TAR SANDS ACTION / KEYSTONE XL PROTEST UPDATE FROM CREDO 1SEP11

AN update on the continuing nonviolent civil disobedience against the keystone xl pipeline taking place at the White House from Credo, my socially responsible phone company. Be sure to check out the articles referenced about the Republican governor of Nebraska opposing keystone xl and the report from Oil Change International exposing the real purpose of the pipeline. This is why I love my mobile phone company!

"You are under arrest for failing to obey a lawful order." Those were the words we heard Monday as CREDO CEO Michael Kieschnick, Political Director Becky Bond, campaigner Josh Nelson and I were arrested in front of the White House while representing you and the more than 200,000 other CREDO members who have asked President Obama to stop the Keystone XL pipeline. A total of 140 protesters were arrested on Monday, the largest day since the daily sit-ins began on August 20th. Our fellow arrestees included CREDO action members, a group of faith leaders, Greenpeace Executive Director Phil Radford, 350.org Executive Director May Boeve, and incredibly, our nation's leading climate scientist, NASA's Dr. James Hansen. The process took many hours, including multiple hours spent handcuffed in the back of hot, sweaty police transport vans. But unlike our friend and action organizer Bill McKibben and 51 others who spent two nights in jail after taking action on the first day, all participants on Monday were fined and released by Monday evening. Our thanks go to the National Park Police, who were courteous and professional throughout the action. It was extremely powerful to be part of a group so large who was willing to put their bodies on the line to send a message to the President, that these issues are so urgent and serious that we are ready to escalate our pressure and commitment to make sure that the Keystone XL Pipeline is not approved. More than 840 people total have been arrested as of today, making this a historic action in size. And the media, and the Obama Administration are certainly taking notice. Meanwhile, just yesterday, the Republican Governor of Nebraska spoke out urging the President to reject the pipeline,1 and Oil Change International released an explosive report exposing that this pipeline to the gulf coast is being built primarily to ship oil overseas, not for US consumption.2 On Saturday, your signature on our petition to President Obama, along with the signatures of more than 200,000 CREDO Action members, will be delivered at a rally in front of the White House. This is a crucial test for the President — to see how far we will go in our use of destructive fossil fuels. If he will dig us in deeper, at greater and greater cost, or if he will stand up, and reject the madness of this project. We hope that our presence at the action, the presence of your fellow CREDO members, of hundreds of other Americans, along with the voices of hundreds of thousands of CREDO members who signed the petition, will help push President Obama to draw a line in the sand against this destructive pipeline, and just say no. If not, we are prepared to continue fighting. We're glad to have you with us. You can help spread the word now, by clicking here to share this story and photos. Thank you for fighting with us to push President Obama to draw a line in the sand and say no to the Tar Sands pipeline. Elijah Zarlin, Campaign Manager CREDO Action from Working Assets P.S. — If you haven't yet done so, please escalate pressure on the President by calling the White House and asking him to reject the pipeline. Click here for a simple script and number to call. 1. "Report: Exporting Energy Security: Keystone XL Exposed," Oil Change International, August 31, 2011 2. "GOP Nebraska gov. asks Obama to stop tar sands pipeline," CBS News, August 31, 2011 Here's Michael, Becky and me being arrested:

© 2011 CREDO. All rights reserved.

A BEAR!

I have been home in PA all week. I live in Virginia, but home has always been and will be Scandia, Pennsylvania. It has been a beautiful week, and I have had a really good time. Thursday I went to dinner with my friends Derek and Pam McKown. We were driving to the Horseshoe Inn in Onoville, NY (great food and atmosphere, check it out if you are ever in the area) about 1930 and out of the woods wanders a beautiful black bear. That is not uncommon in the area, but this bear really had us laughing. It started across the road, stopped, looked at us, turned and headed back where it came from, then turned around and started back across the road again and then decided to sit in the middle of the right lane! It was a cute bear, jet black with the classic round ears straight up giving a very comical look. Pam moved the car just a little bit so the bear got up and wandered into the woods on the right of the road, when we pulled up slowly there it was just sitting in the woods, looking at us, and then it finally got up and wandered deeper into the woods. It was so cool to see and made us laugh at times during dinner, which was great. Thanks Derek and Pam!

