"NO." Scotland Will Not Leave the United Kingdom 19SEP14

SCOTLAND has voted, and will remain part of the U.K. As a result of the referendum London has promised more autonomy for Scotland. Come January 2015 when legislation is supposed to be presented to PM David Cameron we will find out if his word is any good or if the relationship between London and Scotland will continue to be one of master and servant. From +Mother Jones .....

"NO." Scotland Will Not Leave the United Kingdom

—By Ben Dreyfuss

| Fri Sep. 19, 2014 12:32 AM EDT

Steve Allen/Shutterstock

David Cameron has been spared his worst fear: Being the Tory who lost England's hat. The Guardian has called the independence referendum and it appears that voters have declined to strike out on their own. Scotland will not leave the United Kingdom.
"No" was the slight favorite heading into yesterday's vote, but that doesn't mean England isn't breathing a sigh of relief. A few months ago this result would have come as no surprise, but as the polls tightened over the last few weeks, storm clouds set in over Westminster, and the narrative seemed to suggest independence was in the wind. If momentum was in fact on the "Yes" side, it ran out of time.
The referendum was the result of decades of work on the part of Scottish nationalists. And though they lost, it's hard to say that traditional Unionists really won. There will be further devolution. Scotland will have more autonomy than at any time since joining the Union. Indeed, if Labour wins the next election, greater devolution could be coming to Wales and Northern England as well, according to Ed Milibrand. None of that wouldn't be happening had the SNP not made this race so close.
Most everyone outside of Scotland is happy about this because it saves them a lot of messiness, especially in Brussels and DC. As my Welsh godmother said in reference to her Edinburgh-born husband, "I'm glad I'm not suddenly married to a foreigner."

Ben Dreyfuss

Engagement Editor

Ben Dreyfuss is the engagement editor at Mother Jones. Follow him on RSS | Twitter

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(Video) Undecided? Here's why you should vote Yes & Why All Progressives Should Support Scotland's Independence Struggle 10SEP&24AUG14

PROGRESSIVES around the world should be supporting Yes Scotland's campaign for independence from England. While the English seem to have resigned themselves to working to make rich people richer and being controlled by corporate England, the people of Scotland still believe in the possibilities their nation holds for them and generations to come. Progressives in the U.S. and Canada can learn from the YES SCOTLAND campaign, and the Progressive world is waiting to celebrate victory in the referendum on 18 SEP 14. Video from the Yes SCOTLAND campaign on the benefits of independence from the U.K. and Montreal Simon......

Undecided? Here's why you should vote Yes

Why All Progressives Should Support Scotland's Independence Struggle

It's been hard trying to explain that what's going on in Scotland is a bigger story than many progressives in this country can imagine.

And that they should rejoice at the last minute surge of the YES side, because they are fighting for our kind of values, and we can use some of the lessons of their campaign to defeat the Harper regime in the next election.

Because as soon as I mention the word "referendum" some people start muttering incoherently, and when I mention the word YES they think Quebec separatists. And either start screaming, or moaning, or mumbling stuff like:

No. No. Not again. Not the NEVERENDUM !#@!!!!

Which is a pity, because even though its happening in a small country it really is a huge story.

It has nothing to do with Quebec.

And it is as James Laxer says, nothing less than the world's first vote against the growing threat of political and economic inequality. 



When the Scots vote in their historic independence referendum next Thursday, Canadians, especially the Québécois, will be watching closely. Having held two sovereignty referenda, the Québécois may feel that they are the masters in such enterprises and that the Scots are their apprentices.

In fact, the Scots are not replicating the earlier exercises in Quebec. Dressed in national garb, the people of Scotland are voting in the world’s first referendum on economic and political inequality.

It is a peaceful revolt against the brutish policies of the neo-liberal agenda, the cruelty of David Cameron's callous Con regime, and the contempt of wealthy establishment in the City State of London.

Effectively, London is now a City State, whose wealthier residents often have very little to do with the rest of Britain. They work in the City, educate their children in London and the Home Counties, and play in the south of England or abroad. When I spent a month there in the spring, Londoners to whom I spoke wrote off the Scottish referendum with a yawn. 

