Thursday, August 9, 2012
South Dakota abortion law uses false information
South Dakota wants doctors to lie to women seeking abortion by forcing doctors to inform women that having an abortion increases their risk of suicide. As one of my family members committed suicide, I find this law to be not only demeaning to a woman's choice regarding pregnancy, but to the very real problem of suicide. The law is based on faulty, misrepresented information and is merely fear-mongering on the part of the lawmakers.
That's why I signed a petition to US Supreme Court, The South Dakota State House, The South Dakota State Senate, and Governor Dennis Daugaard, which says:
"Stop using lies and fear to attempt to control women's rights and women's health issues."
Will you sign this petition? Click here:
http://signon.org/sign/south-dakota-abortion?source=s.em.cp&r_by=831852
Thanks!
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
The Assault on America’s Civil Justice System
This is a public service posting:
The Assault on America’s Civil Justice System
The regular second Tuesday of the month meeting of South Dakota Peace and Justice will investigate the long-term corporate propaganda campaign to convince Americans that they should give up their constitutional rights in the name of tort reform. With three hundred and twelve million citizens in our country, it is easy for vested financial interests to find an occasional case where the system has been abused. The case of the elderly woman who spilled scalding McDonalds’ coffee in her lap was not such an incident!
The multiple film festival winning documentary, Hot Coffee: Is Justice Being Served? will be shown. This film looks at numerous cases that have been totally distorted, and the subsequent atmosphere thus created, which prevents our system of justice from redressing egregious damage to our citizens. Local defense attorneys Mike Wilson and Jim Leach will lead a discussion following the documentary.
The general public is always encouraged to attend our free presentations. We meet at the St. Isaac Joques Church, adjacent to the Mother Butler Center. The church is located at 221 Knollwood , across the street from the Carmike 10 Theater. The meeting starts at 7 PM and usually lasts about two hours. Coffee and light refreshment are served. Please encourage anyone you know who is concerned about the continued erosion of our civil right by the emerging oligarchy in our country to attend.
For further information contact Jim Petersen at 342-6245 or MaryJo Farrington at 716-5166.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Governor misinformed or misleading?
I heard and interesting story two weeks ago while engaged in
the weekly Saturday Occupy Rapid City protest on a corner along Main Street in Rapid City . The story was being related in a casual and
conversational way, similar to discussing the weather or some other interesting
incident of a less than cataclysmic importance.
When hearing this type of recounting of a seemingly innocuous happening
some my reply, “That doesn’t surprise me.”
A delegation of visiting members of British
Parliament and other British officials were visiting South Dakota in the early part of June. On June 6 they were in Pierre
where the story has it that one of the members of the group asked Governor
Daugaard about the Occupy Movement in South
Dakota . In the
story, the Governor’s reply was something to the effect that “we don’t have
that in South Dakota .” The Governor must get his news from Rapid City news sources
where the activities of the Occupy Movement are not reported on unless it
offends an entity like Duhamel
Broadcasting. In addition to the
every Saturday protests in Rapid City , members
of Occupy Rapid City have given their support to and participated in the
protests by several groups in Rapid
City since their local
beginning in October of 2011.
It is a little hard for outsiders to track the local Occupy
Movement since it does not have a hierarchical structure or an official
organizational membership list. However,
there are several South Dakota
Occupy Movement
group websites that list members numbering from seventy or so to nearly on
hundred. There are also quite a number
of people that post on these sites that appear to think of themselves as
members of the Occupy Movement even if their names don’t appear on a group page
membership list.
It is obvious that participation has waned considerably from
what it was during the first exciting days when it was new concept for a lot of
people with, perhaps, less than realistic expectations. Still it is less than accurate for the
Governor to tell our British guests that “we don’t have that in South Dakota .”
Note: Here’s a few
other Occupy websites to check out http://occupyrapidcity.org/,
http://www.occupybrookings.com/, http://www.facebook.com/OccupyOfRapidCity,
and http://www.facebook.com/groups/occupyblackhills
Monday, June 25, 2012
Become a citizen co-sponsor
Become a citizen co-sponsor of the DISCLOSE Act of 2012 to end secret election spending.
The U.S. Supreme Court's disastrous Citizens United v. FEC ruling has unleashed a torrent of anonymous campaign spending into our political system. Corporations have been able to exert a massive influence on our electoral process without being subject to any accountability for that influence.
