by Elizabeth Cable [courtesy of Blog for America]

Throughout human history, humankind has been fond of waging perpetual wars, the meaning of which being a war waged upon an enemy that can never be definitively defeated. We likely do this because we are rather illogical creatures, creatures whose passions and prejudices can easily trump logic. In modern times, one place in the world where this illogicality of perpetual war has fully taken root is the United States of America. Given, all countries behave illogically to some extent (as they are all governed by fallible human beings), but America is the one that I know the most about. This illogicality is illustrated perfectly by two “wars”, one military and one not, that America currently is waging: the War on Terror and the War on Drugs.

by Yvonne McQuade [courtesy of Blog for America]

Bill HR1955 passed with 404 of our Democrates and Republicans in House of Representatives in our House recently and is on its way to the Senate.

This bill represents the worst of this administrations assults on our Constitution and Bill of Rights and, so far, besides hearing about this on American One Television Broadcast at 3am in the morning, I've not heard about this from any other source, including DFA.

This bill actually defines thought crimes as home-grown terrorism. This bill also considers the following domestic acts of terrorism: anybody who talks about the Bill of Rights or the Constitution in public or in print, or anyone who even mentions the right to bear arms, or talks about freedom of speech, or anyone who seeks to advance any religious, political or social change will now be considered a domestic terrorist!

This HR1955 bill has already cleared the House and is slated to be voted on in the Senate. This bill is aimed at the Citizens of the USA, not people from other countries. It is supposed to go into effect bt 2008. How about it DFA??? Can you throw your weight behind this on and stop the vote? I sure hope so or I will wonder about your intentions. I see no other matter more important than our very freedom.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Passage of AB 38 Critical to Protect Our State

By Pedro Nava
Member, California State Assembly

George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” When examining the success and failures of our government, we must learn from our past triumphs and mistakes.

Assembly Bill 38, reforms the way California provides disaster preparedness, response and recovery. It avoids the mistakes of the past. Now is the time to create an all-hazards state entity that will oversee the state response to both natural disasters and acts of terrorism.

I was in office one week when disastrous slides struck La Conchita in my district. Ten people died, numerous homes were buried under mud and many tears were shed. I was thrust into the world of emergency preparedness and disaster response. For the past three years I have been learning from experts how to improve California’s emergency preparedness and response.