism, and all manner of other prejudice will not be tolerated.
Otherwise it is an open community.

http://cyberb764.googlepages.com/home

Friday, June 27, 2008

ZoneEdit - great service for free

As I searched for a solution to get my own website online, and how I might be able to retrieve my domain name before it expired, I came across this service which is free. It is called ZoneEdit at http://www.zoneedit.com/

If you already have a domain name which is not being hosted, you can get it back online with this service for free. Yesterday I signed up for it and redirected the domain namew server from my former hosting service. If you do not already have a domain, they also have links to really cheap services to get one. In 72 hours I will be live again with Cyberb Solutions. the url will be http://cyberbsolutions.net. Within minutes of signing up I was able to retrieve my mail as well which was rmills764@cyberbsolutions.net. Before this discovery, I was using Microsoft Live Office, and I thought I had lost this email address forever and everyone I made contact with. Now it is back and I will be able to use my business cards again.

So if you want to create your own website for music or sharing, or just your own fan page, give this a try. Go to http://www.zoneedit.com/, you will have fun making your own web site. Contact me if you would like to have a little help with this.
ZoneEdit
My new website will be live within 72 hours:Cyberb Solutions.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Notes on Socialism and Anarchism

Socialism Has Never Been Tried

When It Is Tried It Must Be Established Globally

World Socialism Can Only Be Brought About Democratically
We begin with these three points because they are vital to any kind of an understanding of what we mean by socialism.

We reject the idea that socialism has been tried in countries sometimes referred to as socialist. Look below at our definition of socialism and ask yourself if this in any way describes the state capitalist, police states of modern China and Cuba or the old regimes in Russia and eastern Europe, or the past and present "social-democratic" governments in many countries.

We reject the idea of socialism in one country. National socialism equals non-socialism. The capitalist system is global and so must the system which will replace it.

We reject the idea that people can be led into socialism. Socialism will not be established by good leaders or battling armies, but by thinking men, women and children. There can be no socialism without socialists.

So what does Socialism mean then?

That's a straight question, so here's a straight answer.

Socialism means a global system of social organization based on:

Common Ownership: All the productive wealth of the world will belong to all the people of the world. No more transnational corporations or small businesses and therefore nobody will own the world. It will be possessed by all of its inhabitants.

Democratic Control By All: Who will run socialist society? We all will. There will be no more government and governed. People will make decisions freely in their communities, in regions and globally. With the existing means of information technology and mass communication this is all possible.

Production For Use: Instead of producing goods and services for sale and profit, the sole reason for production will be to satisfy needs and desires.

Free Access: A society in which everyone owns everything, decides everything and only produces anything because it is useful will be one in which all will have free access to what is produced. Money will cease to have any function. People will not work for wages or salaries, but to give what they can and take what they need.


Introduction

There is probably more rubbish talked about anarchism than any other political idea. Actually, it has nothing to do with a belief in chaos, death and destruction. Anarchists do not normally carry bombs, nor do they ascribe any virtue to beating up old ladies.

It is no accident that the sinister image of the mad anarchist is so accepted. The State, the press and all the assorted authoritarian types, use every means at their disposal to present anarchy as an unthinkable state of carnage and chaos. We can expect little else from power-mongers who would have no power to monger if we had our way. They have to believe that authority and obedience are essential in order to justify their own crimes to themselves. The TV, press and films all preach obedience, and when anarchy is mentioned at all, it is presented as mindless destruction.

There is nothing complicated or threatening about anarchism, except the fearsome arguments it can get you into. Such as the one about the chaos there would be if everyone did just what they wanted. But we have chaos already don't we? Millions are out of work, whilst others do too much boring, repetitive labour. People starve at the same time as food is being dumped into the sea to keep prices up. Our air is choked by the fumes from cars that contain only one person. The list of crazy, chaotic things that happen is endless.

Even the good' things that the State does are actually harmful. The Health Service, for example, patches us up just like an industrial repair shop which in a sense it is. It serves to make us dependent on the State and, worst of all, it buys us off cheaply. It prevents us from creating the genuine, self-managed Health Service we need, geared to our needs not theirs.

