In Ohio, Repeal Of Collective Bargaining Law Could Fuel Democrats For 2012 8NOV11

OTHER than the defeat of the "personhood" amendment in Mississippi this was the election outcome progressive Democrats needed most. Hopefully it will give pause to other fanatical right-wing gop / tea-bagger politician's plans to attack the rights and civil liberties of the 99%. From NPR....

by Elise Hu

Enlarge Amy Sancetta/AP Opponents of a law limiting collective-bargaining rights cheer in Cleveland as they hear election results sounding the defeat of the measure in the Ohio general election on Tuesday.

Ohio voters have overturned Senate Bill 5, the controversial law that stripped public employees of their rights to collectively bargain, by a nearly two-to-one vote. The law, which was the centerpiece of Republican Gov. John Kasich's legislative agenda and passed by a GOP-dominated state legislature this spring, will no longer be on the books after Tuesday night's referendum vote.
"It's clear the people have spoken," Kasich said tonight. "We'll continue to work with local governments. People obviously didn't like the tools we offered here."
This was the most closely-watched off-year election in the nation, as the repeal vote is being viewed as an important barometer in the struggle between unions and pro-business budget cutters headed into 2012. After organized labor and their Democratic allies suffered a string of defeats in states like Wisconsin and Indiana earlier this year, the Ohio campaign was an all-out battle for survival.
  This hard-earned and expensive victory for unions represents a momentum shift in their direction at a crucial time. Ohio will likely be a key electoral battleground in the coming presidential election, and supporters of the repeal say this win signals that the sweeping, Republican-led efforts to curb the power of public employee unions may have gone too far. The Columbus Dispatch reports:

Ohio Democratic Chairman Chris Redfern said public workers should not be scapegoated for the state's economic problems.
"That is the lesson John Kasich must remember after tonight, and if he doesn't, he'll be a one-term governor," Redfern said.

The state's voters showed they disliked Kasich's law, and polls indicate voters dislike Kasich, too. An October Quinnipiac poll measured the governor's approval ratings at 36 percent. While he did campaign across Ohio to support keeping the law, his opponents were the faces of police and firefighters, teachers and nurses. What does this mean? NPR's StateImpact Ohio explains:

[This shows] Democratic-leaning groups like unions can get organized and get out the vote, both important skills leading up to the 2012 presidential election, particularly in a swing state like Ohio. That energy and organization could also help Democrats get two other referendums on the November 2012 ballot and approved.
They could mean that the momentum behind Republican efforts to curb the power of public employee unions and enact education policy changes such as ending tenure and seniority-based pay has slowed.
They could mean that Kasich's approach of including both public safety workers and teachers in a single collective bargaining bill was flawed. (In Wisconsin, collective bargaining changes that largely excluded police and firefighters passed.)

Related NPR Stories

ELECTION TAKEAWAY: Mixed Messages Nov. 9, 2011

MISSISSIPPI: 'Personhood' Measure Fails Nov. 9, 2011

OTHER RESULTS: Incumbents Win Key Races Nov. 9, 2011

Syria suspended from Arab League from WAPO & SYRIA LIVE BLOG from AL JAZEERA12NOV11

IT has taken too long, and too much blood has been shed, too many killed, for the Arab League to take this action against the brutal assad regime. How many more must be slaughtered before decisive action is taken, before the League sends troops into Syria to protect the innocent, the children, women and men who's only "crime" is wanting freedom, democracy, and their human rights as declared in the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights? I fear tens of thousands of Syrians will perish before the Arab League acts. What a waste. From the Washington Post and Al Jazeera Syria Live Blog, click the header to go to the.....blog for updates.....

By Liz Sly

BEIRUT — The Arab League suspended Syria’s membership of the regionwide body on Saturday, paving the way for a significant escalation in international pressure against President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
The 22-member League also called for economic and political sanctions against Syria and urged Arab states to withdraw their ambassadors, in a rare display of Arab solidarity against a fellow regional ruler.
Only two countries voted against the measure, Yemen and Lebanon, with Iraq abstaining, demonstrating the extent to which Syria is now isolated in the region.
The move came after Syria flouted the terms of an Arab League peace plan under which it had agreed to draw its troops from cities and stop firing at the protesters who continue to take to the streets on a daily basis to demand the overthrow of the regime. Instead, the Syrian army launched a major offensive against the central city of Homs, and did not halt its attacks on protests.
According the Local Coordination Committees, a group that monitors and supports protests, 250 people have been killed since the League’s plan was adopted Nov. 2, with an additional 37 killed during protests on Friday.
The new measures against Syria will go into effect Wednesday, the League said.
Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim, who was instrumental in pushing the suspension, also called on Syrian opposition parties to attend a meeting at Arab League headquarters in the next three days to “agree on a unified vision for the transitional period,” a step that seemed to take the League closer to acknowledging that Assad’s regime should go.
If Syria fails to halt the violence, the League will seek additional assistance from the United Nations in pressuring it to do so, he said, a move that would echo the escalation against Libya’s Col. Muammar Gadhafi earlier in the year after Libya was suspended from the Arab League.
Leila Fadel contributed from Cairo.
SYRIA LIVE BLOG from AL JAZEERA 

A demonstration in Hama on Friday called for Syria's Arab League membership to be frozen [YouTube]

People continue to take to the streets across Syria despite the government's crackdown on protests. Reports say thousands have been killed since the demonstrations started in March 2011, on both sides.
We bring you the latest news from various sources.
Al Jazeera is not responsible for content derived from external sites.

