New liberal group "ACCOUNTABILITY NOW" backed by Move On.org

The times they are a changing! Everytime I read something like this after 8 years of oppression, I can't even explain my happiness! As a long time liberal it's so cool that we're not paying attention to neo-cons as much as we did during the Bush years.

By JIM RUTENBERG
WASHINGTON — A group of liberal bloggers said it was teaming up with organized labor and MoveOn.org to form a political action committee that would seek to push the Democratic Party further to the left.
Soliciting donations from their readers, the bloggers said they were planning to recruit liberal candidates to challenge more centrist Democrats currently in Congress.
The formation of the group is another step in the evolution of the blogosphere, which has proven effective at motivating party activists to give money and time to political campaigns, especially in local races.
But it also illuminates a deepening wrinkle for President Obama, whose attempt to build a broad governing coalition — often by tempering some of his more liberal positions — has already angered some of his supporters on the left.
The new organization is in many ways the liberal equivalent of the Club for Growth, a conservative group that has financed primary challenges against Republicans it deems insufficiently dedicated to tax cuts and small government.
Organizers of the new group, called Accountability Now, said their intention was to enable Mr. Obama to seek more liberal policies without fear of losing support from the more conservative members of his party serving in Congress. But they did not rule out occasional friction with Mr. Obama, as well.
“We’re going to be about targeting incumbents to make space for Obama to be more progressive,” said Glenn Greenwald, a blogger on the online magazine Salon who is part of the effort. “There may be other times when the Democratic Party, as led by Obama, is being unresponsive, so yeah, we have the potential to push back against that as well.”
Another founder of the group, Jane Hamsher, of the blog firedoglake.com, said Accountability Now might also involve itself in Republican primary contests, though the focus for now seemed to be primarily on the Democratic side.

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Photo of Phelps smoking bong unites pot smokers

The photo circulating around the Internet of world-famous Olympian Michael Phelps smoking a bong seems to be getting a positive response from the outspoken internet community of marijuana users. The photo first appeared in 'News of the World,' and made its way to the celebrity magazines.

CNN's Jeanne Moos reports that the PR fiasco that has surrounded this picture has come mostly in the form of You-tube parodies and clever blog-spots. Eddie Izzard responded with a 'Stoned Olympics' routine. A Facebook group titled 'I don't care that Michael Phelps smoked a bong' sprung up and attracted hundreds of members overnight. Given that Michael Phelps was the most popular person on Facebook this summer, topping even Barack Obama, it seems natural -- even organic -- that the Internet community could forgive him for smoking pot.

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Massachusetts: Help monitor local implementation of Question 2

It seems some anti-pot smoking repubs want to make an additional fine for smoking marijuana in public!  Since passage of the Question 2 law, there hasn’t been a problem with people smoking pot in public! I live in Mass. and I would’ve heard about it! Many feel that it would be asking for $100 fine and who needs another expense?

No more fines Massachusetts!  Let’s make it profitable for the state tax coiffeurs!  Make it legal!  Then you can tax it!  Consumers can buy marijuana knowing that is 100% cannabis and not laced with something they never wanted to try or use! 

Anyway, let’s make it legal and make a profit!  Please try to help by attending a meeting and standing up for what you believe in.  I’m going to try to attend.  I hope you will too!

Peace

Marijuana Policy Project Alert
January 29, 2009

Mass.: Help monitor local implementation of Question 2

Dear Pamela:

Now that Question 2 is law, some localities are considering whether to create an additional penalty for the public use of marijuana. Methuen, Quincy, Everett, Springfield, and Braintree are all expected to discuss and possibly vote on this issue next week.

Question 2 made the penalty for possessing up to an ounce of marijuana in Massachusetts a $100 civil fine, but left it up to localities to decide whether or not to create an additional penalty for smoking marijuana in public. Despite the fact that there haven't been reports of widespread public marijuana smoking, and that Question 2's $100 fine and seizure of marijuana is already an effective deterrent, several localities across the state are scheduling public meetings on the issue of public use.

If you hear about such a meeting where you live, we encourage you take part in the democratic process and attend. Please let us know when you learn of a meeting by sending details (including date and time) to nmiller@mpp.org.

The Attorney General has provided a sample ordinance that localities can use if they decide to spend their time and energy on this non-issue. The Attorney General's sample ordinance clearly states that towns may go the route of "noncriminal disposition pursuant to G.L. c. 40, § 21D." The sample ordinance suggests a $300 fine for using marijuana in a public place, which is significantly higher than most cities' penalties for drinking alcohol in public.

Unlike a criminal disposition, a noncriminal disposition for public marijuana use under Massachusetts law would not require an arrest or any other interaction with the court system unless an individual contests the citation or fails to pay the fine on time. As is, Question 2 means that law enforcement, judicial, and correctional resources will not be wasted on what is essentially a public nuisance offense.

