Thrive's Foster Gamble

Lilou interviewed Foster Gamble on his movie THRIVE, for those of you that are interested. I slipped the DVD into my husband's stocking this year. Apparently, the film is doing well all over the world.

The Militarization of our Police

I have been very upset with the escalating violence with which our police are using on its citizens. Have any of you noticed that it appears more and more swat teams are being utilized for what used to be routine police business? That there seems to be an inordinate amount of brute force being used against ordinary citizens that are hardly a threat?

The Department of Education has its own swat team! In fact it raided a home in the middle of the night, rousing a man and his three daughters from bed at gun point because his ex-wife defaulted on student loans. The Department of Education said it was because of embezzlement and fraud. Embezzlement and fraud requires a swat team to terrorize a family in the middle of the night? The fact that his ex-wife hadn't lived there for over a year seemed to matter not.

A grandfather being thrown to the ground and knocked out in front of his grandson for allegedly stealing a video game? He denies stealing the game and said he merely stuck it in the band of his pants while grabbing his grandson to get him out of a Black Friday melee. He wasn't even followed to see if he was trying to leave the store with the item. I can't tell you how many times I've stuck something in my purse, or coat pocket while running after a toddler, only to take it out and pay for it at the check stand. Breaking this man's nose?

And then watching Anthony Bologna of NYPD pepper spray women who were defenseless and penned in by police tape. Or watching a peaceful group of college protesters get pepper sprayed for having a sit-in. Isn't that what our country is all about? Peaceful protest? Isn't that what separates us from all of those countries that are not free to do so??

Something is going on here. Something is not right.

Then we have the routinely used taser. Pregnant women have been tasered, children as young as six, the elderly, an out of control ten year old! People have been tasered at routine traffic stops, or for noncompliance with an officer. I guess if you have the audacity to ask any questions, you can be tasered. A 61-year old man was tasered and killed in North Carolina for not stopping on his bicycle. He had done nothing illegal. His wife said he probably didn't hear the command as he was hard of hearing.

Then there is the increasingly militaristic look to the police uniform. You routinely see the domestic cop dressed in camouflage, or a battle dress uniform, or full-on armour, toting an assault weapon for summits and protests. They drive tanks and military command centers. Then we have the law that is now before Congress that would allow the government to hold American citizens indefinitely, without a trial, if the government can accuse them of terrorism.

This is starting to feel very fascist.

Care2 Petition Site

One of the ways that I have been trying to make a difference is signing petitions that I feel strongly about. Over the last few months I've signed them for abused animals, women's rights, teachers, the environment, wild horse roundups, and even to have Congress investigate Rupert Murdock here in the United States. There is a petition for every imaginable cause. And if you would like to start a petition - you can do that as well.

We often sit in our living rooms thinking we have no control over our world, but in reality we do have some control - if only to add our voice to the cacophony of voices standing up for the downtrodden and disenfranchised. Adding your name to a petition can actually make a difference. So why not?

You will receive notifications of petitions through email that you can join or not - your choice. It's easy and takes only a minute or two of your time. Click here to get started!