9 min 40 sec ago - Syria

"Today's Arab League meeting saw developments, but it came after a long time, after eight months of killing," said Ibrahim Alshatay, a 35-year-old Syrian activist. "We hope today's decisions will end the violence immediately and no more men, women or children will die in Syria." - Reuters
For the latest on Syria, check out Al Jazeera's Syrria spotlight page.

Tags Arab League, Syrian uprising

11 min 40 sec ago - Syria

Yemen and Lebanon opposed Syria's suspension from the Arab League and Iraq abstained in the vote.

Freezing Syria out of the 22-member League of Arab States carries extra symbolism in the wake of events in Libya, where Muammar Gaddafi was ousted and killed in a rebellion that benefited from NATO air support.

The NATO mission got United Nations Security Council approval after Libya was suspended by the Arab League.

"This step introduces a possibility of foreign intervention and opens the door for engaging the international community in the case and reminds us of what happened with Libya," said Nabil Abdel Fattah, a political analyst at the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo.

Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim al-Thani of Qatar held out the possibility that the League may ask the United Nations to help protect the rights of Syrians.

"If the violence and killing doesn't stop, the Secretary General will call on international organisations dealing with human rights, including the United Nations," he said.  - Reuters

Tags Arab League, Qatar

44 min 40 sec ago - Syria

Youssef Ahmad, Syria's ambassador to the Arab League, told Syrian state television on Saturday that the decision to suspend Syria's participation  "is an announcement of the death for joint Arab action, and a scandalous declaration that the leadership of such action is subject to American western agendas."
Syria has long blamed foreign intervention for the violence.

Tags Arab League

51 min 40 sec ago - Syria

The Arab League has given Syria three days to end its violent crackdown on anti-government protesters and implement an Arab peace deal or face suspension from the regional body.

Al Jazeera speaks to veteran Middle East journalist, Robert Fisk of The Independent for his views on how the Syrian government is likely to respond.

Tags Arab League, egypt

1 hour 13 min ago - Syria

Al Jazeera's Jane Arraf on the Arab League's suspension ultimatum to the Syrian government.

Tags Arab League, egypt

2 hours 34 min ago - Syria

Protesters lay burial shrouds outside the Arab League's headquarters in Cairo on Saturday to symbolise the thousands killed in Syria's uprising and shame Arab governments into action to try to stop the violence. - Reuters
For the latest on Syria, check out Al Jazeera's Syrria spotlight page.

Tags Arab League, egypt

2 hours 46 min ago - Syria

Arab ministers, gathered in the Arab League's Cairo headquarters, called a recess early into the meeting to allow a narrowed ministerial committee to work out a final position, a source who was inside the meeting said.

He said there was a strong push by some states to suspend Syria, while others wanted to give President Bashar al-Assad's regime more time.

Khaled al-Habbas, an assistant to Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi, told reporters before the meeting that the situation in Syria was "complex" and "Arab countries are trying to find a solution that reconciles different viewpoints." - AFP
For the latest on Syria, check out Al Jazeera's Syrria spotlight page.

Tags Arab League, Bashar al Assad, egypt, Nabil Al Araby

4 hours 42 min ago - Syria

Al Jazeera's Rula Amin, who is watching developments from Majdal Anjar, near the Lebanese-Syria border, says "the situation on the ground in Syria is deteriorating very, very quickly."

Tags Civilian death toll, fighting, Syria Lebanon border

4 hours 49 min ago - Syria

Arab League ministers are due to meet in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, to discuss the ongoing violence in Syria.  

They are hoping to put more pressure on Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, to end the bloodshed. 

More than 250 people have been killed in the past 11 days alone as the conflict takes a dangerous turn.

Al Jazeera's Jane Arraf, reporting from Cairo, outside the Arab League's headquarters, said: "There is a little bit of optimism if only because the situation is getting more and more desperate".

"An adviser to the Arab League secretary-general has just told us that indeed freezing Syria's membership in the Arab League is one of the options, but certainly not the only option, and that's what foreign ministers have gathered here to determine." 

Tags Arab League, Bashar al Assad, Cairo, Egypt, civilian deaths

6 hours 2 min ago - Syria

Khaled al-Habbas, the adviser to the secretary-general of the Arab League, told Al Jazeera the group has not ruled out the idea of "suspending Syria's membership today".

Tags Arab League, Bashar al Assad, Cairo, Egypt

Super Committee Democrats Propose Scrapping Bush Tax Cut Debate In Exchange For Billions In Revenue 11NOV11