Progressive champion Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is fighting back by pushing Congress to pass the DISCLOSE Act. And he has asked the public to join him as citizen co-sponsors.
Become a citizen co-sponsor of the DISCLOSE Act of 2012 to end secret election spending.
http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/disclose_citizen_cosponsor/?r_by=42314-3451380-30XNMQx&rc=confemail
Thursday, June 14, 2012
South Dakota Peace and Justice hosts Occupy Rapid City panel
By Greg Olson with editorial and
memory help by Clay Uptain
Tuesday night the monthly meeting
of the Rapid City
chapter of the South Dakota Peace and Justice organization hosted a panel of
Occupy Rapid City members. The focus of
this meeting was ‘The Significance of the “Occupy” Movement in Contemporary
America: A Discussion.’ The panelists
were volunteers and each of them spoke from their own point of view regarding
the Occupy Movement. The panel was
comprised of three noteworthy members of our Occupy Rapid City community and
yours truly. Each panelist spoke from the heart about the Movement with
emphasis on particular aspects that spoke specifically to them. While these panelists generally share similar
views they did not speak as representatives of the diverse membership of the
Occupy Movement.
Clay Uptain spoke of his
background as a criminal justice system professional and how the Occupy
Movement’s worldwide significance and his interest in the spiritual and social
aspects of what that means, not just for Rapid City, but for all of humanity.
Jim Petersen shared that he is a
Veteran pilot and feels that the Defense budget is way out of proportion and
that it needs a significant reduction. He also listed other issues that he felt
continued to be of specific relevance to the Movement. He elaborated on each of the items that he
referred to and how they related to the essential central issues of the Movement’s
Occupy Wall Street
beginnings. One of the key issues he mentioned was that our country has slowly
degenerated into a plutocracy. We are no longer a democracy. He also discussed
the National Defense Appropriations Act that eviscerated the Bill of Rights and
has put our nation under indefinite martial law.
Peggy Detmers related how her
background made many of Occupy’s central causes important to her. She has a background in biology and is
currently working with a biochemist identifying toxins in our environment. She
issued several challenges to the listeners to join in the activism of the
Occupy Movement. This call to action was
well understood and has been historically shared by most if not all of those in
attendance of this gathering of the local South Dakota Peace and Justice group.
For my part, I tried to express
how the Occupy Movement provides a venue or outlet for the “frustrated”
majority or for the percentage of the population that should be able to
associate with the movement, “the 99%.”
At the same time the Movement has avoided the partisanships of political
parties. The Occupy Movement provides
the bridge between many groups on issues that are important to all of us,
regardless of political, religious, or other divisive group definition.
All of the panelists seemed to
agree that the Occupy Movement was a continuing catalyst for activism as well
as for civic and social responsibility. Evidence
of this belief can be observed in action; two Occupy Rapid City members are
serving on a task force formed by the Rapid City Council that was successful in
getting the City of Rapid City
to formalize and update its procedures for where it keeps its money. The effort deemphasized the reliance on big
banks and financial institutions and focused on the city including more small
and locally owned banks and credit unions.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Help Restore Our Civil Liberties
Friends-
We can put an end to a shocking assault on our civil
liberties: Last year's National Defense Authorization Act included language
that could allow the military to detain civilian suspects INDEFINITELY without
charge or trial.
This year's NDAA could come up for a vote as soon as next
week and we have a prime opportunity to reverse this travesty of justice.
Click here to fight back: Email your member of Congress
right away:
Congressmen Adam Smith and Justin Amash will put forth an
amendment to make it clear that the military does not have the power to arrest
and indefinitely detain civilians without charging or trying them. Please urge
your lawmakers to support their efforts and help us spread word far and wide.
Just click here to email your member of Congress right away.
Thanks!
Public announcement from Occupy Rapid City
Event Schedule:
The demonstration on Saturday
May 12 will focus on the income disparity and corporate malfeasance that
initially sparked Occupy. These issues have not gone away. From banks
foreclosing on families by using fraudulent documents to Wall Street
speculators creating a bubble in oil futures to the one percenters continue to
lie, cheat, and steal in order to further enrich themselves. Meanwhile more and
more Americans are struggling just to survive. There really is “too much month
at the end of the money.”
Come on out this Saturday and stand with us. You will be glad that you did.
http://occupyrapidcity.org/
Come on out this Saturday and stand with us. You will be glad that you did.
http://occupyrapidcity.org/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)