The Zero Economy from HUFFPOST 2SEP11

WE are at a turning point in this recession (I feel we are still in a recession, do not see huge corporate profits and obscene executive pay and compensation packages proof the recession is over) and the middle class, the working class and the poor are exhausted. We are exhausted by the struggle to hold on to our homes, our jobs, our dreams..and we are exhausted by having to fight tooth and nail politicians on the local, state and federal level who are so incompetent they offer no leadership to help us get through this recession or all too often are nothing more than political whores doing the bidding of the rich and corporate America, their pimps. We had hope for a better nation, for better government, for better lives after the 2008 election, now all we hope for is the strength to hold on. Pres Obama, are you going to give us reason to have faith in your administration again, or are you going to nail the coffin shut and leave the nation to deteriorate further into Third World status? 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports today no jobs were created in August. Zero. Nada.
Well, not quite. The strike at Verizon reduced the labor force by 45,000. Minnesota government employees returned to work, adding 22,000. So in reality, America added 23,000 jobs. Almost zero.
In reality, worse than zero. We need 125,000 a month merely to keep up with population growth. So the hole continues to deepen.
Since this Depression began at the end of 2007, America's potential labor force -- working-age people who want jobs -- has grown by over 7 million. But since then the number of Americans with jobs has shrunk by more than 300,000.
If this doesn't prompt President Obama to unveil a bold jobs plan next Thursday, I don't know what will.
The problem is on the demand side. Consumers (whose spending is 70 percent of the economy) can't boost the economy on their own. They're still too burdened by debt, especially on homes that are worth less than their mortgages. Their jobs are disappearing, their pay is dropping, their medical bills are soaring.
And businesses won't hire without more sales.
So we're in a vicious cycle.
Republicans continue to claim businesses aren't hiring because they're uncertain about regulatory costs. Or they can't find the skilled workers they need.
Baloney. If these were the reasons businesses weren't hiring -- and demand were growing -- you'd expect companies to make more use of their current employees. The length of the average workweek would be increasing.
But the length of the average workweek has been dropping. In August it declined for the third month in a row, to 34.2 hours. That's back to where it was at the start of the year - barely longer than what it was at its shortest point two years ago (33.7 hours in June 2009).
It's demand, stupid.
So what does a sane nation do when the consumers and businesses can't boost the economy on their own?
Government becomes the purchaser of last resort. It hires directly (a new WPA and Civilian Conservation Corps, for example). It helps states and locales, so they don't have to continue to slash payrolls and public services. (The help could be structured as a loan, to be repaid when unemployment drops to, say, 6 percent.)
And it hires indirectly -- contracting with companies to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, including school buildings, to take another example.
Not only does this create jobs but also puts money in the hands of all the people who get the jobs, so they can turn around and buy the goods and services they need -- generating more jobs.
Get it? Not exactly rocket science.
So why don't Republicans get it? Either they're knaves -- they want the economy to stay awful through next Election Day so Obama gets the boot. Or they're fools -- they've bought the lie that reducing the deficit now creates more jobs.
Every time you hear anyone say we're "broke" or "can't afford to spend more," tell them we'll be in worse shape if we don't. If the economy remains dead in the water, the ratio of public debt to GDP balloons.
And remind them that the federal government can now borrow at fire-sale rates. Interest on the ten-year Treasury bill is 2 percent.
Do you hear me, Mr. President? Please -- be bold next week. And if, as expected, Republicans refuse to go along, take it to the people. Mobilize the public. Use the bully pulpit. That's what you have it for.
One more thing, Mr. President. You also have to tackle inequality. When so much income and wealth continues to flow to the very top, America's vast middle class still won't have enough purchasing power to boost the economy. Priming the pump is necessary but won't be sufficient without enough water in the well.

Robert Reich is the author of Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future, now in bookstores. This post originally appeared at RobertReich.org.

25 Giant Corporations That Paid Their CEOs More Than They Paid Uncle Sam 1SEP11

BET the Congressional budget / deficit committee doesn't do a damn thing about the corporate welfare system. Check this out from MOJO....

—By Josh Harkinson

It might make sense for a small business to pay its top brass more than it doles out to Uncle Sam in taxes, but what if that company has tens of thousands of employees and billions of dollars in profits? Well, this is America folks. What follows is a list of 25 mega corporations that paid one guy—their CEO—more money than what they spent on their entire federal tax bills last year. The same companies averaged $1.9 billion each in profits—money that was earned, in many cases, by cutting thousands of American jobs.
Source: Institute for Policy Studies

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Josh Harkinson is a staff reporter at Mother Jones. For more of his stories, click here. Email him with tips at jharkinson (at) motherjones (dot) com. To follow him on Twitter, click here. Get Josh Harkinson's RSS feed.