THE deadline for the "super committee" to offer it's proposals to Congress and the nation nears and the lobbying and negotiating is becoming fierce and frantic. One thing is certain, the committee can not allow the rich and corporations to continue slopping at the trough of the corporate welfare system while the other 99% of the nation struggles to make ends meet. The committee has to consider the possibility that the overwhelmingly peaceful Occupy Wall Street movement, the movement that has brought the greed, fraud and corruption of the nation's financial institutions to the fore of public concern, may turn violent if common Americans, the 99% of the nation, are left to wallow in economic inequality and recession while the rich, the corporations and the financial institutions continue to receive  subsidies and tax breaks paid for by the 99%. From Sam Stein of HuffPost, followed by a link to a Newsy video report.....
WASHINGTON -- Under their latest proposal to the deficit reduction super committee, Democrats would agree to undertake comprehensive tax reform that included a pledge to avoid letting Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy expire.
According to a private document, the authenticity of which was confirmed by a leadership aide, super committee Democrats are eyeing between $950 billion and $1 trillion in revenue raisers and tax hikes as part of a $2.3 trillion deficit reduction package. Between $300 billion and $350 billion of that would come from what one congressional aide described as "low-hanging fruit" -- ending tax incentives for corporate jet owners, closing loopholes for oil and gas companies, changing ethanol subsidies, and so on.
The remaining $650 billion in revenue that committee Democrats are targeting would be raised through a set of "Fast Track Procedures For Tax Reform." As part of those procedures, Democrats would agree to three guiding principles: "(a) corporate tax reform to enhance competitiveness, (b) an individual rate no higher than 35% and (c) a distribution of changes that ensures a tax code as progressive as current law."
Another Senate aide, familiar with discussions, insisted that the document was not a formal Democratic plan but rather a "proposal that's been discussed."
As the law currently stands, the Bush-era tax cuts are set to expire at the end of 2012, at which point the rates on top earners will rise back up to 39.6 percent. Had the tax cuts been allowed to expire at the end of 2010, it would have generated an extra $690 billion in tax revenues over ten years, according to estimates based on Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation data. By committing to place a cap on those rates at 35 percent -- in exchange for pursuing a tax reform process that produces $650 billion in revenues -- Democrats are granting Republicans a potentially significant concession, one that could scrap a major party talking point about higher-income Americans needing to shoulder a larger share of the deficit burden.
The White House has made no secret of the fact that it wants to pursue comprehensive tax reform over the next year. But the president has also insisted that he will veto efforts to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy, and both he and his party have tried to make income inequality a major theme of the 2012 campaign season.
"Will The President keep his promise?" emailed one top Democratic operative familiar with the proposal. "The Senate Democrats' proposal would make the Bush tax cuts permanent for millionaires. More tax giveaways to the top one percent is a complete capitulation to Republicans."
For the super committee Democrats proposing the cap, though, the concession makes tactical sense. For starters, if the committee succeeds in passing comprehensive tax reform, then the debate over the Bush-era tax rates is rendered moot. More than that, they argue, it gives Republicans an incentive to negotiate -- both through carrots (the promise of keeping the lower tax rates for the wealthy in place) and sticks (the threat that if comprehensive tax reform isn't completed, those Bush-era rates could still expire).
"Letting them expire is still leverage if Republicans don't agree to that deal or if tax reform doesn't meet that criteria," said one top Democratic Senate aide. "The question is what will tax reform look like if it really happened."
"It's a lot higher than 28 percent," the aide added, in reference to the House GOP budget authored by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) that would cap income tax at that level.
On top of that, Democrats on the super committee have added other inducements or "triggers" to make Congress undertake tax reform. Under their proposal, lawmakers would be given until January 1, 2013 to figure out tax reform legislation that would produce the targeted $650 billion in revenue. If they don't meet that deadline, then two triggers would be pulled: a limit on itemized deductions for higher income taxpayers, and "a deficit reduction charge on income tax liability before applications of credits." Those provisions would create an estimated $650 billion in revenue between them.
http://www.newsy.com/videos/no-deal-for-super-committee-as-deadline-approaches