“Most of my friends don’t give a toss,” one man who works in the City told me. The Scots ought to consider themselves fortunate to be linked to the great economic engine of London, according to many who dwell in the metropolis.

The big business barons who once dismissed the YES side, and are now in full panic mode. Hauling out our own Mark Carney to warn of economic disaster.

Sending in the three party leaders and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown to blitz Scotland today...



Trying to get the Queen to intervene and failing.

And in another desperate move trying to hoist the Scottish flag over 10 Downing Street with disastrous results...

For as I said on Twitter, like the people the flag resisted.

And as I've tried to explain after seeing it with my own eyes in Scotland this summer, the best thing of all is that it really is a triumph of hope over fear. 

If Scotland becomes independent, it will be despite the efforts of almost the entire UK establishment. It will be because social media has defeated the corporate media. It will be a victory for citizens over the Westminster machine, for shoes over helicopters. It will show that a sufficiently inspiring idea can cut through bribes and blackmail, through threats and fear-mongering. That hope, marginalised at first, can spread across a nation, defying all attempts to suppress it.

And that hope, along with their organizational genius and their ability to motivate the young, is the best gift they can give us.

For Stephen Harper and his ghastly Con regime will use fear against us to try to intimidate and divide us.

We too will have to be strong and full of hope to defeat him.

And the best way we can do that is to create a movement and turn the next election into a referendum on the future of Canada...



But in the meantime the YES side in Scotland is fighting for all of us. 

Marching towards their date with destiny which is now only eight days away.

They are reaching for a dream which is also our dream.

And all progressives should cheer them on...

Tell the Federal Election Committee: Investigate Romney's Donors from Overseas 27OKT12

mitt robme romney seems to have  violated federal election laws by accepting donations from foreign supporters. He thinks because it is legal to keep his money in offshore bank accounts to avoid paying taxes so why shouldn't he accept money from rich foreigners. Please help in the petition drive to the FEC to hold him accountable, click the link.....


As it turns out, the Republican Presidential nominee may not be eligible to actually run for President.
While he was overseas, Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney held numerous fundraisers which were closed to all journalists (except one who did not have access to the donor list). In our campaign laws, it is blatantly illegal for a political candidate to accept money from non-United States citizens.
According to a Veterans Today report, “Mitt Romney has raised millions in foreign cash at fundraising event across Israel and London, those that we know of so far. One table alone gave him a million in cash. None was from American citizens. Fewer than 10% of Romney’s contributors in Israel are estimated to be “dual citizens.” Others may have just flown the money in.” If this is true, we deserve a candidate who understands campaign laws and does not challenge the integrity necessary for an elected official position.
These charges are very serious. Foreign citizens should not be funding our candidates, since our candidates should only have the best interest of the American people – not their foreign allies.
Please, join us in urging the Federal Elections Committee to investigate Romney's donations before the fall election season begins.
FEC: We urge you to investigate Mitt Romney's donations from abroad and ensure his eligibility to run as President for 2012.

Click here to sign -- it just takes a second.

STOP THE PEBBLE MINE! HERE IS THE AD IN THE LONDON FINANCIAL TIMES TODAY 19APR12

HERE is the ad from the NRDC that ran in the NY Times on 16APR12 and is in the London (U.K.) Financial Times today while representatives of the NRDC and other environmental organizations as well as residents of Bristol Bay and the area of of proposed mine testify against the mine at the annual shareholders meetings of anglo american and rio tinto in London.

		You Helped Us Turn Up the Heat! Thanks to you, our full-page ad exposing the mining giants behind the Pebble Mine ran in Monday’s New York Times. Pressure is building on the companies to take No for an answer. View the Ad Again. We did it! Thanks to donations from thousands of supporters like you, our hard-hitting ad slamming the two British-based corporations behind the disastrous Pebble Mine appeared in Monday’s national edition of The New York Times. The ad will also run in London’s Financial Times on Thursday, the same day that both companies will be holding their annual shareholders meetings -- forcing investors to ask themselves if they really want a share of this environmental and financial disaster. NRDC will be delivering 400,000 new Letters of Protest to those meetings and we’ll be testifying, alongside representatives from Bristol Bay, against this unacceptable assault on one of America’s last and greatest wild places. Thanks to you, our public mobilization campaign is reaching millions of people -- on both sides of the Atlantic -- with the ugly truth behind this toxic mega-mine. Thank you for standing with us in this fight. I’ll be sure to keep you updated in the days and weeks ahead. Sincerely, Frances Beinecke President Natural Resources Defense Council