Within anarchism there are many different but related ideas. There are complete systems of anarchist political theory going by names like federalism, mutualism, individualism, syndicalism, anarchist-communism, anarcha-feminism, situationism, and so on.

Traditionally, anarchists believe that the main problem with the world is that it is divided into masters and `wage slaves'. If we could get rid of the bosses and run industry ourselves, for the benefit of our own needs not theirs, it would clearly make a big improvement and would transform every area of life.

There are, however, some anarchists who believe the working class is so used to being enslaved that some other route to revolution will have to be found.

... there is a concern for the rights of the individual running through anarchism. There is no point in all our activities and theorising if it is not eventually going to make life better for individuals like you and me.

Unlike marxists and other fake socialists, we believe in at least trying to live out our principles in everyday life. If you believe in equality you should treat people as equals as far as you can. An anarchist would be less likely to forgive Marx's ill treatment of his servants and his wife than a marxist would!

The ways people treat each other add up to make society as a whole. In an insane society like this one, people treat each other badly.

Direct action can be used to change the conditions of houses, streets, schools, hospitals, and other amenities. Such reforms have, in themselves, little to contribute towards building an anarchist society, but making people aware of the potential of direct action is important. At best such actions foster feelings of community spirit and promote self organisation. They raise politic l consciousness. At worst they lead to feelings of hopelessness and complete disillusionment with the human race. These feelings may drag you to political suicide. Such `has-beens' are to be seen in many Labour Party gatherings.

What sort of actions are we talking about? Well if you're short of a house, then consider squatting. It by-passes the authorities in charge of housing and challenges property relations. It effectively demonstrates the disgrace of empty houses side by side with homelessness. Unfortunately, popular prejudice hinders squatting from obtaining the wider support necessary for real change.

The community life of the street can be improved by festivals, street theatre, and so on. Of course this sort of thing can have its drawbacks too, unless you're the sort of anarchist that's into Lady Di and her mates!

Anarchists have participated in and often dreamt up all sorts of self-help schemes. These include making better use of land, labour swapping schemes, consumer product sharing schemes. Again these encourage independence and demonstrate that alternative forms of economic exchange are viable. Beware paid community workers wishing to professionalise the idea and destroy its real benefits by making it part of the system.

For more detailed consideration of anarchist theory, we have provided a booklist for further reading. We have listed areas of activity and outlined the anarchist approach. We have made no attempt to indicate which types of activity are most likely to lead to a non-authoritarian future.
http://www.spiralnature.com/phil/anarchy/toknow.html From Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Anarchy
(But Were Afraid To Ask)

By: The Anarchist Media Group

Also check this out: http://library.nothingness.org/articles/si/
http://flag.blackened.net/antinat/
http://www.socialanarchism.org/
http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/anarchisthistory.html
http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan/anarfaq.htm
http://flag.blackened.net/daver/anarchism/
http://www.spunk.org/library/writers/rocker/sp001495/rocker_as1.html
http://www.spunk.org/library/writers/meltzer/sp001500.html
http://www.infoshop.org/

http://www.anarchy.no/

http://www.syndicalist.org/

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/1931/secH3.html#sech31


http://radicalgraphics.org/albums/America/America11.sized.jpg

http://www.mentalanarchy.com/quotes.html

http://www.prole.info/texts/malatesta_democrats.html

http://libcom.org/history/goldman-emma-1869-1940



When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross. - Sinclair Lewis (1935)

If we choose, we can live in a world of comforting illusion. - Noam Chomsky

Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state. - Noam Chomsky

To be governed is to be watched over, inspected, spied on, directed, legislated over, regulated, docketed, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, assessed, weighed, censored, ordered about, by men who have neither right, nor knowledge, nor virtue. - Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

The state calls its own violence law, but that of the individual, crime. - Max Stirner

You can't fight City Hall, but you can goddamn sure blow it up. - George Carlin

Thursday, June 19, 2008

RIDER ALERT! State budget cuts $19 million from AC Transit

The (Ca.) state budget under consideration in Sacramento includes cuts of $19 million in AC Transit operating funds, starting July 1. With fuel costs skyrocketing, these budget cuts will mean a huge funding shortfall, leading to both fare increases and service reductions. Statewide, the proposed budget would slash $1.4 billion from public transit.