My Jobs Plan: A Trillion Dollars For Infrastructure from MOJO 2SEP11

A great read from MOJO about the pathetic and dangerous state of our national infrastructure and our economy, and his idea to help fix both. Too bad it just ain't gonna happen....

—By Kevin Drum

Lawrence Whittemore/Flickr

A few weeks ago I rode an American train for just about the first time in my life. It was the 9:07 Metro North from Grand Central Terminal to New Haven, Connecticut, and I'm sort of embarrassed to say that I was slightly shocked by the experience. It's not that I had any problem getting to New Haven: The train left on time and arrived on time. But the two-hour ride itself was terrible: bouncy and loud and swaying and uncomfortable for practically the entire way. If you're not a car-happy Southern Californian like me, maybe this doesn't surprise you. But it did surprise me—at least a little—and there's a reason for this: Although I've never taken a train anywhere in the United States, I've been on plenty of trains in Europe. Not bullet trains, just ordinary intercity trains. And so I always figured this was what all first-world trains were like: fast and quiet and suspended on a railbed that's smooth as glass.
Go ahead and laugh. I deserve it. But although this is a minor annoyance in the great scheme of things, it's symptomatic of our deteriorating public infrastructure in the United States. A gas pipeline in San Bruno, California, exploded last year, killing 38 people, and on Wednesday the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board announced the results of its investigation: The explosion was a story of "flawed pipe, flawed inspection, and flawed emergency response." It was, she said, "not a question of if the pipe would fail, but when." And this wasn't just a story about San Bruno or just about Pacific Gas and Electric: The rest of our national gas pipeline network is under similar strain.
Our electrical grid is just as famously antiquated. In 2003, the failure of a transmission line in Ohio, which should have inconvenienced a few thousand customers in the Cleveland area, instead produced a massive rolling blackout along the entire Eastern seaboard that affected 55 million people. Why? Because of aging and poorly integrated control equipment—equipment that, nationwide, hasn't improved much since. This is a problem almost everywhere. Our trains, even in the busy Northeast corridor, are second rate, our airports are embarrassments, our dams are leaking, and our bridges are crumbling. Taken as a whole, the average age of our public capital stock has risen from 16 to 23 years over the past four decades, "suggesting great underinvestment in public infrastructure," Mike Mandel says.
The American Society of Civil Engineers agrees. In their most recent report card, they gave our solid waste facilities a C+, our bridges a C, our rail a C-, our energy infrastructure a D+, our dams and schools a D, and our roads, levees, and inland waterways a D-. Nothing got an A or a B.
All of this is common knowledge. What's also common knowledge is that manufactured outrage over the deficit aside, the federal government can currently borrow money for free. Actually, it's even better than that: It can borrow money at negative interest rates. If we want to upgrade our national infrastructure, there's no better time to do it than right now. As Dartmouth professor Matthew Slaughter puts it, "There is a crucial connection between potholes and unemployment." Repairing our infrastructure will put people to work during a long and seemingly unending economic slump; it will provide us with the capital stock we need to compete on the world stage in the future; and it will cost us less now than it ever will again. It's a no-brainer.
All of us have our fantasies about what we'd like President Obama to say in his big speech next week about jobs. Here's mine: ask Congress to appropriate a trillion dollars to be spent on infrastructure upgrades over the next five years. That's it. That's the jobs plan. A trillion dollars to make us into a first-world country again. And as part of the enabling legislation, ask for emergency powers to temporarily streamline the regulatory red tape, interagency approval processes, environmental-impact statements, and labor rules that might otherwise keep the money from being put to work speedily.
Will a Republican Congress agree to do this? Almost certainly not—at first, anyway. But building and repairing infrastructure is no boondoggle. It needs to be done, it needs to be done now, and it would be an easy sell to a public cynical about the government's ability to do anything concrete to help them. Make the case aggressively and you never know. Free money is free money, and even Republican voters like the idea of clean water, safe bridges, pipelines that don't blow up, electrical grids that work, and dams and schools that aren't crumbling.
So that's it. A trillion dollars for infrastructure. That's the plan. Let's do it.

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  Kevin Drum is a political blogger for Mother Jones. For more of his stories, click here. Get Kevin Drum's RSS feed.

SEA SHEPHERD E MAIL NEWSLETTER 1SEP11

UPDATES on Sea Shepherd activities in the Faeroes, Taiji, and the Galapagos and getting ready for the coming seasons anti-whaling campaign in the Southern Oceans.

