A very sad picture about our very sad past.

When I search the news each day, certain articles stand out and seem to beg BLOG ME and pass Me around. Today it wasn’t an article but a picture that called out from our sorry past.

A newly discovered photo was found of two little boys born into slavery. If you weren’t aware that they were slaves you might have concluded that their expressions of bewilderment and sadness, was because they were playing happily and some relative ordered them to sit on a barrel to get their picture taken for the family album. But realizing they were slaves, compels you to scream out and try to reach into the past to hold them and snatch them from the harmful clutches of the greedy who saw these children as only price-tagged goods on a slave block with $$$ visions of how much they might fetch. A picture to be circulated as FOR SALE!

I called this OUR SORRY PAST but it is much worse than that, it was more like an American nightmare. A frightening fact that blots our history with repulsive cruelty so sickening that you wished it could somehow just vanish like it never existed.

It should not have ever happened but it did and we should not repress it. Its existence should be aired and acknowledged as long as human beings can still breathe. The human race is plagued with a terrible malady called greed. It should have been somewhat evolved from our being but instead it has become stronger. The only tool we have to combat this human failing is the ability to broadcast and announce GREED as a sin. Expose it where ever it permeates and not ever allow it to be repressed and go into hiding. thinkingblue

Rare photo of slave children found in NC attic
AP

By NICOLE NORFLEET, Associated Press Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. – A haunting 150-year-old photo found in a North Carolina attic shows a young black child named John, barefoot and wearing ragged clothes, perched on a barrel next to another unidentified young boy.

Art historians believe it’s an extremely rare Civil War-era photograph of children who were either slaves at the time or recently emancipated.

The photo, which may have been taken in the early 1860s, was a testament to a dark part of American history, said Will Stapp, a photographic historian and founding curator of the National Portrait Gallery’s photographs department at the Smithsonian Institution.

“It’s a very difficult and poignant piece of American history,” he said. “What you are looking at when you look at this photo are two boys who were victims of that history.”

In April, the photo was found at a moving sale in Charlotte, accompanied by a document detailing the sale of John for $1,150, not a small sum in 1854.

FOR MORE CLICK HERE

Below is a comment that I found attached to the above article… TALK ABOUT SICKENING! thinkingblue

If I were black today, I would thank the Lord that my ancesters were part of the slavery in America. The reason is simple, had my ancesters not been transported to America and put into slavery, I might be part of the Africa that for a large part has its own problems today. Believe me, they are much worse than what life I have potential for in the U.S. Now, I just need to figure out that it is up to me to make my life what I would like it to be. I was born free in the US and it is simply up to me to do what it takes to be a success in whatever I want to do as an adult. Unfortunately, for some reason I am basically a bit lazy and want the easy way out. Its not the white races that keep me down, it is me that keeps me down. I also understand that I have a genetic base for not having the ability to be analytical, but thanks to cross breeding with whites over the centuries, many of us have the ability to be analytical and get ahead in todays world. So, bottom line, I would be happy to be black in the U.S. and not in Agrica. (Comment From Mr. Dismay, One Sick Puppy)

My Reply:

When I read this twisted trite, I wanted to reply but I thought how can ANYONE respond to this unworldly individual’s depravity? I hope Mr. Dismay is trying to pull our leg just to see how many of us, who use our brain to THINK, will get steaming mad at his “Simple” wording and put forth a tirade of heated denunciations, aimed at his bigotry, in a comment. Well, if Dismay is for real he/she need only one word as a rebuttal to his/her convoluted thought patterns and that word is RACIST (to the highest degree). Please Mr. Dismay, do us all a favor and hide your debased thoughts from the rest of us, life is tough enough. OK? thinkingblue

GRIT TV – F WORD – To Heck With The War, It’s All About Penises.

To heck with the war. It’s becoming a story about egos. Or more precisely, as one commentator put it recently, “By focusing on McChrystal’s supposed challenge to Obama’s manhood—the press is turning a story about policy into a story about penises.”

Also at this link: http://www.thethinkingblue.com/grittv.html

Grit TV Click Here

Don’t Allow Corporations To Decide American Elections!