Bills-Cowboys Preview 11NOV11

LETS GO BUFFALO!!!!! YOU HAVE THE TEAM SPIRIT TO BEAT DALLAS AND WE KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!
None of the eight head coaches in the history of the Dallas Cowboys have had their tenures end more quickly than Chan Gailey.
However, with his Buffalo Bills set to play three consecutive road games following an awful offensive performance, Gailey is more concerned about getting a victory than exacting revenge on his former employer.
The Bills will try to avoid losing two straight for the first time this season Sunday when they face a Cowboys team trying to make a push for the NFC East lead under coach Jason Garrett.
Hired in 1998 to replace Barry Switzer, Gailey went 18-14 in two seasons with the Cowboys, leading them to the playoffs twice yet never winning a postseason game. Since getting fired by owner Jerry Jones, Gailey has been an offensive coordinator in Miami and Kansas City as well as the head coach at Georgia Tech from 2002-07.
"I've worked a lot of places, unfortunately, but it's one of those deals where you remember your time there and there were some good times and some bad times (in Dallas)," Gailey said. "But that's not the focus. The focus is trying to win a game. ... We got everything in front of us - we hold our own destiny in our own hands, so we gotta go take care of business."
Buffalo (5-3) failed to do so in Sunday's 27-11 loss to the New York Jets. The Bills - tied with New England as the AFC's highest-scoring team at 27.8 points per game - failed to reach 20 for the first time this season. They went 3 of 11 on third-down conversions and committed a season-high three turnovers.
Ryan Fitzpatrick had two interceptions, giving him six in the last four games.
"It was a bad game," said Fitzpatrick, who was 15 of 31 for a season-worst 191 yards. "We certainly didn't have our best effort out there, and I think that's where a lot of disappointment and frustration comes in."
Led by Fred Jackson - the AFC's leading rusher at 100.4 yards per game - the Bills are averaging 135.0 yards on the ground to rank seventh in the NFL. Buffalo, though, ran for just 96 last Sunday, and Jackson lost a fumble for the first time this year.
Dallas has allowed 401 yards on the ground over the past two weeks, though leading tackler Sean Lee expects to return after missing the last game and a half with a wrist injury.
If the Bills want to claim their first AFC East title since 1995 - they're tied atop the division with the Patriots and the Jets - they'll likely have to make some noise on the road. Buffalo visits Dallas, Miami and the Jets before its next home game Dec. 4 against Tennessee.
"It will be a difficult stretch, but we don't have to play all three of them at the same time," Jackson said. "If we go out and continue to make plays like we have been throughout the season, we feel like we'll be OK."
Buffalo is 1-2 on the road, but those losses were each by three points to first-place teams - Cincinnati and the Giants.
While the Cowboys "can't hover around .500," as tight end Jason Witten said, the road ahead could be much smoother than the first half, which ended with Sunday's 23-13 win over Seattle.
Dallas (4-4) has upcoming games versus Washington, Miami and Arizona - they are a combined 6-18 - before a Dec. 11 matchup with the NFC East-leading Giants.
"We've done a lot of things to build on over the first eight games, a lot we can be positive about. ... But we have to get better," said Garrett - a quarterback on Gailey's Cowboys teams - who is 9-7 since taking over for the fired Wade Phillips last season.
The Cowboys' running game has taken a huge step forward since Felix Jones suffered a high ankle sprain. In the three games Jones has missed, rookie DeMarco Murray has rushed for 466 yards - 42 more than the team's total through Week 5.
"We are going to have a great 1-2 punch when Felix gets healthy," Witten said. "It's going to put us in a great situation."
Jones is questionable Sunday, but Cowboys wide receiver Miles Austin could be out for up to a month after injuring his right hamstring last week.
"It's going to be hard without him," Tony Romo said. "... Obviously we'll have to do some things to counter it."
That will likely mean more targets for Dez Bryant, Laurent Robinson and Kevin Ogletree.
Buffalo's defense ranks 25th against the pass, allowing 260.4 yards per game, but leads the AFC with 15 interceptions.
Romo was picked off a career-high five times the last time these teams met, but the Cowboys scored nine points in the final 20 seconds to win 25-24 in Orchard Park on Oct. 8, 2007.
Including victories in Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII, Dallas is 7-3 versus Buffalo.

Reformation Day Sermon 2011 - Sin and Freedom 6NOV11

HERE is the beauty of Christianity explained by one of the best preachers I have ever read, Nadia Bolz-Weber, the Sarcastic Lutheran....

Romans 3:19-28 ¹⁹Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.²⁰For "no human being will be justified in his sight" by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
²¹But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, ²²the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, ²³since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; ²⁴they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; ²⁶it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.
²⁷Then what becomes of boasting? It is excluded. By what law? By that of works? No, but by the law of faith. ²⁸For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.

John 8:31-36  ³¹Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; ³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."³³They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, 'You will be made free'?"
³⁴Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. ³⁶So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