Local and state officials should give Question 2 time to work before jumping the gun and passing more laws on top of a new voter-approved law that a few naysayers have already claimed is too hard for them to understand. This is only an issue in the minds of a few drug warriors who wish to impose their beliefs at the local level after suffering an embarrassing loss at the state level.

Local leaders considering public use ordinances should be reminded that one of the main reasons 65% of Massachusetts voters approved Question 2 is because it is estimated to save taxpayers approximately $29.5 million a year in law enforcement resources alone. If they are considering imposing criminal penalties, they should be told that making the public use of marijuana an arrestable offense would involve every level of the criminal justice system, thereby undermining one of the very purposes of Question 2. Local leaders should also be reminded that nearly 2 million Massachusetts voters supported the general intent of Question 2, which was to keep marijuana users out of jail.

Chances are, you live in a place that voted overwhelmingly in favor of Question 2. To find out what percentage of voters from your district approved Question 2, click here and scroll over the area of the map where you live — you might see a number that should be brought to the attention of your local leaders.

If you attend one of these public meetings, we'd love to hear how it went. Please send us any feedback, comments, or concerns you have regarding how your community is implementing Question 2.

Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project and all of our allies. Please share this alert with others in your area who may be interested in getting more involved with making sure Question 2 is implemented in a manner consistent with the intent of Question 2 and the will of the voters.

Sincerely,

Nathan Miller
Legislative Analyst
Marijuana Policy Project

 

Technorati Tags: marijuana,marijuana legalization,cannabis,Question 2,Marijuana Policy Project,activism,actions,laws

Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Twitter: Live Gaza war updates

 

Stay up to date with all the latest developments on the Israeli asault on Gaza, including reports from our correspondents in and around the Gaza Strip with Al Jazeera's Twitter channel.

Gaza channel on Twitter*

Please note: If you would like to receive updates directly to your mobile devices, you will need to activate 'device update' on your Twitter account settings and ensure you are following 'AJGaza':

Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Twitter: Live Gaza war updates

Technorati Tags: Al Jazeera,middle east news,live Gaza war updates,Gaza,Gaza Strip,Twitter,Israel

Palestine: Bloggers in Gaza describe the fear

Against all odds, there are still blog posts coming out of Gaza, and bloggers are vividly describing the fear they are filled with in the face of ongoing Israeli attacks.

Exiled says he is no hero:

على قيد الحياة ولكني لست بخير
وقد اكون في اي لحظة على قيد الموت لاكون بخير
فالاموات وحدهم آمنون في غزة

تركت شقتي وذهبت انا وزوجتي الى بيت العائلة،ليس بحثا عن مكانا آمناً من القصف
احب ان اكون بجانب امي في هذه الاحوال

لست بطلا،كابن اخي الصغير ارتعش من الصوت المعدني المتفجر في الهواء القريب
ولكني اكبت رعشتي خجلا،فلست بطلا

 

I am still alive, but not OK.
And at any moment I may be within sight of death, and will be OK.
Only the dead are safe in Gaza.
I left my flat and my wife and I went to the family home, but not searching for a safe place from the bombing.
I want to be next to my mother in such circumstances.
I am not a hero; like my young nephew I am trembling from the explosive metal sound in the air nearby.
But I hold back my trembling in embarrassment; I am not a hero.

Laila El-Haddad, who blogs at Raising Yousuf and Noor, is in touch with her parents in Gaza:

My father just called to inform me he was ok – after warplanes bombed the Islamic University there, considered to be the Strip's premiere academic institution.

A little later I called my mother, only to hear her crying on the phone. “The planes are overhead” she cried “the planes are overhead”. I tried to calm her down – planes overhead mean the “target” is further away. But in such moments of intense fear, there is no room for rationality and logic.

Another Gazan blogger, Dr. Mona El-Farra is currently in the UK, and is watching what is happening in despair:

With an aching heart I continue to watch Gaza from a distance. I cannot turn the TV off, cannot detach myself from what is going on there. Not while my medical colleagues work hard under such extraordinarily circumstances. Not while my friends, my family, and the whole population of Gaza face such horrible atrocities and constant fear. The nightmare isn’t over.

Global Voices Online » Palestine: Bloggers in Gaza describe the fear

Technorati Tags: Gaza Strip,Gaza,Palestine,bloggers,Palestinians,fear,war,opinion,human rights

Palestine: On the Ground in Gaza

In spite of the continued attacks on Gaza, and the loss of electricity in many places, there are Gazan bloggers who are managing to write about what is going on. In addition, there are a number of foreign human rights activists in the Gaza Strip who are providing eyewitness accounts.
We start with a Gazan blogger who is actually in the United States at the moment. Laila El-Haddad, who blogs at Raising Yousuf and Noor, writes about what her parents are experiencing:

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Online journalists now jailed more often than other media

Internet journalists, editors, and bloggers now hold the dubious distinction of being the most-jailed group of journalists on earth.

If you think it's tough to be a blogger because your Google AdWords revenue has been in the toilet lately, the Committee to Protect Journalists wants to remind you that Internet journalist—including bloggers—can and do suffer much more around the world. According to the group's new report, Internet journalists now make up the largest single group of imprisoned journalists.