AC Transit is fighting to reverse these cuts, but the Governor needs to hear the voices of bus riders and other concerned members of the East Bay community! Please call the Governor to tell him that AC Transit cannot afford to lose this funding. Let him know how important bus service is for you, your friends and family, and the community at large.


A phone call is the most effective, but a faxed letter or online comment is good, too. Thank you for your help!

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
(916) 445-2841 (phone)
(916) 558-3160 (fax)


For more information on the transit budget crisis, visit www.caltransit.org or www.transcoalition.org.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

From National Coalition of Homeless

House Releases Draft 302(b) Allocations
Last Friday, June 13, the House Appropriations Committee released draft 302(b) allocations for the fiscal year (FY) 2009 appropriations process, which set the overall funding levels for each of the 13 appropriations subcommittees. After the 302(b) allocations are finalized, each subcommittee will take its overall total and distribute it among the various programs. Under the draft allocations, the Transportation-HUD Subcommittee, which funds homelessness and low-income housing programs, will receive $55 billion for FY 09, which is $6.2 billion greater than what was enacted in FY 08 and $4.4 billion greater than the President's request.

House to Hold Hearing on Section 811 Bill
This Friday, June 20, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), chair of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity of the House Financial Services Committee, will hold a hearing on H.R. 5772, the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act of 2008. The bill, which was introduced in April by Rep. Christopher Murphy (D-CT) and Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IN), would make a number of changes to the Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities program. The hearing is scheduled for 10 AM in Room 2128 of the Rayburn House Office Building, and a list of witnesses has not yet been announced

Monday, June 16, 2008

Democracy Alert: Support the TRADE Act

Democracy Alert:
Support the TRADE Act

From:
Global Trade Watch

What's happening:
After years of fighting against expansion of the failed NAFTA/ WTO model, we're thrilled to announce a new trade bill we can all be for.

The Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment (TRADE) Act, cosponsored by fair trade champions Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Rep. Mike Michaud (D-Maine), was introduced on June 4, 2008 with over 50 House and Senate original cosponsors! This landmark legislation sets forth in concrete, detailed terms a progressive vision for good trade agreements in the future and criteria to renegotiate existing failed pacts like NAFTA and the WTO.

Fifteen years of the NAFTA/WTO model has led to massive job loss, downward pressure on wages and the loss of nearly 300,000 family farms. It's given broad, expansive new rights to foreign corporations to challenge our environmental and public health standards and flooded the U.S. with unsafe imported food and products. And it has devastated developing nations, where millions of family farmers have been forced off their land, and where poverty, despair and desperation-driven mass migrations have grown.

The TRADE Act lays out in detail a new path forward for U.S. trade policy to achieve societal goals such as good jobs, safe food and promotion of basic human rights, healthy communities and environmental protection.

What you can do:
We now need as many representatives and senators as possible to publicly support this bill by signing on as cosponsors. Write your members of Congress now and urge them to cosponsor the TRADE Act!

To use the Global Trade Watch contact form, click here: http://action.citizen.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=24836

For more information:
Available here: http://www.citizen.org/trade/tradeact/

http://www.libertytreefdr.org/urgentAction.php#urgent38

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Help San Francisco Poor

PROTEST Mayor's proposed budget

Location: The Bellaire Tower building- 1101 Green Street, at Leavenworth Street

Date/Time: Wednesday, June 11, 6:00 pm.

What: Street Theatre, Dinner, and more

MAYOR NEWSOMATOR TERMINATES POOR WITH MASSIVE BUDGET CUTS

Mayor Newsom released a budget that will terminate critical health and human services, while pumping up salaries for police by 25% and adding many new high paid patronage positions into his own administration.

Some highlights of the devastating impact of the budget include:

1) Closure OF Ella Hill Hutch shelter serving up to 100 people every night in the Western Addition.