When Roberts and his merry band of judges, were deciding the fate of America in the Citizens United v. FEC case,

Citizens United v Federal Election Commission,
558 U.S. 50
(2010), was a landmark decision by the United
States Supreme Court holding that corporate funding of
independent political broadcasts in candidate elections
cannot be limited under the First
Amendment. The 5–4 decision resulted from a dispute
over whether the non-profit corporation Citizens United could air via
video on demand a critical film about Hillary
Clinton, and whether the group could advertise the film
in broadcast ads featuring Clinton’s image, in apparent
violation of the 2002 Bipartisan
Campaign Reform Act, commonly known as the
McCain–Feingold Act.

I felt as though it would never come to pass; Corporations to be treated as though they were people, how could this be? Every media outlet that I had viewed said it was very likely to be a 5 to 4 decision in favor of Corporations. NO WAY! I still refused to believe that the 5 accomplished Supreme Court judges could ever vote against The People even with bearing in mind, that they were of the “Conservative Persuasion”.

(In my opinion, a system of beliefs, that advocate, Flesh and Blood People insignificant when making laws).

Live and learn, that’s what happened to me on January 21, 2010 because it DID COME TO PASS and now we are dangerously close to an election that could be decided by Corporations, even ones overseas like BP.

Today, after receiving this email, I thought I would try to do a small part in undoing such an ignorant law, by blogging it around. My efforts will have seemed worth it even if only one person takes action to tell these 5 Roberts’ judges that they were in the wrong and “We The People” must make it right by forcing a constitutional amendment.

Please read more about it HERE. And while you’re at it visit MOVE TO AMEND.

Thank
you,thinkingblue

Two important reads:

1. Money Grubbers – The
   Supreme Court kills campaign finance reform.

2. Does The Roberts Court Favor Corporations Over
   Ordinary Citizens?

Dear People For Supporter,

An important new poll commissioned by People For the American
Way shows that
Americans of every political stripe resoundingly reject the
Roberts Court’s dangerous decision in Citizens
United v. FEC, which opened the floodgates
of unlimited corporate cash in our elections.

We should have a government of, by and for the people. The
polling results show increasing concern among Americans that, in
part because of the Court’s decision, which equates corporations
with people, we are becoming a government of, by and for the
corporations. The poll also shows broad awareness that when
corporations spend unlimited amounts to influence the outcome of
elections, it infringes on the rights of the rest of us by
drowning out the voices of the average citizen.

The Court’s decision in Citizens United
was so disastrous that voters overwhelmingly support a
constitutional amendment to correct it.

Three-quarters of voters said that they support a constitutional
amendment to limit the amount that corporations can spend in
elections. A similar majority are more inclined to support a
candidate who has spoken out in favor of an amendment. This
support cuts across party and ideology, with majorities of
Democrats, Republicans and Independents in support of the
measure.

Leading up to Election Day, People For the American Way, along
with Public Citizen and other allies, will be asking
congressional candidates to pledge to support a constitutional
amendment, and sharing that information with voters.

Here are some of the polling specifics:

• 85% of voters say that
  corporations have too much influence over the political
  system today while 93% say that average citizens have too
  little influence.
• 95% agree that “Corporations
  spend money on politics mainly to buy influence in
  government and elect people who are favorable to their
  financial interests.” (74% strongly
  agree)
• 85% disagree that
  “Corporations should be able to spend as much as
  they want to influence the outcome of elections because
  the Constitution protects freedom of
  speech.” (63% strongly disagree)
  
• 93% agree that “There should
  be clear limits on how much money corporations can spend
  to influence the outcome of an election.” (74% strongly
  agree)
• 77% think Congress should support
  an amendment to limit the amount U.S. corporations can
  spend to influence elections.
• 74% say that they would be more
  likely to vote for a candidate for Congress who pledged
  to support a constitutional amendment limiting corporate
  spending in elections.

You can read more about the poll here. (PDF)

Thank you for your continued support of PFAW’s campaign to
restore Government By the People.

– Ben Betz, Online Communications Manager

Does The Roberts Court Favor Corporations Over Ordinary
Citizens?

