DeLay's House of Cards Comes Crashing Down
It appears that his trips paid for by lobbyists, might just be his undoing:
The airfare to London and Scotland in 2000 for then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was charged to an American Express card issued to Jack Abramoff, a Washington lobbyist at the center of a federal criminal and tax probe, according to two sources who know Abramoff's credit card account number and to a copy of a travel invoice displaying that number.
House ethics rules bar lawmakers from accepting travel and related expenses from registered lobbyists. read the full story...
Taking action on Darfur
As I finally sat down to write a letter you can send to your elected officials, I noticed that in an email I'd gotten from Amnesty International, they'd already written an excellent one. It's also automated so it will look up your officials for you,
take action. Also, there's a new post on the
coalition for Darfur chronicling our inaction during the Rwandan genocide and now the Sudan genocide--with what the news was really focused on. Speaking of the Rwandan Genocide, if you haven't seen Hotel Rwanda yet, put it on the top of your list, it's easily the best movie I've seen all year. There's an excellent article in today's
Minneapolis Star Tribune with the run down on what Congress is (or isn't) doing about Sudan and what the major political roadblocks have been in getting the UN and world to act -- the usual, money and oil. It is definitely worth reading considering there are currently as many as 10 different bills floating around the congress on Darfur, but none of them have been debated. Which means there needs to be some pressure put on our elected officials from their constituents to get these bills out there, so write ‘em! Maybe we could actually get them to do something more than fighting for power and arguing over
"liberal judges" and
"nuclear options!"
End Darfur Genocide
If you don't know what's going on in Darfur, read this
first hand account from an ex-marine who was there as a cease-fire monitor.
Keep up to date on the Genocide occurring in Darfur through the
Coalition for Darfur as the world sits by and does nothing, or, like the US, actually
decreases the amount of money spent on peace keeping missions.
You can do something to help, visit
Global Grass Roots to find out how. Write to your
Senators,
Representatives and
President Bush. Not sure what to write? I'll post a sample letter in the next couple days that you can feel free to use.
The Passing of the Pope
I thought it was only fitting to post information about the Pope, as he was an extraordinary advocate for peace and tolerance. He shall be sorely missed and I only hope the next pope can be as great an example. For more on the amazing life of John Paul II:
http://www.archdiocese-chgo.org/pope_0401/pope_index.shtm"Social justice cannot be attained by violence. Violence kills what it intends to create." - Pope John Paul II
"Humanity should question itself, once more, about the absurd and always unfair phenomenon of war, on whose stage of death and pain only remain standing the negotiating table that could and should have prevented it."
- Pope John Paul II
