Category: Liberals

The Eleventh Hour: “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace”

On By Anne LeonardIn 99%, ANTI WAR, Democrats, EQUAL RIGHTS, EQUALITY, Justice, Liberals, Occupy America, Occupy Together, Occupy Wall Street, peace, Politics, RIght Wing Nuts, SUFFRAGE, Tea Party, WOMEN1 Comment

veterans-day-2013

Veteran’s Day, was originally commemorated as Armistice Day, “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace.”

NYTimes-Page1-11-11-1918

Armistice Day–“The eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month”, in 1918, the major conflicts of World War I ended when the allies signed an armistice with Germany.

                    ‘November 11, 1919, President Wilson proclaimed the first commemoration of Armistice Day: “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died  in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory… and because of the opportunity it has given  America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…”

On June 4, 1926, Congress passed a resolution “requesting that President  Coolidge issue another proclamation to observe November 11 with appropriate ceremonies” (52 Stat. 351; 5 U.S. Code, Sec. 87a) the act was approved May 13, 1938, making November 11, a legal holiday with the appropriate ceremonies “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day’.”

 

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Veteran’s Day–Armistice Day morphed into Veteran’s Day- In 1945, World War II veteran Raymond Weeks from Birmingham, Alabama, who wanted Armistice Day to include all veterans, not just those who died in World War I. Weeks led a delegation to Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, who supported the idea of National Veterans Day and signed the bill into law on May 26, 1954.

Remembrance Day/Poppy Day–is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries since the end of World War I to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. This day, or alternative dates,  are also recognized as special days for war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries. Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the end of hostilities of World War I on that date in 1918. Hostilities formally ended “at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

flandersfields

The red remembrance poppy has become a familiar emblem of Remembrance Day due to the poem “In Flanders Fields“. These poppies bloomed across some of the worst battlefields of Flanders in World War I, their brilliant red color an appropriate symbol for the blood spilled in the war.

References:

Front page NYT: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/NYTimes-Page1-11-11-1918.jpg/474px-NYTimes-Page1-11-11-1918.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans_Day

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Day

http://www.historyextra.com/remembrance

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/flanders.htm 

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GET OFF THE RAGG: Open Letter

On By Anne LeonardIn ANTI WAR, Democrats, EQUAL RIGHTS, EQUALITY, Justice, Liberals, peace, Politics, Progressive, RIght Wing Nuts, SUFFRAGE, Tea Party, WOMENLeave a comment

Dear Radical Right Republicans, Tea Partiers, Birthers, Posers, and Hypocrites:

Have you no shame.  We have endless for-profit wars over oil, special interests ruling our Nation, and American’s struggling to live, but all you want to talk about is Religion, Abortion, Guns, and Gays.

Allow me to address your issues on a personal level:

I consider myself a Progressive.   Being a Progressive does not make me a ‘baby-killer’, a GUN BANNING fanatic, or a radical enemy combatant.

Now to address the CORNERSTONE issues of the Radical RIGHT:

(1) RELIGION

I tolerate all religions (and there are MANY) that celebrate the Golden Rule.   I am an Atheist.  I am not a god hater.  You cannot hate what you do not believe in.

(2) ABORTION

What a woman chooses to do with her body, is a decision for her to make, after seeking the advise of her physician.  I am PRO-CHOICE/PRO –LIFE.   That does not mean that I advocate FOR or AGAINST ABORTION.  I simply think that a woman should have the choice.

(3) GUNS

Guns (alone) don’t kill people. Guns in the wrong PEOPLE’S hands kill people (with some exceptions).  We simply need to keep the guns out of the hands of the bad guys and leave the good guys with guns alone.

(4) GAYS

You don’t become gay-you are born that way.  It’s not a disease.  You either are, or you aren’t.  It’s the way you’re made.  Marriage is between two people who love each other, period (not genitalia requisite).

I am not alone in my beliefs.  There are millions more like me.   So, Dear Radical Right Republicans, Tea Partiers, Birthers, and Haters, please keep this in mind when you spread your messages of hate.  The TRUTH may eventually set YOU free.

GET OFF THE R.A.G.G. -Humanity is calling.

Love and Peace.

PERRY: RAPE is NO REASON for ABORTION

On By Anne LeonardIn Democrats, EQUAL RIGHTS, EQUALITY, Justice, Liberals, Politics, Progressive, RIght Wing Nuts, Tea Party, WOMENLeave a comment

Perry Shifts His Stance on Abortion

  • by Morgan Smith, The Texas Tribune
    • 12/27/2011

    • OSCEOLA, Iowa — At a town hall meeting tonight, Gov. Rick Perry said he no longer supported abortion in cases of rape and incest.

    As he responded to a question from the audience, Perry said he had undergone a “transformation” after viewing the film The Gift of Life, narrated by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and talking with Rebecca Kiessling, who was conceived during a rape. “She looked me in the eye and said, ‘I am the product of a rape,’ and she said, ‘My life has worth,'” Perry said.