RNC Document Mocks Donors, Plays on ‘Fear’

Thom Hartmann on Freespeech TV

New Robes For SCOTUS

Please sign this very important
petition “demand question time” (of our political
leaders) HERE…
We really need more dialog from those at the top… The
Republicans have got to be made to realize they can’t hide behind
“NO” any longer! thinkingblue

MOVE TO AMEND

Let’s keep our heads, while we continue
to watch THE THEATER OF THE ABSURD!!!

“A SEARCH FOR TRUTH WILL FIND INJUSTICE.”thinkingblue

BP’s Disastrous Spill In The Gulf of Mexico – Documentary

This morning I received this video from a cyber pal… Thought it worthy of a pass around. Many people are so disgusted with what is happening between the Big Daddy Corporations and the “small people” (as BP’s top executive Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg calls the working people of the Gulf ‘We Care About The Small People’) in the Gulf of Mexico they are putting their talents to use and creating some poignant art. This is one of the many that warrants a view. Below is the email from my friend and the video. thinkingblue

SENT TO ME BY MY NEPHEW, JOHN PAUL.
VIDEO BY A FRIEND OF JOHN’S.
IT IS EXCELLENT. An urgency in the style of Louisiana — layin’ it out there for all to see.   Pass this on, please !    maddi

COMMENTS FROM MADDI’S FACEBOOK:

Pope John Paul – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA1r92DIaXQ

Madeline – EXCELLENT video. My friends will surely like this ! maddi

Pope John Paul – its scary that the dispersant is as dangerous as it is and making people sick just think what its doing to marine life yikes!

Carolyn Ward – GREAT VIDEO! We have no idea what is happening and what will happen next. I even dreamt about it last night, more like a nightmare… that the “powers that be” decided the “leak” could not be stopped and a nuclear bomb had to be used. The world watched while the bomb was prepared and no one knew how this would affect life. The dream ended before the bomb was put into position or I don’t remember the rest but I think all of us have absorbed this horror story into our subconscious and it’s relentlessly with us all the time. The worst part being the helplessness we all feel, watching and waiting for it to end.
http://www.boston.com/science/articles/2010/06/03/nuclear_blast_option_on_oil_leak_us_says_no/

Madeline – John Paul is my nephew — a newly minted architect and good person! maddi

—

RNC Document Mocks Donors, Plays on ‘Fear’

Thom Hartmann on Freespeech TV

New Robes For SCOTUS

Please sign this very important petition “demand question time” (of our political leaders) HERE.. We really need more dialog from those at the top… The Republicans have got to be made to realize they can’t hide behind “NO” any longer! thinkingblue

MOVE TO AMEND

Let’s keep our heads, while we continue to watch THE THEATER OF THE ABSURD!!!

“A SEARCH FOR TRUTH WILL FIND INJUSTICE.”thethinkingblue

he was only made from plastic and foam as opposed to the real one made from smoke and mirrors.

Jesus made of plastic and foam… it kinda says it all. I just commented on Teresa’s remarks on the facebook LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY …

(Which falls into the Jesus, Plastic & Foam category. )

“Kucinich believed in aliens for God sake. He thought the aliens were going to take over. I think the public just doesnt elect people the right way. You dont listen to them. You elect them becuz oh hes so good looking,he likes the same things I do. We elect are  Representatives and Senators and then say they are no good when they dont do what we want.” Teresa P.

“Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) said he saw a UFO (Unidentified Flying  Object). 14% of Americans claim the same.

Why do people think it crazy to believe there may be life in this or some other galaxy in the universe, especially when there are likely over a 100 billion galaxies, each containing billions of stars? Yet it is perfectly OK and absolutely normal to believe in an Invisible Old Man in the sky who is a master magician. BTHOM! (Some material from this SITE)

I agree elections are like turkey shoots most have no idea who they are voting for and a majority are likely to only pull the lever on the one that fits their brainwashed ideology of “R” or “D”. It’s sad but that is one of the disadvantages of living in an open democracy, ruled by BIG MONEY.”
thinkingblue.