Dear Friend of Sea Shepherd, When we arrive, the killers take notice. This point was made very clear most recently with Operation Ferocious Isles as zero whales were killed during our time in the Faeroe Islands. Now two of the Sea Shepherd ships, the Steve Irwin and the Brigitte Bardot, are returning to Great Britain to begin preparations for our next Antarctic Whale Defense Campaign in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. We will be ready to once again intervene against illegal Japanese whaling.  This year has seen many Sea Shepherd campaigns and victories. Never before have we been so active and effective. Our increased capabilities are due to a growing support base and steadfast help from people like you. We do the best we can with the resources available to us and more support translates into even greater activism. Please be as generous as you can today so that we may continue in our efforts to defend ocean wildlife and habitats worldwide.  No Whales Killed in Faeroes Under our Watch Operation Ferocious Isles Pilot Whale Defense Campaign is a success! June, July, and August are the three most notorious months for the slaughter of whales in the Faeroe Islands because they are peak migration months. Our objective was to prevent the killing of any whales during this period and that objective has been realized. Get the details! Shameful Slaughter in Taiji Commences Today the fishermen of Taiji, Japan start their annual, cruel, eight-month practice of rounding up dolphins for slaughter and captivity.  Sea Shepherd has a group of Cove Guardians gearing up to stand strong in Taiji to prevent the slaughter of as many dolphins as possible. Last year, we saved more than 50% of the usual kill quota. Learn more about this issue and how you can become a Cove Guardian too! Lady Justice Has Abandoned Galapagos Environmental justice is poorly delivered in the Galapagos. We have worked very hard for two years on our legal project and the chance to make history as the first non-governmental organization to prosecute an environmental case in the islands. We recently discovered the Galapagos legal system is currently incapable of dealing with environmental crimes, but we have a positive plan for action!  Read more about the biggest case of shark killing ever in Galapagos National Park and our plans for bringing Lady Justice back to the Galapagos Islands. Sea Shepherd Sector 9 Skateboards Debut We have partnered with Sector 9 to produce three eco-friendly skateboards! The Eternal Mini, Sea No Evil Pintail, and Jolly Roger Street Skate boards are made using sustainably harvested woods and wheels that are half soy urethane. These boards are available as a complete board or deck only with grip. They are great for all levels of skateboarders. Proceeds from merchandise sales help fund our campaigns to defend ocean wildlife worldwide. Show you support and order a Sea Shepherd Sector 9 Skateboard today! We have made the progress we have, achieved the victories we have, done what no one else has done before, and saved the lives of thousands of marine animals simply because people like yourself have had faith in us and have given us the tools, materials, ships, and financial resources to make it all possible.  I hope you will continue to support us in this ongoing struggle against poachers, corruption, cruelty, and slaughter. Thank-you. For the oceans, Captain Paul Watson Founder and President Sea Shop   Show you support in this casual but hip Jolly Roger Reverse Appliqué Corps Hat Commentary A Not so Close Encounter with a Beach Foreman Be a Whale Warrior What can you do to help Sea Shepherd from right there where you are? How about becoming a Whale Warrior?  Raise money, save lives, be a Whale Warrior! Did we mention there are prizes? Sign up today! Give Events Is there a Sea Shepherd event in your area soon? Check out the links below to find out! Australia • Sept 7 - Melbourne • Sept 10 - Newcastle • Sept 17-18 - Byron Bay • Sept 21 - Melbourne • Oct 2 - Victoria • Oct 15-16 - Victoria Belgium • Sept 2-4 - Namen • Sept 3-4 - Namen • Sept 3 - Puurs • Sept 3 - Olen • Sept 3 - Antwerpen • Sept 25 - Booischot France • Sept 3 - Lille • Sept 3 - Albenc • Sept 6 - Cannes • Sept 9-19 - St Maurice de Gourdans • Sept 10-11 - Guidel-Plages • Sept 14-19 - La Rochelle • Sept 16-18 - Bordeaux Germany • Sept 10-11 - Munchen • Sept 17 - Braunschweig Italy • Sept 4 - Gorizia • Sept 10 - Arezzo • Sept 11 - Bologna • Sept 15 - Pavia • Sept 16 - Como Netherlands • Sept 13 - Amsterdam North America • Sept 1 - Toronto, ON • Sept 4 - San Rafael, CA • Sept 5 - Garland, TX • Sept 16-18 - Cleburne, TX • Sept 17 - Arlington, TX • Sept 18 - Cape May, NJ • Sept 23-24 - Denver, CO United Kingdom • Sept 1 - London • Sept 6-12 - London* *Steve Irwin ship tours! • Sept 13 - London+ +Held on the Steve Irwin • Oct 22 - Birmingham Follow Us Privacy Policy | Email Preferences Sea Shepherd Conservation Society P.O. Box 2616, Friday Harbor, WA 98250 USA (USA) Tel: 360-370-5650 Fax: 360-370-5651   Share on Facebook