    Joshua Verwers, a Sheraton pastor, asked the governor to reconcile what he had told him in November at the Iowa Faith and Freedom dinner — that he was against abortion, except in cases of rape, incest or when it was necessary to save the life of the mother — with his signature on a pledge from the anti-abortion group Personhood USA that bans abortion under any circumstances.

    After the meeting, Verwers said that Perry’s answer was “perfect” and “from the heart.” He said it particularly moved him that the governor had shifted his beliefs after speaking with someone who had been born from rape. Perry’s wife, Anita, has been a fundraiser for the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault since 2003 and has devoted her efforts to supporting other causes that work to prevent violence against women.

    During a Personhood USA teleconference tonight, Perry reiterated his change of beliefs and elaborated on why he decided to sign the pledge: “As I signed that document I will suggest to you that, all I can say to you, was that God was working out of my heart.”

    Fellow candidates Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich also participated in the call.

    Back To Top

    This article (shared with permission via website) originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/texas-politics/2012-presidential-election/perry-shifts-his-views-abortion/.

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    Photo and other great stuff available at: http://mariopiperni.com/abortion/the-uterus-of-the-united-states-of-america.php

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    “Let Women Die” Bill, H.R.358

    On October 13, 2011, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.358, an extreme anti-choice bill.

    The bill would allow a hospital to refuse a woman life-saving, emergency abortion care even if she will die without it. On top of that, it effectively would ban insurance coverage of abortion in state health-insurance exchanges, denying abortion coverage to millions of women (Via NARAL).

    ______________________________________________________________________

    The Conservative agenda to deny Abortion services to women (even at their own expense) should be supported by NO-COST Birth Control for all WOMEN (But, alas, it is NOT!).

    Whether you are Pro-Choice or Pro-Life, it stands to reason that No-Cost Birth Control for all WOMEN, makes sense (doesn’t it?!)

    White House: Support No-Cost Birth Control for All Women

    The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) adopted medical experts’ recommendation that newly issued insurance plans cover birth control without copays. Women will feel the magnitude of this decision every time they go to the pharmacy counter and pick up their birth control without paying a copay.

    This is such a tremendous leap forward. However, women who work for a religious institution, like a Catholic hospital or university that opposes birth control, are at risk of not being included under this new policy.

    Anti-birth-control forces, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, are leading the fight. They have launched a massive campaign to allow religious employers to opt out of the new requirement (via NARAL).

    The Protester IS the Person of the Year-Worldwide and growing.

    On By Anne LeonardIn 99%, ANTI WAR, Democrats, EQUAL RIGHTS, EQUALITY, Justice, Liberals, Occupy America, Occupy Together, Occupy Wall Street, peace, Politics, Progressive, SUFFRAGE, WOMEN1 Comment

    VIA LEFT WING NUT JOB: Posted by Dusty on December 26, 2011 at 4:18

    It started with a single, frustrated Tunisian named Mohamed Bouazizi, a man that just wanted to be able to feed his family, in the only manner he had available to him in a nation ruled by a dictator for decades ..selling fruit on a street corner. This year, Time did get it right.

    Rosa Parks, Civil Rights Icon

    On By Anne LeonardIn EQUAL RIGHTS, EQUALITY, Justice, Liberals, peace, Politics, SUFFRAGE, WOMEN1 Comment

    Dec 1, 1955 – Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a bus to a white person; her arrest ignites the Montgomery Bus Boycott (National Women’s History Project).

    Rosa Louise Parks was nationally recognized as the “mother of the modern day civil rights movement” in America. Her refusal to surrender her seat to a white male passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama bus, December 1, 1955, triggered a wave of protest December 5, 1955 that reverberated throughout the United States. Her quiet courageous act changed America, its view of black people and redirected the course of history. Read More Here

    Occupy Demands Answers. Do you?

    On By Anne LeonardIn 99%, Democrats, EQUAL RIGHTS, EQUALITY, Justice, Liberals, Occupy America, Occupy Together, Occupy Wall Street, Politics2 Comments

    And, on the eighth day the Earth shook, the heavens parted, and mankind was split into two warring political factions:  Us…and, them (the 99% vs. the 1%).

    Humanity is under attack.  The enemy is misinformation.  The attack is brief, but consistent. The preferred method of delivery is through intermittent blasts of twisted propaganda; the battleground is the human psyche; the weapon of choice, the media.  A movement so profound cannot (and should not) be reduced to thirty second intervals.  This sound bite mentality does not inspire thought; it only serves to polarize and excite. The collateral damage of these unfettered attacks is chipping away at the ideas, debate, and discussion borne of the Occupy movement.

    Occupy is what happens when people decide enough is enough. It is an act of extremism born of frustration.  Extremism is not a foreign concept.  As a matter of fact, America has made going to extremes its national identity.  It could easily be stated that our founding fathers were extremists- liberty seeking extremists who turned the simple question: “What if?” into a national motto.  Yet, the Occupy movement takes the ‘what if’ question a step further, asking ‘why’… and demands an answer.