I was a rebellious teenager and couldn’t wait to be free from the tyranny of Dick and Peggy, my parents.  I pictured being able to stay out as long as I wanted, eat and drink whatever I wanted, and spend time with whomever I wanted.  All I wanted was freedom. And as soon as I was unleashed from the grip of parenting I would be free to have as much fun as I could cram into a 24 hour day.  That day finally came and yet, strangely there still was no freedom.  For I had exchanged one form of bondage for another.  Yet now it was bondage to self.  In my late teens and 20s I just lived under the tyranny of my own selfish desires instead of the tyranny of my parents and I was far from free.    I always thought freedom meant being able to do whatever I wanted but if that’s freedom then I was lied to. It ends up that real freedom is not the same as unfettered access to personal choices. Freedom in the form of me getting to do whatever I want is still being enslaved.  Because selfishness is still a cruel master.
I mention this because in our readings for today Jesus claims that he will make us free.  It’s just that I don’t think he means that he will create an environment where we get to be our own boss and do whatever we want. Plus when it comes to knowing the truth of what we are in bondage to and the truth of what real freedom looks like we often get things wrong. 
This is what we see in the text we read from John’s Gospel.  We know that Jesus is talking to some of his fellow Jews when he says his famous line “you will know the truth and the truth will set you free”.  And then they’re like “Oh yeah, we’re descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone”.  Um, are you sure?  Babylon ring a bell….or, I don’t know… Egypt?  what exactly was it that Moses led your people out of? A carnival? no.  it was slavery.
Rather than give a history lesson, Jesus uses the opportunity to make the point that we are actually slaves to sin.  And that weird denial of reality in which we say “Well, it’s not like we’ve ever been slaves” simply points to the delusions we all seem to have. In some circles those delusions are called Denial. And denial is a wonderful thing…until it’s not. My daughter Harper was a defiant and willful toddler.  I’m sure you’re shocked.  I know my parents were delighted. Anyhow, when she was 3 and we were about to go on a 2 hour car ride we told her she needed to go to the bathroom first.  Not liking being told what to do she become recalcitrant.  When I said honey you have to go pee.  She stomped her foot and said No! Never!  This I can relate to.  I want to create my own freedom but when I do it just always seems to be just another form of bandage.
So when we are offered real freedom it’s like Jesus is saying exactly what is it that God leads you out of?  a carnival? no.  It’s our bondage to sin from which we cannot free ourselves.
But in an age of self care and therapy and high self esteem (and there is nothing wrong with these things per se) but in such an age, and especially in the so-called progressive church, sin is not a popular topic.  As a matter of fact, in the church planting business these days, there is a trend toward eliminating any talk of sin at all…including the confession and absolution at the beginning of our liturgies.  Why?  Because it’s too negative.  People don’t want to hear they are sinners. Partly because they think saying you are a sinner is just having really low self esteem.  But in all fairness our discomfort with the term sin stems partly from the fact that the term has so often been abused and misused in the church.  Especially when sin is preached as something totally avoidable by good people.  Immorality is pretty avoidable…sin is not.  My suspicion is that when people hear “you are a sinner” what they really hear is, “you are immoral”  and if you are someone who doesn’t cheat on their taxes or their spouse and doesn’t murder or steal then you understandably don’t want to spend your Sunday morning having someone imply that you do. But sin, Martin Luther reminds us, is bigger than simple immorality.  Sin is being curved in on self without a thought for God or the neighbor. It can be alcoholism or passive aggression.  It can be the hateful things we think but never say or it can be adultery or it can be that feeling of superiority when we are helping others.  Our being curved in on ourselves will fashion itself in endless variety.  Pretending otherwise just never helps.
See, that’s the thing about truth…Truth…when it is real can cut deep and heal at the same time.  And Jesus says that truth brings freedom.  Freedom from having to pretend , freedom from having to defend, freedom from having to protect. And hearing the truth that we are in bondage to self and that no amount of trying to be good can change that cuts deep but it also heals. It heals because it simply gives us no choice but to be placed in the loving arms of Jesus, the great physician who heals through grace.
Martin Luther, in a letter to another preacher said “if grace is true, you must bear a true and not a fictitious sin. God does not save people who are only fictitious sinners. Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly.” That’s the other side of the truth coin.  Yes, you are a sinner.  But you are also a saint. Fully made new and alive in Christ. We are all simultaneously sinners AND saints. But sometimes being told that you are a saint can be just as hard to hear as you are a sinner.
You are a real and not a fictitious sinners and you are objects of God’s real and not fictitious grace.
See, Jesus brings real truth and real freedom. He isn’t just sitting in heaven waiting to see if we can pull off the impossible thing of becoming righteous on our own and then condemning us for our inevitable failure.  Jesus subverts the entire paradigm.  Because Jesus actually IS our righteousness.  Despite our lumpy broken lives, we are righteous before God.  But our righteousness is that of a Merciful and gracious God who comes to us in the vulnerability and suffering revealed in the cradle and cross. And the thing is….with the righteousness of Christ there is no extra credit to be obtained. It just is. 
So the truth that sets you free is so much more than the truth of your personal and our societal sin.  The truth that sets you free is also the truth of your unbelievable beauty and saintliness. 
Because it is always the truth of who we are coupled with the truth of who God is that sets us free. And I’m in it for the freedom.  And we are given not just the freedom FROM sin and death…we are without question given the freedom FOR the neighbor. 
         People often give House for All Sinners and Saints puzzled looks. They sometimes furrow their brow and tilt their heads and say Why do you bless bicycles and bring thanksgiving lunches to strippers and assemble bleach kits for IV drug users and sing hymns in bars.  And smiling I always say “I don't know. Because we’re free?”.

ARE THE KOCH BROTHERS DENYING YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE? 8NOV11

THE koch brothers continue their assault on American civil liberties with the intent of destroying our Republic and creating a Third World plutocracy. This from Brave New Foundation on voter restrictions and the petition drive calling on Attorney General Eric Holder to invoke the 1965 Voting Rights Act and stop these new restrictions on voting. Of special note, the citizens of Maine rejected the state government's repeal of election day voter registration and restored that right on 8NOV11. WAY TO GO MAINE VOTERS!!!! 

Are the Koch brothers denying your vote? Watch the Video | Sign the Petition Dear Craig, For the past 8 months we have been investigating the billionaire Koch brothers and presenting the results of their political influence to you. With this latest installment, we have discovered what we think is their worst offense yet. Through their web of financial influence, Charles and David Koch are buying access to democracy's lifeblood: free and fair elections. They are literally trying to take away your right to vote! We are partnering with about one dozen organizations and launching a campaign to demand Attorney General Eric Holder enforce the landmark Voting Rights Act and stop discriminatory voter suppression laws. With a stroke of his pen, Attorney General Holder can stop the Kochs and these Jim Crow laws, which are denying voting rights for disabled individuals, students, seniors and people of color. Under a provision in the 1965 Voting Rights Act, Holder can deny states like Florida, South Carolina and others from imposing new voter restrictions. Your contribution allowed us to produce this video. Thank you for helping to inspire people to stand up for democracy. Demand the Department of Justice live up to its name and enforce the law. They've got the heart of American democracy in their sights. Let's defeat the Kochs and defend the democratic process. Thank you for making this possible, Robert Greenwald and the Brave New Foundation team P.S. I invite you to join me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.

Proof the big banks are terrified & Ten stories of people moving their money, despite bank efforts to stop them 11NOV11

FROM The Daily Kos, this shows just how greedy and a little scared they are. Keep the movement going and MOVE YOUR MONEY!!!!!!

"Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right."
- 2 Thessalonians 3:13
"No one can serve two masters. If you try, you will wind up loving the first master and hating the second, or vice versa. People try to serve both God and money— but you can’t. You must choose one or the other."
- Matthew 6:24

	Since September 29, at least 700,000 Americans have moved their money out of big banks and into credit unions. The big banks are so freaked out by what's happening that some have locked their doors and even called the police on customers who tried to close their accounts. Click here for ten amazing stories about big banks desperately trying to stop customers from closing their accounts. Please share these stories with a friend, too. Everyone needs to know we have the big banks on the run. Keep fighting, Markos Moulitsas Founder, Daily Kos

Trust me, it feels awesome!

Banks are shrugging off the (at least) 700,000 accounts they've lost the last six weeks and claim they don't want your business:

[T]he banks are going to be better off because they are getting rid of their least-profitable or not profitable clients. It helps them stem this tsunami of cash that’s been flowing in that they don’t know what to do with.

But not only do they relentlessly advertise for new business on billboards, TV, direct mail and other places, but they fight tooth and nail to prevent people from closing their accounts. The Daily Kos community and others have chronicled many such efforts, so follow me below the fold for ten of these awesome stories.

1. "He has a right to speak," said the cop to the banker When Daily Kos community member marvinborg was distributing flyers outside of local Chase and Bank of America branches encouraging customers to move their money to credit unions, one of the managers called the police on him. When they arrived, the police promptly told the manager off:
   

   "He has the right to speak and the right to hand out flyers. Unless he blocks you or causes a disturbance, he has the right to be here - please don't call the police again if he is not bothering you. If you don't like free speech you should move to another country."

2. "You can't be a customer and a protester at the same time." At a Bank of America branch in Santa Cruz, the manager locked two customers inside a branch as they were trying to close their accounts, and then called the police on them. Supposedly, this was because they were wearing signs. When the police showed up, they didn't arrest anyone, and were just as baffled as the customers:
   
   
   
3. "They're arresting everyone?" At a Citibank in New York City, a customer actually was forcibly arrested when she tried to enter the bank to close her account:
   
   
   
4. "Let them in!" At a Bank of America in St. Louis, security refused to allow customers who wanted to close their accounts inside:
   
   
   
5. The bank said "You'll be back." Even when banks don't call the police, they can give customers sound like jilted boyfriends:
   

   At Wells Fargo, my sister walked up to the teller and politely asked to close her account. The teller said, “No problem.” She pulled up her account and saw the balance and told her that due to the amount she had to speak with the branch manager. The branch manager came out. He was probably 30 years old and was very arrogant. He asked my sister why she wanted to close her account and my sister told him she thought Wells Fargo was part of the problem with the economy. He went thru some talking points about why she shouldn’t move her money, but my sister didn’t back down. When he asked her where she was going she told him that she would be banking at the North Carolina State Employees Credit Union. She isn’t a state employee, but anyone can join if you are related to a state employee. It turns out her husband is. Anyway, the bankster told her “You’ll be back. Credit unions can’t provide the services you need.” We’ll see about that. She withdrew over $200k from Wells Fargo. [Emphasis added]

6. "Management is nervous" In the midst of begging customers not to leave, every once in a while banks can let it slip just how scared they are:
   

   The manager was pleasant enough and very direct. After introducing herself she flat out asked "What can we do to change your mind?" "We don't want to see you go" she emphasized. This opened a door for me to further explain my decision to leave the bank and why I was doing it. Amazingly, it did not fall on deaf ears. She indicated that understood where I was coming from and actually showed genuine surprise at some of the facts I provided her about the less than consumer friendly policies and machinations of her employer. She did make some feeble counter-arguments and repeatedly asked me if I would change my mind (with a hint of desperation!). I stood firm and by the end of our conversation she asked if I would be willing to put it all in writing so she could send it up the chain. She shared that management is nervous, they are seeing money leaking out of the bank and realize that they have made mistakes.  She even hinted that there has been high-level discussion on reversing the new fess since there has been so much consumer push-back. [Emphasis added]

   The fees were reversed soon after this was posted.
   
7. They're offering cash for customers to open up accounts It's silly to argue that they don't want cash deposits, yet they're offering cold, hard cash for those who will, well, deposit cash.
   

   There’s a lot of fine print involved, but basically, they will pay me $200 to move my checking account to them provided that: 1)    I make one bill payment through the account each month
   2)    The account has a balance of $10,000 as of 1/20/2012
   3)    I wait 'till April for the $200 (giving me about 4% interest on my $10k)
   4)    I don’t close my credit card account
   5)    I don’t violate of any of their nit-picky procedures in the fine print
   6)    They don’t decide to simply screw me and not pay up: “Bank of America may change or terminate this offer before this date without notice…”
   Well! I had been told that banks didn’t need deposits. I guess that’s not true, otherwise why would they be running (cough, cough) to sign me up – and offering cold hard cash as well?