RNC Document Mocks Donors, Plays on ‘Fear’

Thom Hartmann on Freespeech TV

New Robes For SCOTUS

Please sign this very important petition “demand question
time” (of our political leaders) HERE...
We really need more dialog from those at the top… The Republicans have got to be made to realize they can’t hide behind “NO”
any longer! thinkingblue

MOVE TO AMEND

Let’s keep our heads, while we continue to watch THE THEATER OF THE ABSURD!!!

“A SEARCH FOR TRUTH WILL FIND INJUSTICE.”thinkingblue

CHRIS MATTHEWS “THE RISE OF THE NEW RIGHT-WING”

I don’t know about you but as, I watch this documentary, (below) it makes me ill. Not because of the contents, I think Matthews and his crew did a great job but because it made me realize just how many immature and easily persuadable people live amongst us. Watching the so called leaders of this New Right-wing spew forth their incongruities and misconceptions while giving the impression that they are actually encouraging their sycophants to get angry enough to commit crimes, makes you cringe with disgust. What are these people searching for? Why don’t they understand that what they demand makes no sense at all?

No Government in our lives they shout. No oversights, they bellow. Then when things aren’t going their way, they take to the streets and yell “We want the government to put a stop to reproduction choice! We want the government to make Big Oil pay (yeah right, for its failures due to no oversights)!
We want the government to step in and make sure that certain civil rights never become law. (Not every civil right, just those we deem intolerable like Homosexuals being allowed the right to marry or Gays having the right to serve openly in the military).” What a bunch of naïve hypocrites! If they are able to gather enough strength and become powerful, America will once again, in the eyes of the world, become the buffoon it was during the Dubya years.

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

PART FOUR

PART FIVE

PART SIX

RNC Document Mocks Donors, Plays
on ‘Fear’

Watch
Thom Hartmann on Freespeech TV

New Robes For SCOTUS

Please
sign this very important petition “demand question time”

(of our political leaders) HERE...

We really need more dialog from those at the top…

The Republicans have got to be made to realize they can’t hide
behind “NO” any longer! thinkingblue

MOVE
TO AMEND

Let’s keep our heads,
while we continue to watch THE

THEATER OF THE ABSURD!!!

“A SEARCH FOR TRUTH WILL FIND INJUSTICE.”

thinkingblue

The Peaceless Human Condition

Below is an exchange between a Libertarian Friend and my Liberal self. thinkingblue

Friend, I have an idea that we are close in our ideas on this one, too.  What do you think?    Friend
TEN Facts about Israel’s Massacre against the Gaza Freedom Flotilla
—
Hi Friend, If you say it’s sad and hopeless, then we can agree. Why? Because human beings lack empathy (especially in large groups). People just can’t get it through their thick skulls that we are all the same. They continuously form groups of like-minded (especially in hate) so they can stick together while disparaging (and trying to destroy) those who are different from themselves. (Whether the difference be in thought or appearance.)

When one group is so demoralized (as were the Jews in Nazi Germany) and they are determined not to ever allow this to happen again… For some strange reason, in their grand efforts to not be victims, they become the bullies who brutalized them in the first place. (Remember the Stanford Prison Experiment.)

Do I sound pessimistic? When it comes to human existence, you bet I am.
Thanks,
Your Friend
thinkingblue

PS: A Liberal friend of mine just brought the below article and video to my attention. It recapitulates to me, that for the most part we humans have a long way to go to become peace like.

Irish-American Ken O’Keefe Recounts His Experience On The Mavi Marmara And In Israeli Detention

watch?v=lZGN6SQWL3M

I have for many years understood that we, people of conscience, are the true holders of power in this world. Frustratingly however we have largely relinquished that power and failed to reach our full potential. Our potential to create a better world, a just world. Nonetheless I have conspired with others of like mind to reveal and exercise our true power. In 2002 I initiated the TJP Human Shield Action to Iraq because I knew that the invasion of Iraq had been planned well in advance, that it was part of a ‘Global Spectrum Dominance’ agenda as laid out by the Project For A New American Century.