    The Occupy movement is the catalyst for discourse underscoring the egregious disparities between the laboring 99% and the ruling 1%.   Productive discourse, tempered with reason, gives birth to ideas; ideas give birth to dreams; and dreams that come to fruition through determination and perseverance, challenge and inspire others.

    The proliferation of merit less ideas or arguments for the sake of personal gain, ratings, and/or profit pollutes the Occupy message. The conversation began with the Occupy movement.  The American Dream is under attack. But, if the proverbial American Dream is to be realized by 100% of the people, credence must be given to the concerned voices of the 99%.  Don’t let the dream die…Occupy EVERYWHERE.

    Annie Walker-Leonard (@JCDP18)

    Who’s Wrecking America? Meet Your 1% Nominee

    On By Anne LeonardIn 99%, ANTI WAR, Democrats, EQUAL RIGHTS, EQUALITY, Justice, Liberals, Occupy America, Occupy Together, Occupy Wall Street, peace, Politics, RIght Wing Nuts, Tea Party, WOMEN1 Comment
    Now you can vote on some of the most infamous members of the 1% — financial fraudsters, union-busters, weapons contractors, and more.

     The Occupy movement has drawn attention to how too many in the 1% get to play by their own rules while exploiting the 99%. But who’s doing the most to damage our economy and democracy?

    We at Brave New Foundation have launched a website where you can vote on some of the most infamous members of the 1% — financial fraudsters, union-busters, weapons contractors, and more. Then we’ll make a series of videos exposing the ones that you rank as the very worst. As our friends at Fox News might put it: We film. You decide.

    TIME TO ELECT A NEW CONGRESS REFLECTIVE OF THE 99%

    On By Anne LeonardIn 99%, Democrats, EQUAL RIGHTS, EQUALITY, Justice, Liberals, Occupy America, Occupy Together, Occupy Wall Street, peace, Politics, RIght Wing Nuts, Tea PartyLeave a comment

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    Contact: Michael Beckel, 202-354-0108 or press@crp.org

    These days, being a millionaire typically qualifies you as part of the one percent. But in Congress, it only makes you average.

    About 47 percent of Congress, or 250* current members of Congress, are millionaires, according to a new study by the Center for Responsive Politics of lawmakers’ personal financial disclosure forms covering calendar year 2010. The Center’s analysis is based on the median values of lawmakers’ disclosed assets and liabilities.

    That lofty financial status is enjoyed by only about one percent of Americans.

    “The vast majority of members of Congress are quite comfortable, financially, while many of their own constituents suffer from economic hardships,” said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics.

    “It’s no surprise that so many people grumble about lawmakers being out-of-touch,” Krumholz continued. “Few Americans enjoy the same financial cushion maintained by most members of Congress — or the same access to market-altering information that could yield personal financial gains.”
    READ THE ENTIRE STORY HERE

    Blood Soaked, Tattered, and Torn…

    On By Anne LeonardIn 99%, ANTI WAR, Democrats, EQUAL RIGHTS, EQUALITY, Justice, Liberals, Occupy America, Occupy Together, Occupy Wall Street, peace, Politics, RIght Wing Nuts, SUFFRAGE, Tea Party, WOMEN1 Comment

    Veteran’s Day is designated as a national day of commemoration honoring peace and sacrifice:

    ‘November 11, 1919, President Wilson proclaimed the first commemoration of Armistice Day: “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory… and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…”

    America and her sympathy with peace and justice are failing. Peace is now an afterthought.

    Soldiers (some far nobler than our country’s war mongering profiteers) are marched into horrific circumstances with a stroke of a bureaucratic pen. Many brave men and women enlist with honorable intentions; many left to die… abandoned by the Government, of the country they swore to protect. Freedom, it seems, diminishes profit margins. War is good business to the real tyrants-the war profiteers. On the horizon, the silhouette of a once great nation remains, reduced to a nation divided, misguided, and woeful. A nation subdued by the ills of war, blinded by the industrial military complex as it wages perpetual wars for profit at the expense of humanity.

    A Government’s wars, cloaked in the blood soaked sacramental cloth that bears the stars and stripes of our heritage. Yet, as fate would have it, history inked with the blood of the noble, the innocent, and the evil, is of great consequence to those who hope to one day acquiesce to a peaceful state of existence.

    Wars are a part of history that should not be repeated. If only our leaders would concede that mistakes have been made, damage has been done, and lessons were learned. But, lessons have not been learned, history repeats itself, and the wars continue.

    Today as we contemplate sacrifice, contemplate the reflection in the mirror of humanity. – Annie

    “If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another.” D. Lama

    W.E. Whitmore

    “Who stole the soul-And who stole the heart
    And who took the spark from inside of me…
    Why can’t I breathe…

    And I’m afraid they won’t stop…’til all the poets have failed;
    Til all the good men are jailed for nothin’ at all
    Who let them take the fall…

    And they’ll bring devastation; And call it diplomacy…
    But an occupation won’t bring a nation to peace

    Oh and I’m so ashamed, in these things beyond value; that we cherish so dear
    I won’t let them go. No I won’t let them go…”

    Neither will I…

    Neither will I

    – Annie