8. They're pretending it's no big deal You know there's something happening when they're circulating talking points.
   

   In a truly random set of circumstances I found myself stopping by three separate Wells Fargo locations yesterday [...] [Branch 1:] While we were making small talk, I casually asked, “So, how many people closed out accounts this weekend?”
   The cashier said, “Oh it was just two or three people.  Not many at all.” [...]
   [Wells Fargo embedded in Whole Foods:] While chatting it up, I asked, “So, how many people closed out their accounts here on Saturday? “
   The Teller said, “Just two or three people closed their accounts.  Only two said it was because of Bank Transfer Day.” [...]
   [Branch 2:] I was talking to Mr. Branch Manager2 while I was getting the passport, I casually said, “So, how many people closed their accounts on Saturday?”
   Mr. Branch Manager2 said, “Oh, it was just 2 or 3 people.  They had very small amounts of money with us.” [...]
   Was there a corporate wide memo with talking points?  I don’t have any proof but it does make me wonder how only “…2 or 3 people” closed their accounts at three different Wells Fargo…

9. They'll fight tooth and nail for empty accounts It doesn't even matter if a checking account is in use. They'll do everything possible to keep people from closing them.
   

   I didn't even know he was talking with BoA, but when he had repeated the entire chain of circumstances for the fourth or fifth time, to the same person, getting louder each time, I knew something was definitely screwy. I mean, this is an account that had never held any actual balance. Had never had any checks written. For years. And never would. Why the hell would a bank want to keep it open?
   Eventually my schedule caught up with me and I had to leave, with Ed still bellowing the same story into the phone over and over. I was able to come back an hour or so later, after he was finally off the phone, and asked if that happened to be BoA.
   Well, yes, of course it was.

10. Offering to refund obnoxious fees ... after the fact. They wouldn't be in this mess if they didn't try to bleed people in the first place.
    

    "Is everything OK with your account and service?" Well, yes, except for the fact that I'm charged ten dollars a month for the privilege of having a checking account here. (We used to have free checking, but Chase implemented the fee about a year ago if our balance went below $1500.  Man, we were lazy and complacent, but not today!)
    "Let me see, yes, it seems you paid a fee... 3 times?  So only $30."
    Yes, only $30... but it's the principle.  It's the greed that is annoying.
    "Well, you've been with us for many years, here is what I can do.  I can temporarily... uh, permanently waive any future fees.  We really value our relationship with you and want to keep you as a customer."
    It seems like if Chase had called me before I came down here to close my account and made that offer that it would seem genuine, but not only after I'm already here to close my account.  Which I would like to do.
    "Well, we could also refund those fees.  We would really like to retain your business."
    I'm going to be opening up an account with a local credit union.

And how do the banks respond? By lashing out angrily at its customers.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan says the public needs to start thinking before they criticize his company.

People have given it plenty of thought. That's why hundreds of thousands are moving their money when really, doing so is a pain in the ass—you've got to deal with uncleared checks, automatic bill pays and recurring payments, direct deposits and old habits (whether it's navigating your banks online site, or knowing where the branches and ATMs are located).
Wall Street is out at least $60 billion and counting, and we can inflict more pain. Let's truly make Brian Moynihan and his CEO buddies squeal. Please share this post with your friends, and if you have not already done so, Move Your Money.

Scott Campbell Films Police Shooting At Occupy Oakland: Video Sparks National Outrage (VIDEO) 9NOV11

THIS is outrageous and proof something is very, very wrong in the Oakland police department. No doubt the Dept of Justice will be investigating these examples of police brutality, and high officials in the department and city administration must be held accountable. Watch these videos......
A police attack against Oakland man Scott Campbell has drawn national attention and outrage after Campbell released a video of the incident on YouTube.
Early Thursday morning after Occupy Oakland's general strike, Campbell filmed police officers as they surrounded the remaining protesters. According to Campbell, an officer asked him to step back as he approached the police line with a video camera. Campbell obliged, and then began filming about ten feet from the officers. On the video, Campbell can be heard asking "is this OK?" twice. Several seconds later, an officer shoots him with what appears to be a rubber bullet.
After Campbell released the video, national voices including the New York Daily News and Keith Olbermann expressed outrage at the apparent randomness of the attack. According to the New York Daily News, Campbell was shot "for apparently no reason."
"[Was there] any warning?" asked Olbermann on his show Countdown with Keith Olbermann during an interview with Campbell. "Any indication that they were about to move?"
"No, there was absolutely no warning whatsoever," answered Campbell. "There was no order to disperse; there was no warning that weapons might be used."
"It reminds me of some of those black humor comedy sketches where the cop shoots and then says, 'stop or I'll shoot' after shooting," said Olbermann.
In an interview with San Jose Mercury News, University of South Carolina criminal justice professor Geoffrey Alpert said the video left him "astonished, amazed and embarrassed."
"Unless there's something we don't know, that's one of the most outrageous uses of a firearm that I've ever seen," he said.
Campbell also released a graphic photo of his injury, showing extreme bruising and swelling. He is currently investigating options regarding a lawsuit against the Department. The Oakland Police Department did not immediately respond to comment.
At the same protest, police also allegedly attacked Kayvan Sabeghi, an Iraq war veteran and the co-owner of Elevation 66 Brewing Company in El Cerrito, as he was walking home. Sabeghi had been out to dinner and was returning to his apartment near the protest when police would not let him through. Allegedly, while explaining to police that he was only trying to go home, officers beat Sabeghi with billy clubs and arrested him. Sabeghi suffered a lacerated spleen during the attack and was reportedly denied medical treatment for several hours.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stated that Elevation 66 Brewing Company is in Berkeley. The article was updated to reflect the brewery's accurate location in El Cerrito.
Watch Campbell's video of the attack below, then watch his interview on Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

From Jim Wallis to Billy Graham, on His 93rd Birthday: "Thank you!" 7NOV11

IF there has ever been a leader of the Christian Church in America it has been Billy Graham. He is the face of Christianity in the U.S. and we couldn't have better. Humble, honest, human, a man of faith who is trusted to lead and teach believers in the U.S. and around the world. He has made mistakes and confessed them. As leader of the BGEA (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association) he and the organization have never been rocked by the financial or sexual scandals suffered by so many others. Here is a great piece on Rev Graham by Jim Wallis of Sojourners......

Billy Graham is 93 years old today. And all over the world, people are discussing his influence and impact and remembering their own encounters with the world's leading evangelist.

I, too, am thinking Billy Graham -- more specifically, I'm recalling with great gratitude and fondness the first time I met him.
Sojourners had just settled and started up in Washington D.C., and I was still in my early twenties. The annual National Prayer Breakfast was approaching and, as was the custom then, a pre-Prayer Breakfast meeting for top evangelical leaders was organized to enable a more informal time of fellowship and discussion. Again it was a breakfast, the day before the big event where the president traditionally speaks to members of Congress and the Senate, most of the cabinet, and about 2,000 invited special guests from around the world -- all about the contribution of faith and prayer to our public life.
I had never been invited to the famous prayer breakfast, and certainly had not to the very-established evangelical leaders' meeting just beforehand.
Imagine my surprise when I got a personal invitation to the "leaders' breakfast." Why are they inviting me, I wondered, quite suspiciously to tell you the truth.
At Sojourners we were speaking out strongly for social justice, challenging racism in both the society and the church, and especially in opposing the war in Vietnam -- not commitments the evangelical world was known for at the time.
Why would they include me in a meeting like this? What do they want from me? Do they want to argue with me, or perhaps hope to try to co-opt me?
I arrived a little late -- not used to getting to fancy hotels and finding parking -- and the room was already full. But when I gave my name, the hostess seemed to know right where to take me.
"Follow me," she said. As we began to wind our way through the very old-looking crowd of white men, I saw that she seemed to be taking me to a table in the far corner of the hotel banquet room.
Then I saw him. Billy Graham was sitting at that table!
I almost stopped in my tracks. Graham was a household name in my evangelical family as I was growing up, and we faithfully watched all his crusades on television. No person in the world was more respected by my parents, or by our little evangelical Plymouth Brethren Church.
I noticed there was an empty chair right next to him. And then Graham looked up, saw me coming, and motioned to the open spot and for me to sit down.
I was stunned and speechless. But I sat down in the chair that had apparently been waiting for me, to Graham's dazzling smile, the warmest greeting, and embracing handshake that has mesmerized people all over the world.
Graham looked at me with those penetrating eyes and said, "Jim, it is so good to meet you. I think that you will be a leader for the next generation of young Christians. And I am a leader for the older establishment of evangelicals. There are people who would divide us, and pull us apart; but we can't let them do that. I want them to know that I agree with you on more things than they would imagine, and I thought we should start talking together."
So we did, over one of the most memorable breakfasts of my life. I soon realized that he had something to do with my surprising invitation to breakfast with the evangelical establishment that day. More conversations followed over the years and, in one of them, he said to me, "My calling is to preach the gospel of personal salvation, and yours in to preach the social implications of that same gospel. So I think our ministries are complementary."
Looking back now, I can hardly believe how gracious that early invitation and conversation was. We were just a bunch of rag-tag young evangelicals proclaiming a gospel of justice and peace, and were both willing and sometimes eager to challenge the establishments of both church and state on that message.
As the preeminent evangelical leader of the day, Graham didn't have to engage us at all, let alone put his arm around the back of the chair next to him at breakfast and ask a young evangelical what he and his generation thought about a lot of things. All of which showed what kind of leader -- and man --he always has been. Not only gracious and warm, he has been a bridge builder, mentor, and an encourager.
Graham has always been a life-long learner, passionate about preaching the gospel but always ready to understand more about what that gospel means in the world. It was never surprising to me that this southern-born-and-raised American evangelist decided early on to insist on preaching only to racially integrated coliseums and crusades, when many others just went along with their culture.

FINALLY...you can find a good-guy bank with BANXODUS

HERE is a tool to help you find a good guy bank if you are interested in moving your money, from the good people at BoldProgressives..... 
"No one can serve two masters. If you try, you will wind up loving the first master and hating the second, or vice versa. People try to serve both God and money— but you can’t. You must choose one or the other."
- Matthew 6:24

"Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right."
- 2 Thessalonians 3:13
 

Click here to use our new Banxodus tool to find a good-guy bank near you -- or share intel about local banks with others.
And share this groundbreaking new online tool on Facebook by clicking here. And pass this email to others!
The New York Times reports:

"A site going online...aims to use crowdsourcing to provide more detailed information about both credit unions and community banks. Banxodus, an effort by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, says it has more than 7,500 institutions in its database, which was created with the help of a few thousand volunteer researchers."

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-- Michael Snook, PCCC Chief Information Officer & Ethan Jucovy, Web Applications Developer