Of the 125 journalists imprisoned around the world for doing their jobs, 45 percent are "bloggers, Web-based reporters, or online editors." China continues its ten-year winning streak when it comes to tossing writers into jail, with Cuba, Burma, Eritrea, and Uzbekistan next in line.

The numbers are down slightly from December 2007, but CPJ notes that the arrests are hitting freelancers the hardest. Without the resources of a major media company behind them, lone bloggers and freelance writers often lack the resources to mount a vigorous defense when they are detained.

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Obama's Transparent Presidency: Weekly YouTube Addresses

The media is already running out of ways to present Barack Obama as Franklin Roosevelt 2.0. The Obama campaign gave them some new fodder Friday, announcing that it will modernize FDR's fireside chats by posting the President-elect's weekly radio addresses on YouTube.




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How Obama Can Save the Middle Class on Meet the Bloggers

SEIU's Anna Burger on the importance of the Employee Free Choice Act.
Fortune 500 CEOs make an average of $6,153 an hour, while the majority of workers in our country earn an hourly federal minimum wage of only $6.55. Fortunately, this ridiculous gap can be closed with Barack Obama as President and Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate, and it all starts with the The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). EFCA tops the progressive agenda for unions because it could effectively restore the middle class in our country, and yet this vital piece of legislation still faces challenges from anti-union businesses like Wal-Mart.
Today on Meet the Bloggers, join Anna Burger, secretary-treasurer of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and chair of the international labor federation Change to Win, as we discuss EFCA's passage during Obama's first 100 Days. Burger will talk with show host Cenk Uygur and blogger Todd Beeton (MyDD) about how EFCA can revitalize our nation's middle class. Also on the show will be Satyam Khanna (Think Progress) to talk about Lieberman Must Go.

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Police confirm Huffington Post writer killed partner

A Huffington Post election contributor stabbed and killed her former partner in their shared home before shooting herself, Florida police confirmed late last night.Police said 57-year-old Carol Burger attacked Jessica Kalish, 57, in the garage of their house in Boynton on October 22, inflicting 222 stab wounds with a screwdriver.

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Amy Wilentz: Benazir Bhutto: A Killing and Three Funerals

"Death is a proof of sincerity," Graham Greene wrote in The Comedians. That holds true here.

As for the motivations of the killers. Their real targets were secular liberalism, the Bhutto dynasty, and the U.S. What they feared was a Bhutto premiership, beginning in about ten days, when the elections were to take place. Whoever they are exactly, they see an opening to power and control now, and they would not permit Benazir to stand in their way.

LA Times: The Benazir I Knew

Amy's profile of Benazir Bhutto appears in the December/January issue of More magazine.

Read more reactions from HuffPost bloggers on Benazir Bhutto's assassination

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Burma's bloggers show power of citizen journalists in a crisis

Blogged by: Glenda Cooper
The pictures were often grainy and the video shaky, but in media terms, they were gold dust. The bloggers of Burma used new technology to tell the world about last week's protests in their previously closed country. Thanks to them, we saw pictures of monks marching through the streets of Rangoon, and heard crackly phone calls with a chilling soundtrack of gun shots.
Many pointed out the difference technology has made compared with the 1988 uprising, when the junta's bloody suppression was largely hidden from outside view. It's no surprise then that last Friday, the authorities suspended internet links to the outside world and blocked mobile phone lines.
Since then, people inside Burma seem to be getting patchy access to the internet, but there's no doubt that it's a struggle to get their message out. On October 4, bloggers around the world plan a protest in support of their Burmese colleagues. In solidarity, they'll refrain from posting on their blogs, instead putting up only a banner with the words "Free Burma!".
The bloggers and citizen journalists in Burma are only the latest example of how news has been transformed in a very short time by what's known in the jargon as "user generated content" (UGC).
If you think back to the 9/11 attacks in the United States, the dominant images we all remember came from journalists. The BBC received only a few emails in the early stages, and of those, only two could be turned into interviews - by contacting the people involved.
According to Dan Gillmor, author of We The Media, it was the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that marked the turning point - a before-and-after moment for citizen journalism. One blog created just after the disaster, waveofdestruction.org, logged 682,366 unique visitors in just four days.
Many people felt this new kind of coverage was a one-off, or as one commentator described it, down to "lots of rich white westerners in bathing suits". But it wasn't.
The South Asia earthquake of October 2005 showed how wrong some major media groups had been in calling the impact of this new kind of reporting.
Within eight minutes of the quake bringing down Islamabad's Margalla Towers, the BBC's Talking Point portal received an email from someone who'd been next door in Al Mustafa Towers.
The corporation received 3,000 emails on the first day after the quake hit Pakistan, including comments, information, photographs, and messages about those who were missing. At some points, it was receiving news from the ground faster than its journalists - and aid agencies - could get there, especially from the badly affected city of Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

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