STOP THE PEBBLE MINE! from NRDC 5APR12

THE battle against the Pebble mine in Alaska continues and the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is asking people to watch this video and then sign their petition to rio tinto and anglo american in time to be delivered with tens of thousands of other's signatures to these companies shareholder meetings on 19 APR12. Click the link to participate......

“Please watch our new video about the Pebble Mine, then make your voice heard in London when and where it counts.” -- Robert Redford Two weeks from now, foreign mining giants Anglo American and Rio Tinto -- two of the major backers of the disastrous Pebble Mine -- will hold their annual shareholder meetings in London. There’s no better time for you and me to shine a harsh spotlight on their plans and turn up the heat on their executives and investors. That’s why I joined with NRDC to make a new, hard-hitting video about this outrageous assault on an American natural treasure. But we’re counting on you to do the rest. Please watch this one-minute video, then sign our Petition of Protest. It will be delivered directly to the shareholder meetings in London by representatives of NRDC. Here’s the ugly truth: the Pebble Mine would dump some 10 billion tons of toxin-laced mining waste into one of our nation’s last and greatest wild places -- endangering a wildlife paradise, the world’s greatest sockeye salmon runs and the people who depend on that extraordinary fishery for survival. Is it any wonder that the Native communities and fishermen of Bristol Bay have united against this apocalyptic threat? Rio Tinto and Anglo American love to talk about their respect for local communities. Talk is cheap. Despite overwhelming local opposition, these global corporations continue bulldozing ahead with plans that could destroy the very headwaters of Bristol Bay. You have to wonder what part of “No” these companies don’t understand. Two weeks from now, we’re going to hold them accountable in their own backyard. Please join me in telling Anglo American and Rio Tinto that they are in for the fight of their lives. Watch the video and sign our new Petition right away. We will deliver it, along with your signature, directly to the shareholder meetings on April 19. People around the world have already sent 750,000 messages voicing their opposition to the Pebble Mine. Help us make it to one million strong! And thank you for fighting alongside me and NRDC to stop the Pebble Mine. Sincerely, Robert Redford Trustee Natural Resources Defense Council

LONDON OLYMPICS: PARTNER WITH A SPONSOR THE WHOLE WORLD CAN CELEBRATE 29MAR12

IT is sad the main focus of the International Olympic Committee is profits and not global unity and sportsmanship. I thought the IOC reached a new low when they decided to hold the last Summer Olympics in the prc because the policies of that countries government do not promote global unity, but now the IOC is showing just how much corporate profits control their decisions. dow chemical / union carbide is guilty of environmental crimes against humanity in Bhopal, India and should not be permitted to profit from an event promoting global unity, fairness and sportsmanship while continuing to neglect their responsibilities to the people of Bhopal and continuing to poison people and the environment, especially in the Third World. Please sign the petition to the London 2012 Olympic Organizing Committee asking they to ban dow chemical as a sponsor of the 2012 Olympic Games.

London Olympics: Drop Dow as an official sponsor until it cleans up the Bhopal disaster site 