2) Closure of Caduceus Outreach Services, a mental health treatment and wrap around support program for severely disabled homeless adults with co-existing addictive disorders.

3) CLOSE TENDERLOIN HEALTH HOMELESS DROP-IN SERVING 300 POOR PEOPLE DAILY

4) Almost total elimination (66% cut) of SRO Families United program for families with dependent children living in hotels.

5) Cut of 22% of residential substance abuse and mental health treatment programs budgets.

a. Removal of support from Conard supportive housing program for severe psychiatric disabilities.

b. Closure of Cortland Acute Diversion Unit for individuals in psychiatric crisis.

c. Loss of 13 out of 28 community based medically supported detox beds - serving 350 people a year.

6) Cut of 30% to all outpatient substance abuse and mental health treatment

7) Almost total elimination of STOP treatment program.

1,600 PEOPLE LOSING MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT through Private Provider NETWORK

Brought to you by the People's Budget Collaborative - working for a fair city budget for poor people in SF

To learn more about our work, and to get the latest scoop on the politics of poverty in SF, go to the Street Sheet blog: www.cohsf.org/streetsheet

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Impeach Bush

Congressman Kucinich has laid out an extensive indictment of the president. Read them slowly, let them all sink in and then take action to bring this bad dream to its proper ending ~ Impeachment.

Here is the index of article titles:

Article I
Creating a Secret Propaganda Campaign to Manufacture a False Case for War Against Iraq

Article II
Falsely, Systematically, and with Criminal Intent Conflating the Attacks of September 11, 2001, With Misrepresentation of Iraq as a Security Threat as Part of Fraudulent Justification for a War of
Aggression

Article III
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, to Manufacture a False Case for War

Article IV
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Posed an Imminent Threat to the United States

Article V
Illegally Misspending Funds to Secretly Begin a War of Aggression

Article VI
Invading Iraq in Violation of the Requirements of HJRes114

Article VII
Invading Iraq Absent a Declaration of War.

Article VIII
Invading Iraq, A Sovereign Nation, in Violation of the UN Charter

Article IX
Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle Armor

Article X
Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political Purposes

Article XI
Establishment of Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq

Article XII
Initiating a War Against Iraq for Control of That Nation's Natural Resources

Article XIIII
Creating a Secret Task Force to Develop Energy and Military Policies With Respect to Iraq and Other Countries

Article XIV
Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence Agency

Article XV
Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in Iraq

Article XVI
Reckless Misspending and Waste of U.S. Tax Dollars in Connection With Iraq and US Contractors

Article XVII
Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign Captives

Article XVIII
Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Other Places, as a Matter of Official Policy

Article XIX
Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to "Black Sites" Located in Other Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice Torture

Article XX
Imprisoning Children

Article XXI
Misleading Congress and the American People About Threats from Iran, and Supporting Terrorist Organizations Within Iran, With the Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian Government

Article XXII
Creating Secret Laws

Article XXIII
Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act

Article XXIV
Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the Fourth Amendment

Article XXV
Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American Citizens

Article XXVI
Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements

Article XXVII
Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to Comply

Article XXVIII
Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of Justice

Article XXIX
Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Article XXX
Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare

Article XXXI
Katrina: Failure to Plan for the Predicted Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Failure to Respond to a Civil Emergency

Article XXXII
Misleading Congress and the American People, Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global Climate Change

Article XXXIII
Repeatedly Ignored and Failed to Respond to High Level Intelligence Warnings of Planned Terrorist Attacks in the US, Prior to 911.

Article XXXIV
Obstruction of the Investigation into the Attacks of September 11, 2001

Article XXXV
Endangering the Health of 911 First Responders

The full text of the articles is available at:
http://chun.afterdowningstreet.org/amomentoftruth.pdf

Here's a video of Kucinich beginning his presentation on the floor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDZ8seg4Nr4

What you can do:

Email your Representatives to support Kucinich's Articles of Impeachment

Call your Representative at 202-224-3121

Call your favorite talk shows and tell everyone who supports impeachment to sign the petition at Democrats.com
http://www.democrats.com/35-articles-of-impeachment