Job Growth Halts; Unemployment Rate Stays At 9.1 Percent & Employers added no net jobs in August, while unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.1 pct. 2SEP11

Good to see the extension of the bush tax cuts for the rich and corporate America continue to lift the nation out of recession....I just don't understand what is wrong with the unemployed and why they just don't get a job! I mean, with American corporations creating jobs in India and China so what if you'd have to relocate!!! Way to go Pres Obama, we expect nothing but the same from your jobs proposal next week, pending approval by your gop and tea-bagger buddies of course! From NPR and The Washington Post.....
There was no net growth in jobs in August and the nation's unemployment rate stayed at 9.1 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics just reported.
The latest sign that the labor market remains weak comes as President Obama prepares to lay out his latest plan for boosting job growth — during an address to Congress next Thursday — and as the Republicans vying to run against him next year offer their alternatives.
We'll be updating this post with details from the BLS report, and our colleagues at Planet Money will have more on it as well.
Update at 10:15 a.m. ET. White House Comment:
While the jobless rate remains "unacceptably high" and employment "was flat" last month, "the economy has added private sector jobs for 18 straight months, for a total of 2.4 million jobs over that period," notes Katharine Abraham, a member of the president's Council of Economic Advisers. She adds that:

"Next week, the president will lay out a series of additional bipartisan steps that Congress can take immediately to put more money in the paychecks of working and middle class families; to make it easier for small businesses to hire workers; to put construction crews to work rebuilding our nation's infrastructure; and other measures that will help the economy grow while still reducing our deficit and getting our fiscal house in order."

Update at 9:35 a.m. ET. Market Drops:
As many had expected would happen, the dismal news on jobs hasn't gone over well on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average and other indices are down sharply just after the opening of trading.
Update at 9:10 a.m. ET. How Payroll Employment Has Changed:

Enlarge Bureau of Labor Statistics The economy officially slipped into recession in December 2007 and officially came out in mid-2009. Here's a look at the number of jobs from January 2007 through August of this year.

Update at 8:55 a.m. ET. Boehner Blames Taxes, A "Failed" Stimulus And Regulations.
House Speaker John Boehner's office just released this statement from the Ohio Republican:

"Private-sector job growth continues to be undermined by the triple threat of higher taxes, more failed 'stimulus' spending, and excessive federal regulations. Together, these Washington policies have created a fog of uncertainty that's left small businesses unable to hire and American families worried about the future.
"President Obama is slated to address Congress next week and I look forward to hearing his ideas to bolster private-sector job creation. The American people are still asking, 'where are the jobs?' Republicans are listening and focusing on removing barriers to job growth, whether it's eliminating unnecessary regulations that drive up prices or stopping Washington from spending money it doesn't have. I'm hopeful the White House will take this opportunity to work with us to end the uncertainty facing families and small businesses, and create a better environment for long-term economic growth and private-sector job creation."

Update at 8:52 a.m. ET. Early Headlines:
— "Employment In U.S. Stagnated In August." (Bloomberg News)
— "Economy Fails To Add Jobs." (The Wall Street Journal)
— "Job Growth Grinds To A Halt." (Reuters)
Update at 8:47 a.m. ET. Labor Force Shrinks:
One reason the jobless rate held steady even though there was no job growth: 165,000 fewer people were counted as being part of the "labor force."
Update at 8:45 a.m. ET. Private Payrolls, Government Payrolls:
There was a scant, 17,000-increase, in jobs on private payrolls and an equal-sized decline in employment at government agencies.
Update at 8:36 a.m. ET. July Revised Down: Not only is BLS saying there was no net increase in jobs in August, it has also revised down its estimate of how many jobs were added to payrolls in July — to 85,000 from the preliminary estimate of 117,000.

Tags: unemployment rate, jobs report

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Employers added no net jobs in August, while unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.1 pct.