On December 2-3, 1984, as the people of the central Indian town of Bhopal slept, over 40 tons of a deadly toxic gas -- methyl isocyanate -- leaked from the pesticide plant owned by Dow Chemical subsidiary Union Carbide India Limited. Company executives could have warned the public, but instead chose not to sound the emergency alarm bell in town, sending confused parents and children fleeing directly into the poison cloud.
The Bhopal disaster -- the worst industrial disaster in history -- has so far claimed over 20,000 lives. And the death toll is still rising, 27 years later, because Dow Chemical -- the company responsible -- has never cleaned it up. To this day, chronic health problems, cancer, and birth defects plague over 150,000 people in this impoverished community.
Now, despite loud protests by the Indian Olympic delegation, Dow has signed a controversial sponsorship deal with the Olympics expected to make Dow $1 billion. With Dow counting on that revenue, we have the best chance in years for it to finally assume responsibility and clean up the disaster. We are finally hitting the company where it hurts: its bottom line.
Sign our urgent petition to the London Organizing Committee to drop Dow Chemical as an Olympic sponsor.
In many ways, Dow is the poster child for corporate wrong-doing. Its executives are putting their profits ahead of ethical and legal responsibilities to the suffering Bhopal community. If this disaster happened in the United States or another developed country, Dow couldn’t just have abandoned thousands to die and suffer crippling diseases -- but because the victims are poor and Indian, Dow has been able to ignore their plight.
This week, London 2012 organisers are gathering with the International Olympic Committee president, Jacques Rogge, and the chair of the IOC coordination commission, Denis Oswald. On Friday, along with our friends at Change.org, we will deliver over 34,000 petitions to the London Olympic organizers. This is a critical opportunity to speak out for the victims of Bhopal on the world's biggest stage.
Tell to London Organizing Committee to drop Dow Chemical as an Olympic sponsor before their critical public meeting on Friday.
With Dow aiming to make millions off the Olympics, we have a rare opportunity to put real pressure on the company to do the right thing -- clean up the mess in Bhopal that’s still killing people, and fully compensate the disaster’s victims -- and punish it if it won’t.
Dow’s behavior towards the people of Bhopal is one of the most monstrous examples of corporate irresponsibility. If we allow Dow to profit from the Olympics of all events, the worst corporations in the world will see that they can get away with anything. But if we act together, SumOfUs members can send a powerful message to those same corporations that consumers around the world will stand by their victims until they see justice.
Thanks,
--Emma, Kaytee and the rest of us at SumOfUs
****
Background Information
What happened in Bhopal?
On December 2-3, 1984, as the people of the central Indian town of Bhopal slept, an explosion caused over 40 tons of a deadly toxic gas, methyl isocyanate (MIC), and other gases from the Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant. The company executives could have warned the public, but instead they chose not to sound the emergency alarm bell in town.
The event occurred in the early hours of the morning of Dec 3rd 1984, at approximately 12:30 a.m. By 2am, most of the MIC had been dispersed over an area of 25 miles, and the first deaths were reported to the police by 3am. By morning, there had been 1,000 reported deaths, some as far as 5 miles from the plant. 90,000 patients were seen in local hospitals and clinics within the first 24 hours, and in total, about 200,000 people suffered acute effects of the leak.

The preventable Bhopal disaster has claimed over 20,000 lives, and it is not over yet because members of the community continue to suffer from chronic health problems, cancer and birth defects.
How has Dow responded?
Dow claims that it is not responsible for the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy in any way. Despite that, they hired the same public relations firm that worked to tell people tobacco didn’t cause cancer, and helped polish the Argentine junta's image to the world as it was disappearing thousands.
Union Carbide paid $470 million in compensation to existing victims in 1989, amounting to less than $500 per victim (and sometimes as little as $150 per victim) whether they were blinded by the gas, developed terminal cancer from exposure, or suffered debilitating birth defects. To date, neither Union Carbide nor Dow has paid to clean up the site, and they have refused to even decommission the factory after the accident.
Why is Dow responsible for the situation?
No one disputes the fact that Dow bought Union Carbide after the disaster occurred. But when Dow purchased Union Carbide, it took on liability for the Bhopal tragedy.
It would be terribly convenient for Dow and other massive corporations if the slate was wiped clean when a company was purchased. But Dow didn’t just buy the profit sheet, the shares and the expertise from Union Carbide. They also bought their legacy, the environmental tragedy of Bhopal and the responsibility for it.
Dow must ensure that the site is cleaned up and the victims finally get true justice and proper compensation. If a company could escape liability for its malpractices by arranging a merger or takeover, then companies would be able to abuse human rights and damage the environment with impunity.

SumOfUs is a world-wide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy. You can follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.