I knew that protests had no chance of stopping the invasion, and that largely these protests were just a way of making us feel better about the coming mass murder; by being able to say I protested against it. With that understanding I argued that the only viable way to stop the invasion was to conduct a mass migration to Iraq. A migration in which people from around the world, especially western citizens, would position themselves at sites in Iraq that are supposed to be protected by international law, but which are routinely bombed when it is only Iraqi, Palestinian, generally non-white, western lives who will be killed. I felt 10,000 such people could stop the invasion, or at the very least, expose the invasion for what it was from the start, an act of international aggression, a war crime and a crime against humanity.

When our two double-decker buses travelled from London to Baghdad through Turkey, it was ever clear that the people of Turkey also could sense the power of this act, and they were the biggest participants in it. In the end we did not get the numbers required to stop the war, with at least one million Iraqi’s dead as a result, but I remain convinced that it was within our power to prevent the invasion. A massive opportunity lost as far as I am concerned.

In 2007 I joined the Free Gaza Movement with its plan to challenge the blockade of Gaza by travelling to Gaza by sea. From the moment I heard of the plan I knew it could succeed and ultimately I served as a captain on the first attempt. The Israeli government said throughout our preparation that we were no better than pirates and they would treat us as such. They made clear we would not reach Gaza. And still I knew we could succeed. And we did. Two boats with 46 passengers from various countries managed to sail into Gaza on August 23, 2010; this was the first time this had been done in 41 years. The truth is the blockade of Gaza is far more than three years old, and yet we, a small group of conscientious people defied the Israeli machine and celebrated with tens of thousands of Gazans when we arrived that day. We proved that it could be done. We proved that an intelligent plan, with skilled manipulation of the media, could render the full might of the Israeli Navy useless. And I knew then that this was only the tip of the iceberg.

So participating in the Freedom Flotilla is like a family reunion to me. It is my long lost family whose conscience is their guide, who have shed the fear, who act with humanity. But I was especially proud to join IHH and the Turkish elements of the flotilla. I deeply admire the strength and character of the Turkish people, despite your history having stains of injustice, like every nation, you are today from citizen to Prime Minister among the leaders in the cause of humanity and justice.

MORE HERE

RNC Document Mocks Donors, Plays on ‘Fear’

Watch Thom Hartmann on Freespeech TV

New Robes For SCOTUS

Please sign this very important petition “demand question time”
(of our political leaders) HERE...
We really need more dialog from those at the top…
The Republicans have got to be made to realize they can’t hide behind “NO”
any longer! thinkingblue

MOVE TO AMEND

Let’s keep our heads, while we continue to watch THE
THEATER OF THE ABSURD!!!

“A SEARCH FOR TRUTH WILL FIND INJUSTICE.”
thinkingblue

The Empathetic Civilization

EMPATHY

At dictionary.com empathy is defined thus: EMPATHY – noun

1.the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.

If this is so, then why doesn’t the conservative/libertarian movement have empathy towards others outside of their TEA PARTY CIRCLE? If we are to survive as a species, a planet, we need to view other people, other living things, other material outside our realm of knowledge as one. Everything, we can see, touch, feel or haven’t a clue about has been formed out of a single particle (massless or mass – A quintessential question, What came first the chicken or the egg? ) and should be judged as part of ourselves. Until we can feel that the whole of Earth and everything inside or outside of it, has elements of the same, we will be doomed to go through our tiny existence without displaying actual empathy that we, as intellectual living matter, are privy to, and that is SAD! thinkingblue

watch?v=13TQow6zJsQ

RNC Document Mocks Donors, Plays on ‘Fear’

Watch Thom Hartmann on Freespeech TV

New Robes For SCOTUS

Please sign this very important petition “demand question time”
(of our political leaders) HERE...
We really need more dialog from those at the top…
The Republicans have got to be made to realize they can’t hide behind “NO”
any longer! thinkingblue

MOVE TO AMEND

Let’s keep our heads, while we continue to watch THE
THEATER OF THE ABSURD!!!

“A SEARCH FOR TRUTH WILL FIND INJUSTICE.”
thinkingblue