By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, September 2, 10:34 AM

WASHINGTON — Employers stopped adding jobs in August, an alarming setback for an economy that has struggled to grow and might be at risk of another recession.
The government also reported that the unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent. It was the weakest jobs report since September 2010.
Stocks tumbled on the news. The Dow Jones industrial average sank more than 190 points in early-morning trading.
A strike by 45,000 Verizon workers lowered the job totals. Those workers are now back on the job.
The weakness in employment was underscored by revisions to the jobs data for June and July. Collectively, those figures were lowered to show 58,000 fewer jobs added. The downward revisions were all in government jobs.
The average work week also declined and hourly earnings fell by 3 cents to $23.09.
Weak growth, Standard & Poor’s downgrade of long-term U.S. debt in early August and a sell-off on Wall Street likely kept some businesses from hiring.
With job creation stalled and wages declining, consumers won’t see much gain in incomes. That will limit their ability to spend, which undercuts growth. Consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of the economy.
“The stagnation in U.S. payroll employment is an ominous sign,” said Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics. “The broad message is that even if the US economy doesn’t start to contract again, any expansion is going to be very, very modest and fall well short of what would be needed to drive the still elevated unemployment rate lower.”
Many investors who dumped stocks sought the safety of U.S. Treasurys. The burst of buying drove the yield on the 10-year Treasury note down to 2.06 percent, near the record low of roughly 2 percent.
No growth in hiring puts more pressure on President Barack Obama, who will deliver a rare address to a joint session of Congress next week to introduce a plan for creating jobs.
The Obama administration has estimated that unemployment will average about 9 percent next year, when Obama will run for re-election. The rate was 7.8 percent when Obama took office.
The White House Office of Management and Budget projects overall growth of only 1.7 percent this year.
The economy needs to add roughly 250,000 jobs a month to rapidly bring down the unemployment rate, which has been above 9 percent in all but two months since May 2009.
In August, the private sector added 17,000 jobs, the fewest since February 2010. That compares with 156,000 in July and 75,000 in June.
Hiring fell across many different sectors. Manufacturers cut 3,000 jobs, its first decline since October 2010. Construction companies, retailers, and transportation firms also cut workers.
The health care industry added 30,000 jobs last month.
The economy expanded at an annual pace of only 0.7 percent in the first six months of the year. That was the slowest six months of growth since the recession officially ended in June 2009.
In August, consumer confidence fell to its lowest level since April 2009, according to the Conference Board.
Most economists forecast that growth may improve to about a 2 percent annual rate in the July-September quarter. But that’s not fast enough to generate many jobs.
 

I'M RICH, I'M RICH, I'M RICH!!!!!

O.M.G.,  I'm rich!

Silver in the Hair

Gold in the Teeth

Crystals in the Kidneys

Sugar in the Blood

Lead in the Ass

Iron in the Arteries

And
an inexhaustible supply of Natural Gas.

I never thought I'd accumulate such wealth.

PIC FROM VIRGINIA EARTHQUAKE!

Tell the Bahraini King: Kansas City Wants Its Freedom Medal Back! 1SEP11

THE world hasn't forgotten the nonviolent struggle for freedom, democracy and human right by the people of Bahrain, or the brutality of the Bahraini government, along with troops from Saudi Arabia, in violently repressing them. Please join HRF in asking the mayor of Kansas City to revoke the Medal of Freedom that was given to king hamad bin isa al khalifa and ask him to denounce the king and his government for their continuing violence and repression against their own people.

Send the Medal Back! Nearly four decades ago, Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa was awarded the Freedom Medal of Kansas City, Missouri from the Mayor and its residents. The Bahrain Government's PR machine is using this and other awards he has received from various parts of the world as "evidence" of the King's international credentials and appeal. Ask Kansas City Mayor Sylvester James to make clear that Kansas City does not stand with the Bahraini King's appalling human rights record by taking back his Freedom Medal! King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has overseen a series of brutal measures since March against the pro-democracy advocates in Bahrain – hundreds have been detained, at least four people have died in custody, and there have been widespread reports of torture. In addition, dozens of doctors and nurses have been harshly punished—including by detention and torture—for treating injured protesters. Bahraini embassies have been claiming that the King is an internationally respected figure by using awards and medals from places like Kansas City. Does Kansas City really want to be associated with the violent crackdown on democracy advocates over the last few months in Bahrain? Urge Kansas City Mayor Sylvester James to denounce the Bahraini King's human rights abuses by taking back his Freedom Medal of Kansas City. It's time for Kansas City to unfriend the King of Bahrain. Add your voice! Sincerely, Brian Dooley Director, Human Rights Defenders Human Rights First, 333 Seventh Avenue, 13th Floor, New York, NY 10001-5004 www.humanrightsfirst.org Join us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter