Sharing Circle

What follows is long but is one of, I think, the most important and moving relatively recent speeches that I’ve ever read. And I have probably read more of them than most people who I have known- starting from about the beginning of the last decade, when I personally and professionally developed more of an interest in politics. I was aware of many of the points that he raises and they are all accurate to the best of my knowledge.

Many people my age and younger may not have any real idea why the Kennedy family has been revered in certain circles for decades, as we are too young basically to remember JFK’s administration. This speech may help explain it.

The world deserves anyone coming upon this the favor of reading and considering every word of it, and if you find it worthy, sharing parts or all of it with your friends, family members, and so on. These are very, very very important points, I think, even though we are now under a (somewhat) different administration.

This speech was brought to my/our attention (my husband actually found and pulled the transcript) through a movie produced by David Arquette and Courteney Cox Arquette. I think every word of this speech should be read and considered by every American human and, in fact, by many of the rest of the non-American humans.

I do not consider this to be a speech which furthers the generally pretty polarized political climate in the US now. I think it is pretty neutral, but others may disagree.

Apart from everything else that makes this important, (in my humble opinion) this speech should also help any of the Republican or even Libertarian persuasion who perhaps question why GWB and that administration was so reviled by people like myself–that is if they don’t already understand why that was/is. Many less than obvious points are made here that should help people understand. It is my understanding that many who consider themselves on the “right-wing” side of the political equation at least claim to not understand why the Bush admin was so vehemently reviled (especially if one leaves out obviously revulsion-inducing role GWB played in creating the Iraq war.) I am hardly a rabid environmentalist by anyone’s standards. But this speech makes critically important points, I think.

Read, and if so inclined, share with anyone else who you think might need to consider this.

This is the official transcript of a speech delivered by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in 2005:

I have been an environmental advocate for twenty years, and I’ve been disciplined during that period about being nonpartisan in my approach to this issue. The worst thing that can happen to the environment is if it becomes the province of a single political party. Most of the environmental leaders in our country agree with me. Five years ago, if you asked the leaders of the major environmental groups in America, What’s the gravest threat to the global environment?, they would have given you a range of answers: overpopulation, habitat destruction, global warming. Today, they will all tell you one thing: it’s George W. Bush. This is the worst environmental president that we have ever had. You simply cannot speak honestly about the environment in any context today without speaking critically about this president. If you go to the Natural Resources Defense Council’s web site you will see over 400 major environmental rollbacks that have been promoted by this administration over the last three and half years. It is a concerted, deliberate attempt to eviscerate thirty years of environmental law. It is a stealth attack, one that’s been hidden from the public. (more…)

I feel kind of odd about passing along this information, but my role as I see it is to just report and people can make of it what they will.

I have a great deal of respect for military people world-wide; my father was in the National Guard, and my sister and brother-in-law were Marines.  I just stumbled into this relatively new organization made up of retired and currently serving American Military personnel. Called “The Oath Keepers” (which though it might conjure up visions of the promise-keepers who swear to stay virginal until marriage) it seems their role could conceivably be FAR more important to the American people than the latter.  Personally I think these men and women (after a relatively quick examination) have their minds and hearts in the right place.  See why on the flip.

Their point of view seems pretty sane to me, but perhaps it runs counter to the conventional wisdom of those serving, I don’t know. Without further ado, here are the principles that this organization’s leadership are asking American military (past and present) people to swear to do (or not do.) (more…)

I just read in The Nation that one of the leaders of the conservative charge against meaningful health care reform in this country is a guy named Rick Scott. I’d never heard of him until this morning, but at the moment I’m thinking that he may be just as reprehensible as, say, Rush Limbaugh.

Christopher Hayes wrote this piece, and he mentions that Scott is the “leader” of a group called “Conservatives for Patient’s Rights.” {The Republicans never fail to provide an amusing mis-naming of their organizations or bills, e.g. The “No Child Left Behind” act (should be called “Most Children Left Behind” act) or the “Clean Air Act,” which a well known left-wing writer once quipped “Should have been called the ‘No Tree Left Behind’ act.”} (more…)

I would like to directly put a photo here of the tent city in Sacramento, California, which now reportedly has over 1200 “residents.”  However, the images are copyrighted by Getty (among others) and they are well known for suing people for using their images.

So instead, I’m linking to the website of a radio station in Sacramento which has published the photographs (I’m assuming, with permission.) Reportedly, this is not the only tent city which has sprung up in our country of late; I have also heard this morning of one in Northern Ohio and I’m sure there are more. (more…)

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I just happened to stumble upon an article by David Sirota. I’d like to say I was amused by it, but unfortunately it’s more of a feeling of outrage that anyone can say this kind of thing (that Sirota’s writing about) with a straight face.

Here’s the money quote from Sirota.  Follow me on the flip to see what he was referring to:

This is quite literally the argument of a sociopath – and the problem is that sociopathy is so prevalent in discussions about trade and globalization that we barely even notice it anymore. (more…)

Serene threw out an interesting challenge so here’s my list.

1.) Governments would behave in a transparent way. You know, like the current one promised they would (in the US.)

2.) People would actually take advantage of all the information that is out there on the internet regarding what is happening, what has happened, etc., instead of being self-delusional or delusional a la what the TV news and the newspapers tell them. (more…)

Give Me A Break

I was just reading this interview with Bill Moyers and someone I’ve never heard of-Simon Johnson. He’s the former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, whatever that is.  He had some interesting things to say,  including that there should be “respectful disagreement” with the Oligarchs that a.) got the world into the current economic mess, b.) profited from it and c.) are still in power. (more…)

There’s that old saying, “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” and like so many old sayings, it’s there for a reason. I’ve been watching first with bemusement and then with dismay as one of my old favorite stomping grounds- eBay- has been steadily driving itself into the ground, by “fixing” what wasn’t broken in the first place.

NOW, in my humble opinion, it’s broken. I know that times change, the marketplace changes, and that publicly traded (large) companies are under pressure to (unrealistically!) increase profits quarter after quarter.

Yet all that aside, common sense must occasionally intervene. Big companies would do well to keep an ear to the ground and to pay attention when there are coherent, sustained complaints about the way it’s doing business, and the changes it has been making. Ebay falls in that category and has done for probably about two years now.

For those of you who don’t know, eBay has rolled out changes which now do not allow sellers to leave anything but positive feedback for buyers. That makes the “feedback system” pretty useless. (more…)

I was recently asked the question “What would the world look like if everyone did everything you wanted them to do?” I was told to make a list of  at least five and no more than seven ways in which the world would be different. The object of the exercise of course is to sort of encapsulate one’s philosophy of life. I thought the question was interesting, so if you follow me on the flip, you’ll see what I came up with. I’d be interested to know what your lists would look like, too.

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