From Martial Law, Inc. KBR: A Halliburton Subsidiary, by Andrew G. Marshall:

KBR and the North American Union:

More recently, KBR has been awarded contracts by Shell Canada, now majority owned by its parent company, Royal Dutch Shell, “to provide field construction and module fabrication services by Shell Canada for the Scotford Upgrader Expansion east of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.” Business Wire reported that, “The Scotford Upgrader Expansion project is part of the Athabasca Oil Sands Project (AOSP) Expansion 1, which will add approximately 100,000 barrels per day of capacity to the AOSP bitumen mining and upgrading facilities. AOSP is a joint venture between Shell Canada, Chevron Canada Limited and Western Oil Sands L.P. The total estimated cost of the project is between Cdn$10 billion and $12.8 billion.”

North American Union Imminent- NWO Around the Corner

This is significant because it directly relates to the “deep integration” of Canada, the United States, and Mexico into a North American Union under the auspices of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP). The Independent Task Force on the Future of North America was a joint task force created between the US-based Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the Mexican Council on Foreign Relations and the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE). The purpose of this task force was to produce a document, which would serve as a blueprint for the implementation of “integrating” the three countries of North America into a regional block, ultimately into a North American Union. The report was issued 2 months after the leaders of the 3 nations signed the Security and Prosperity Partnership agreement in 2005, and is titled, “Building a North American Community.”

In this document, regarding integrating energy sectors, it stated, “Canada’s vast oilsands, once a high-cost experimental means of extracting oil, now provide a viable new source of energy that is attracting a steady stream of multibillion dollar investments, and interest from countries such as China, and they have catapulted Canada into second place in the world in terms of proved oil reserves. Production from oilsands fields is projected to reach 2 million barrels per day by 2010.” The report further stated, “the three governments need to work together to ensure energy security for people in all three countries. Issues to be addressed include the expansion and protection of the North American energy infrastructure.”

In 2006, the SPP created a new organization with the specific purpose of “advising” and “directing” the three governments on how to integrate properly and to set deadlines for specific programs. This organization is called the North American Competitiveness Council (NACC).

The Canadian membership of the North American Competitiveness Council includes Dominic D’Alessandro, President and CEO of Manulife Financial, who is also Chairman of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE), David A. Ganong, President of Ganong Bros. Limited, as well as being a director of the CCCE and a director of Sun Life Financial, Hunter Harrison, President and CEO of Canadian National Railway Company and member of the CCCE, Linda Hasenfratz, CEO of Linamar Corporation who also sits on the board of CIBC, Michael Sabia, President and CEO of Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE), Annette Verschuren, President of The Home Depot Canada and member of the board of the CCCE, Richard E. Waugh, President and CEO of The Bank of Nova Scotia who also is on the board of the Institute for International Finance, is a member of the Chairman's Advisory Council for the Council of the Americas, and the IMF's Capital Markets Consultative Group. Further members of the NACC include Richard L. George, President and CEO of Suncor Energy Inc., an American who is Honourary Chair of the CCCE, and Paul Desmarais, Jr., Chairman and Co-CEO of Power Corporation of Canada.

Suncor, one of the Canadian corporations on the NACC, has as a member of its board of directors an American by the name of John Huff. John R. Huff, also happens to be on the board of directors of KBR, now in a joint project with Shell in developing the oil sands, as recommended by the SPP.

‘’Saya kira, hanya terjadi miskomunikasi antara wali murid dan sekolah. Padahal semua masalah bisa dibicarakan bersama-sama. Orang tua masih belum mengerti bahwa ini merupakan program sukarela agar sekolah menjadi lebih baik. Tapi kami siap diperiksa kalau melanggar aturan,’’ jelasnya.

Pengembalian yang diberikan kepada orang tua, kata dia, adalah uang seragam batik, seragam olahraga dan buku. Uang titipan untuk Sumbangan Biaya Pengembangan Pendididkan (SBPP) yang dilaporkan berjumlah Rp 600 ribu hingga Rp 1 juta juga dikembalikan.

‘’Kami sudah mengembalikan uang wali murid, seperti uang SBPP yang sukarela. Tapi fitnah kalau (SBPP) sampai Rp 1 juta. Tentang SPP itu tidak ada dan uang buku juga tidak ada, karena buku-buku berasal dari Dinas,’’ tegasnya lagi.

Sementara itu, kemarin pagi pihak sekolah melakukan pertemuan dengan para wali murid kelas 1. Pertemuan itu untuk mengklarifikasi dana-dana yang dikembalikan. Termasuk membentuk paguyuban kelas.

‘’Kami membahas berbagai permasalahan yang menyangkut uang yang berujung banyak fitnah. Kami juga membentuk paguyuban kelas, yang nantinya akan bermusyawarah tentang berbagai dana pengembangan,’’ ungkapnya lagi.

Mengenai pungutan itu, dia mengakui sekolah memang menerima uang titipan. Tapi karena sifatnya titipan, tidak ada kwitansi. Melainkan sekadar komitmen tertentu dengan wali murid.
Nantinya, pungut5an itu untuk membangun ruang perpustakaan yang akan dilengkapi dengan LCD dan laptop. Uang itu juga digunakan berbagai kebutuhan mendesak lainnya sebagai program peningkatan sarana prasarana sekolah.

‘’Jadi kami memerlukan peran serta orang tua. Bukan hanya dari segi materi dan uang, tapi juga ide, masukan dan tenaga,’’ ujarnya pula.

Selain itu, pihak sekolah mengaku berterima kasih atas segala kritikan yang tujuannya untuk mengembangkan bersama sekolah dan untuk menciptakan suasana belajar yang kondusif sehingga para anak merasa terayomi.

‘’Dari kejadian ini pihak sekolah akan tambah dewasa dalam menyikapi berbagai masalah. Juga mengispirasikan kami untuk membuat koperasi sekolah yang mengakomodir semua perlengkapan sekolah, biar tidak ada celah untuk para guru yang katanya mengambil keuntungan dari situ,’’ pungkasnya. (mp-16/avi) (mp16/malangpost)

This article is from August Review

By Murray Dobbin, Vancouver

Ten dots to connect

Here are 10 developments in the plan to disappear Canada.

1) Pesticides 'harmonized.' The most thoroughly reported story (though even this did not go much beyond the CanWest chain) was the revelation that Canada was about to "harmonize" its regulations, setting limits for pesticide residue on fruits and vegetables. In 40 per cent of the cases, the U.S. allows for higher levels. Richard Aucoin, chief registrar of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, which sets Canada's pesticide levels, said that Canada's higher levels were a "trade irritant."

The downgrading of health protection had been a NAFTA initiative, but is being "fast-tracked" as part of the Security and Prosperity Partnership. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Some 300 regulatory regimes are currently going through the same process.

2) Tory tirade. The next story that broke through the wall of media silence reported on the paranoid reaction of the Harper Conservatives to any criticism of the SPP. The occasion was hearings of the Commons International Trade Committee into the SPP, forced by the NDP.

Gordon Laxer, head of Alberta's Parkland Institute, was testifying on the energy implications of the SPP, warning that eastern Canada could end up "freezing in the dark." He had barely started when the chair of the committee, Conservative MP Leon Benoit, demanded that Laxer halt his "irrelevant" testimony. The Committee members overruled Benoit -- who promptly (and illegally) adjourned the meeting and stomped out. The NDP and Liberal members nonetheless continued without him.

3) Council of corporate power. The SPP initiative began in earnest back in 2002 with the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (formerly the BCNI), the most powerful corporate body in the country. It continues it leadership role, but does not promote the scheme just in its own name. It instead has helped create several supportive bodies that now help drive the agenda. Included in these are the North American Competitive Council (NACC), which includes CEOs of the largest North American corporations, and which institutionalizes the exclusively corporate nature of the agreement. The NACC is the only advisory group to the three NAFTA/SPP governments.

4) Secretive summit. The NACC at least is public. But much of what happens in building the elite consensus for deep integration is done in absolute secrecy or very privately, away from the prying eyes of the media. The most secretive of these was held last year from Sept. 12 to 14, in Banff Springs. As The Tyee reported, the gathering was sponsored by something called the North American Forum* and it was attended by some of the most powerful members of the North American ruling elite.

Attendees, according to a leaked list that could not be confirmed, included Donald Rumsfeld, George Schultz (former U.S. Secretary of State), General Rick Hillier, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor and Minister of Public Safety Stockwell Day. The media was not informed of the meeting and it was first revealed by the weekly Banff Crag & Canyon.

Stockwell Day refused to even confirm he was there, but said that even if he was, it was a "private" meeting that he would not comment on. There is no better indication that these meetings, and the SPP itself, constitute a parallel governing structure -- unaccountable to any democratic institution or the public.

5) 'No fly' coordination. Canada will have its own "no-fly" list just like our U.S. "partner."

As the Council of Canadians pointed out: "The no-fly list is very much a Security and Prosperity Partnership initiative. 'The SPP Report to Leaders, August 2006' outlines 105 SPP initiatives. Initiative #93 states, 'Develop, test, evaluate and implement a plan to establish comparable aviation passenger screening, and the screening of baggage and air cargo (for North America).'"

Canada's privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart has raised a number of concerns about the plan including the fact that the list will be shared with the U.S., that "false positives" are a virtual certainty, and that there is no evidence put forward by the government that the list will improve airline security.

6) Bye, bye Canadian dollar? David Dodge, the head of the Bank of Canada, told a Chicago audience that a single currency for North America "is possible." That would see a big chunk of Canadian Sovereignty and the ability to guide the economy through monetary policy go out the window. It's not the first time Dodge has mused about abandoning the Canadian dollar - or deep integration.

7) Water and oil giveaways. The deep integrationists clearly see Canadian water as a North American resource, not a Canadian resource. At yet another very private meeting, held in Calgary on April 27th under the auspices of yet another forum, it was made clear that water is on the table for negotiation.

Discussion of bulk "water transfers" and diversions took place at a Calgary meeting of the North American Future 2025 Project (partly funded by the U.S. government). The meeting based its deliberations on the false notion that Canada has 20 per cent of the world's fresh water. Actual available supply amounts to only around six per cent -- about the same as has the U.S.

The water (and environment) meeting was preceded by another on April 26th talking about "North American" energy. The beneficiary of these discussions is pretty clear when you realize Canada has no national energy policy. We are the only energy exporting country in the world without a one.

Gordon Laxer told the Parliamentary committee: "The National Energy Board wrote me on April 12: 'Unfortunately, the NEB has not undertaken any studies on security of supply.'" He was also told by the NEB that Canada does not maintain a 90 day energy reserve as other developed nations do. As Laxer points out, "Canada may be a net exporter, but it still imports 40 per cent of its oil -- 850,000 barrels per day -- to meet 90 per cent of Atlantic Canada's and Quebec's needs, and 40 per cent of Ontario's."

Canada exports 63 per cent of its oil production and 56 per cent of its natural gas, percentages that can never decrease under NAFTA.

8) NAFTA Superhighway. State governments in the U.S. are becoming increasingly alarmed at the prospects of deep integration. Earlier this year, Idaho became the first state to pass a legislative resolution directing the U.S. Congress to drop out of the SPP, which is referred to as the North American Union amongst U.S. opponents. Thirteen states in addition to Idaho are calling on Congress to abandon the SPP: Georgia, Arizona, Missouri, Illinois, Oregon, Montana, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington and Virginia.

Part of the opposition is focused on plans for a so-called NAFTA Superhighway: actually a corridor several hundred metres wide including rail lines, freeways and pipelines from Mexico to the Canadian border. There is a growing grass roots movement against the SPP in the U.S., but led by the right over the issue of compromising American sovereignty.

9) Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA). While U.S. states, concerned about state rights under an unaccountable "North American Union," are organizing against the scheme, Canadian provinces are either blithely unaware or knowingly complicit in the deal. More Canadians may be aware of TILMA -- the investors' rights agreement between B.C. and Albert -- than they are about the SPP, but in reality they are one and the same.

TILMA is major piece of the deep integration, deregulation imperative and fits hand in glove with the SPP. There is a similar, though more informal, process evolving in the Atlantic provinces, called "Atlantica." And B.C. is now pushing the so-called Gateway Initiative, a kind of regional superhighway project that will see huge and environmentally disastrous expansion of ports, highways and pipelines to further supply the U.S.'s insatiable demand for resources and cheap Asian goods.

10) The next SPP summit. The third leaders summit on the SPP will take place this August 21-22nd in Montebello, Quebec, not far from Ottawa. By the time it does many more Canadian will be aware of it.

Part of the reason that news of the SPP/deep integration issue is finally seeing the light of day is that opposition is growing and groups fighting the SPP are having an impact. The Council of Canadians, the CLC and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives held an SPP teach-in in Ottawa last month and many civil society groups are now taking deep integration to their members. Demonstrations are planned for the summit. The NDP continues to press the government on SPP secrecy and the Green Party's Elizabeth May has said deep integration will be a focus of the party's election platform.

It is hard to think of any other issue in modern Canadian history, especially one that will literally determine whether the country survives or not, that has taken so long to get public attention. I first wrote about it September, 2002.

Murray Dobbin is a Vancouver author and journalist whose latest book, Paul Martin: CEO for Canada? published by James Lorimer is in BC bookstores now.

Dari 24 jenis pungutan temuan MCW tersebut, paling banyak dilakukan oleh pihak SDN III Kauman Malang, yaitu tujuh laporan pungutan.

Masing-masing masalah biaya SPP Rp 25 ribu, yang memberatkan siswa, masalah dana SBPP mulai Rp 600 ribu hingga Rp 1 juta, uang seragam dan buku Rp 246.500.

‘’Temuan ini memang tidak per sekolah, tapi per individu yang melaporkan. Seperti yang kami temukan di SDN III Kauman tersebut, ada tujuh wali murid yang sudah kami temui, dan semuanya merasa sangat keberatan,’’ kata Ziya Ulhaq kepada Malang Post kemarin.

Selain SDN III Kauman, sekolah lain yang didapat lebih dari satu pengaduan adalah SMKN 5 Malang tiga pengaduan, SDN II Blimbing dua pengaduan.

Sedangkan sekolah lainnnya, SMPN 14, SMAN 9, SMPN 16 Malang, SMKN 4, , SMPN 12 Malang, SMP Hasyim Ashari, SMUN 6 , SDN I Rampal Celaket, SMPN 5, SMPN 16, SDN II Mulyorejo, MTsN II Cemorokandang masing-masing hanya satu pengaduan.

Berkas laporan pengaduan biaya pungutan tersebut diberikan langsung kepada Kajari Kota Malang, Hermut Achmadi SH. Sayangnya, penyerahan berkas laporan pengaduan ini tidak bisa terlalu lama. Kemarin Kejari bertepatan sedang memperingati Hari Bhakti Adyaksa ke 48 dan HUT Adhyaksa Dharma Karini.

‘’Saya belum tahu apa isi laporan atau pengaduannya, tapi kami sangat merespon adanya hal ini tentunya, kami mempelajari dulu, dan mengumpulkan bahan (data) dan bukti (Pulbaket) lebih dulu,’’ kata Kajari.

Berkaitan dengan turunnya intruksi Kejagung terkait dengan dana pungutan pendidikan yang masuk dalam kategori tindak pidana korupsi, Kajari yang baru saja menyelesaikan pendidikan lanjutan pengembangan Kejaksaan inipun telah mengeluarkan surat perintah (Sprint) penyelidikan kepada para anggotanya.

Sementara itu Plh Kasi Intel Kejari Kota Malang Yudi Purnomo SH, kepada Malang Post mengatakan, pihaknya sudah berupaya jemput bola berkaitan dengan pengaduan ini.

‘’Beberapa waktu lalu, kami sudah melakukan klarifikasi berkaitan dengan pengaduan yang kami terima dari informasi masyarakat, namun belum ada yang terbukti,’’ kata Yudi sambil menyebut nama-nama sekolah yang sudah di klarifikasi masalah pungutan yaitu SDN Kasin I, SDN Sawojajar I, SMPN 11, SMKN 4, SMAN I.

Berkaitan dengan laporan pengaduan temuan MCW, Yudi yang diberikan mandat mempelajari lembaran laporan itupun tidak jauh berbeda dengan Kajari. Pihaknya akan lebih dulu mempelajari, sebelum melakukan pemanggilan saksi. (ira/avi)
(Ira Ravika/malangpost)

Particularly since the Montebello (Canada) meeting of the SPP between Bush, Harper, and Calderon, large numbers of the members of the opposition parties, as well as an enormous number of Canadian citizens all across the country, have taken an active stand against the policies and the conspiratorial nature of the negotiations potentially leading to the establishment of a NAU in which they have absolutely no desire to participate. Unfortunately, it is also leading to a good bit of anti-American (U.S.) sentiment among people with whom we have gotten on exceptionally well for the greater part of our history.

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2284.shtml

"It won't work. For one thing, the Canadian people will never accept that Canada become a colony of the United States, and the current minority government of Stephen Harper could pay dearly politically if it continues pushing in that direction. Canadians do not want their armed forces and their foreign policy to be de facto merged with those of imperial America. Moreover, they do not want their natural resources to be placed under U.S. control and exploited nearly completely by large American corporations, which have little regard for Canada's sovereignty and little concern for the welfare of Canadians. Also, they do not want the Canadian dollar ditched in favor of a less and less attractive U.S. dollar, as some have suggested."

During and since the SPP meeting held in Canada in 2007 there have been protests the length and breadth of Canada...

Calgary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8QW9KNlmn8

Vancouver:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ00rEmX3nw

Edmonton:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tnhrxu5latM&feature=related

Toronto:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seQeIPKCdlo&feature=related

Winnipeg:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9_M6tu0XgY

...and numerous other locations throughout the country organized by various groups, political parties, and activists sharing one common fear...loss of Canadian sovereignty. The Canadians have become VERY proactive.

Some of the major players in the "anti-NAU" coalition in Canada includes the Council of Canadians, the Canadian Action Party, and Vive Le Canada, as well as Canadian labor unions. Along with the Green Party, which has taken on the NAU as a major issue, they have created a sufficient stir to awaken a significant portion of the Liberal Party to question the lack of transparency in trilateral negotiations involved in the SPP, despite the fact that their Party's two previous Prime Ministers are commonly looked upon as the original architects of Canada's involvement in the original negotiations which precipitated all this, in the signing of the NAFTA Treaty (implemented by PM Jean Chrétien) and the SPP (PM Paul Martin).

Some links to these groups:

http://www.canadians.org/

http://www.canadianactionparty.ca/home.html

http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article/163939368-timeline-of-the-progress-toward-a-north-american-union

http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2007_08_15.shtml

http://www.liberal.ca/search_e.aspx?q=SPP&x=0&y=0

It might be interesting to note that, although the media and government in our country are touting the very idea of a North American Union as right-wing conspiracy paranoia, it is touted by the Canadian government as left-wing paranoia. Politics certainly does make strange bedfellows.

How is it, you might ask, that the Canadians have become so proactive on this issue while the citizens of the United States are still, by and large, totally oblivious? It might well have something to do with a preponderance of the elected representatives and officials of most, if not all, the political parties recognizing the issue and opening dialogues with the citizenry, whether it be for or against. They are not buying into the "nonexistence" or "conspiracy" theories and recognize that the North American Union is a very real possibility, so many resent being left out of the loop by their leadership. The media is also much more attentive to the goings-on than our mainstream media in this country. As you could see from the earlier video, a summit meeting between the Heads of State of Canada, the United States, and Mexico drew national media awareness, and the nation took notice. This is why so much attention has been focused on the SPP/NAU since that meeting took place last year in Canada. Even the potentially conspiratorial nature of the issue is not being ridiculed by the press, as in the incident at the Montebello demonstration where it was alleged that the only attempted violence was perpetrated by three undercover policemen:

There is also something else that we, in this country, have been experiencing for nearly a decade, whereas the Canadians have been spared...a palpable sense of fear, being exacerbated rather than diminished by the solutions offered by our government to address that fear. Homeland Security and the Patriot Act have done little more than appreciably limit the freedoms that had always been a very important part of the American character. The "War Against Terrorism" has taken us into an era of direct conflict which makes the Cold War years pale in comparison. The economy has been manipulated into a state which has actually begun to lead to comparisons to the Weimar Republic (also see "hyperinflation") in Germany in the years prior to World War II. These enormous distractions could easily turn our attention away from their root cause, which is altering the very nature of our country.

The activities and inner workings of the United States government...CLASSIFIED!

]]> http://moshcalifar.wordpress.com/?p=902 Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:59:15 +0000 moshcalifar http://moshcalifar.wordpress.com/?p=902

Cotidianul elitelor titreaza asa : “Marinarul Băsescu obligă SPP să cumpere o şalupă de mare viteză “

S.P.P. se executa  rapid : contractul de furnizare a barcii cu motor si a dispozitivului de transport a ambarcatiunii cand este pe uscat, a fost castigat de firma Euronautica Motors S.R.L., pentru suma de 93.900 lei, adica 25.683 euro .

Asa si ? Pai bine ma deontologilor care sunteti deontologi asta-i exprimare ?

1 Se zice “ Presedintele meu “ , da ?

2 Cum adica " marinar  " ?!

Pai  daca era pilot de vanatoare ma ?

Pai aveti idee cat v-ar fi costat  un F117 sau un B2 ?

Di kotaku, sekarang SD dan SMP gratis biaya SPP (negeri). Itu salah satu janji dari walikota waktu kampanye dulu. Biaya SPP di Indonesia berapa sih? Tidak lebih dari Rp. 20.000. Memang menjadi gratis, tapi pihak sekolah cari cara bagaimana mendapat duit dari siswanya. Mulai dari harus ikut les, beli buku yang sebenarnya sudah disediakan gratis oleh pemerintah melalui ebook yang dapat diunduh gratis di internet dan macam-macam. Setiap semester tidak kurang dari Rp. 250.000 hanya untuk beli buku. Aku jadi inget waktu sekolah dulu, rasanya tidak pernah yang namanya harus beli buku, semua disediakan oleh sekolah dan tiap sekolah bukunya sama. Sekarang tiap sekolah bukunya berbeda tergantung kepala sekolah kerjasama dengan penerbit mana?.

Kapan Indonesia menjadi pintar?. Kapan anak sekolah di Indonesia dituntut untuk menjadi perhapal terbaik, buka menjadi seorang analis yang pintar?. Rasanya mimpi kalau sekolah itu gratis. Mungkin tidak perlu jargon 'sekolah gratis' dijadikan komoditas kampanye. Sudah ah ..... mau ke sekolah bayar buku dulu.

We are forming a central Minnesota working group dedicated to passing legislation that would make illegal in the state of Minnesota, any efforts by any official, elected or appointed, any business group or interest, or any individual or groups of individuals, to discuss, negotiate, enable or otherwise compel the implementation of the NAFTA super highway through our state.

The NAFTA highway will eat up hundreds of thousands of acres of land, much of it farm and small communities.  The actual highway, which will be six football fields wide, will have exits only at specified points where a military checkpoint will be established. 

The numerous exits from the existing interstate system will be eliminated effectively establishing a barrier to free travel.  Our country will be split into two sections if this highway system is allowed to go forward.  You will need RFID documentation to enter or exit the highway and will have to state your purpose for either action.  

The central NAFTA highway is only one of three planned that will divide the country into sections and effectively cut off unauthorized travel. 

The NAFTA highway has been contracted by CINTRA a multinational corporation originating in Spain with ties to Mexico.  As it is, our communities are under siege from illegal immigrants.  This highway, which would come out of Mexico and go all the way into Canada, will only facilitate increased drug trafficking and crime and an increase in illegal immigration. 

This highway has been planned for more than ten years and is now incorporated into the Security & Prosperity Partnership and is being facilitated by the many working groups assembled by the current administration in violation of our Constitution.  Also at stake is the sovereignty of our state as declared in the 14^th

amendment.   

Although several states have passed resolutions forbidding the NAFTA highway construction in their states, Minnesota has no such plans.  Not one of our senators or representatives has put forth any initiative to stop this highway and protect our state.

We are looking for people interested in writing legislation prohibiting any agent of any kind, associated with the government or not, from engaging in any activity which would promote this highway. 

The self determination of our state is at stake.  If you would be interested in working on this project please contact:

Marti Oakley                                                

fireflyari@meltel.net                                   

ANTARA TANAH DAN AKSES PENDIDIKAN

Oleh P Bambang Wisudo

 Pendidikan dan penguasaan atas tanah merupakan modal yang mesti

dimiliki petani untuk hidup sejahtera. Akan tetapi justru dua hal itu

jarang dimiliki petani. Sebagian besar petani tidak memiliki akses

terhadap pendidikan dan tanah. Proses marjinalisasi pun berlangsung

turun-temurun. Penguasa silih berganti, tetapi nasib petani makin

terpinggirkan. Berharap suatu hari negara berpihak pada petani ibarat

menunggu godot.

Para petani di Pasawahan yang tinggal di sekitar areal eks

perkebunan karet di pegunungan Cipucung, sekitar 70 kilometer dari

Kota Ciamis, memilih tidak tinggal diam. Mereka bersama-sama berjuang

untuk mendapatkan akses atas tanah dan pendidikan untuk anak-anak

mereka. Hasilnya pun mulai dirasakan sekarang. Selain berhasil

mendapatkan tanah garapan, para petani itu kini memiliki sebuah

sekolah yang diidam-idamkan.

"Bagi saya, sekolah adalah nomor dua. Hal pertama yang harus

diperjuangkan adalah tanah," kata Oyon (48), tokoh masyarakat di Desa

Pasawahan, Jawa Barat.

Pada awal tahun 2000, Oyon bersama sejumlah petani Pasawahan

mulai bergerak. Mereka mengajukan permohonan untuk menggarap tanah

eks perusahaan perkebunan karet yang ditelantarkan sejak tahun 1993.

Kawasan perkebunan karet tersebut sudah ditumbuhi semak belukar.

Dua bulan permohonan itu tidak dijawab. Yakin bahwa hak guna

usaha tanah perkebunan itu telah berakhir, para petani yang bergabung

dalam Serikat Petani Pasundan itu kembali mengajukan permohonan

menggarap tanah ke tingkat kabupaten. Permohonan itu lagi-lagi tidak

dijawab. Setahun kemudian para petani melakukan aksi reklaiming

dengan menebangi pohon-pohon karet yang ada di kawasan itu.

Dari lahan yang direklaim sekitar 170 hektar, tiap keluarga

petani mendapatkan tanah garapan sekitar 200 bata atau sekitar

seperempat hektar. Sampai sekarang Badan Pertanahan Nasional belum

memberi lampu hijau tanah itu dikembalikan pada petani.

"Saya yakin tanah ini nanti akan jatuh ke rakyat," kata Oyonyang

bersekolah hanya sampai kelas VI SD.

Perjuangan para petani Pasawahan tidak berhenti di situ. Setelah

kehidupan para petani itu mulai tertata, mereka bersama berembuk

untuk menggarap pendidikan. Sampai tahun 2002, hanya sekitar 5 persen

anak usia SMP di desa itu yang bersekolah. Setelah lulus SD biasanya

anak-anak laki-laki menghabiskan waktunya untuk bermain. Anak-anak

perempuan membantu ibunya, menjadi buruh jahit bordir, atau kawin di

bawah umur.

Dengan bantuan aktivis SPP yang tinggal di desa itu sebagai guru

sukarelawan, tahun ajaran baru 2003 mereka mulai menyelenggarakan

sekolah. Bangunannya meminjam gedung madrasah. Anak-anak yang datang

dari desa lain tinggal satu pondokan bersama guru-guru.

SMP Plus Pasawahan kini memiliki 65 murid. Mereka telah memiliki

gedung sekolah dengan bangunan permanen. Dua kelas dibangun dengan

dana swadya masyarakat. Dana yang terkumpul dari petani dan sahabat

sekolah tidak kurang dari Rp 80 juta. Bangunan sekolah dibuat tinggi.

Plafon dibuat dari papan kayu, dipergunakan untuk perpustakaan dan

tempat penginapan. Dua lainnya dibangun dari hibah Departemen

Pendidikan sebesar Rp 100 juta. Sekolah itu berdiri di atas areal

pertanian seluas empat hektar, bekas tanah perkebunan karet, yang

masih bermasalah.

"Dulu, sebelum ada sekolah ini, anak-anak Pasawahan paling-paling

bersekolah sampai lulus SD. Banyak anak yang tidak bisa melanjutkan

sekolah. Memang, katanya, sekolah gratis tetapi tetap saja butuh

ongkos transpor. Padahal petani di sini hidup pas-pasan," kata

Sartiwi (17), siswa kelas III SMP Plus Pasawahan.

Untuk mencapai lokasi SMP terdekat, anak-anak di Pasawahan harus

mengeluarkan ongkos ojek sekitar Rp 10.000 per hari. Belum lagi kalau

hujan, jalanan tidak bisa dilewati.

Cerita Sartiwi dibenarkan Saud Sunaryo (50). Kata Sunaryo, petani

di desa itu sebenarnya ingin anak-anaknya terus sekolah paling tidak

sampai lulus SMP. Namun karena berat di ongkos, mereka akhirnya

membiarkan anak-anak putus sekolah. Saud menuturkan, di desa itu

memang pernah didirikan kelas jauh tetapi bubar setelah dua bulan

berjalan.

Keberadaan SMP Plus Pasawahan ternyata bukan hanya berkah bagi

anak-anak Pasawahan, tetapi juga bagi anak-anak dari desa-desa di

Ciamis Selatan yang menjadi wilayah kerja Serikat Petani Pasundan.

Dari 65 anak yang kini belajar di SMP Plus Pasawahan, sejumlah 22

anak berasal dari desa lain. Mereka tinggal di pondokan bersama guru.

Pondokannya sangat sederhana. Mereka hanya tidur di lantai beralaskan

tikar. Makanan pun seadanya. Beras disumbang dari petani dan sayur

diambil di kebun. Untuk lauk-pauk, mereka biasanya memperoleh

sepotong ikan asin atau tahu-tempe sebesar ibu jari.

"Kami memasak secara bergantian. Semua anak di sini bisa

memasak," kata Deni Sunaryo (16).

Anak-anak petani yang bersekolah di SMP Plus Paswahan merupakan

anak-anak yang beruntung. Sekalipun memiliki seragam, mereka tidak

harus bersekolah dengan mengenakan baju seragam. Mereka boleh pergi

sekolah tanpa bersepatu. Tidak seperti anak-anak di sekolah pada

umumnya, mereka bisa berinteraksi bebas dengan kawan-kawan dan guru.

Mereka bisa belajar sambil tiduran. Mereka memiliki waktu yang

leluasa untuk berkesenian. Dua jam tiap hari Jumat dan sehari penuh

tiap hari Sabtu mereka belajar bertani.

Tidak hanya itu. Tiap hari anak-anak itu dibiasakan menulis.

Mereka bisa menulis puisi, cerita pendek, laporan kunjungan lapangan,

ataupun membuat jurnal pengalaman mereka berkebun. Tiap anak mendapat

bagian tanah untuk bereksperimen seluas 2 x 5 meter yang bebas

dipergunakan untuk menanam apa saja. Rata-rata anak kelas II telah

menghasilkan puluhan puisi.

Tiap bulan mereka menerbitkan buletin kelas yang diperbanyak

dengan cara fotokopi. Sebagian dari mereka, ketika baru masuk ke SMP

Plus Pasawahan, masih gagap membaca dan menulis. Kini membaca dan

menulis menjadi menu penting dalam keseharian mereka.

Sekolah itu dilayani oleh empat belas guru, tiga di antaranya

adalah anak-anak muda aktivis petani dari luar desa. Mereka bekerja

tanpa dibayar. Baru beberapa bulan ini saja mereka mendapatkan uang

transpor sebesar Rp 7.000 sehari mengajar berkat adanya dana bantuan

operasional sekolah.

Saeful Milah (25), alumnus Universitas Galuh, sudah hampir dua

tahun mengajar di Pasawahan tanpa memperoleh gaji. Ia makan dan tidur

bersama anak-anak. Saeful sebelumnya pernah mengajar di Madrasah

Tsanawiyah Sururon Garut. Sejak semester empat ia sudah terlibat

dalam kegiatan-kegiatan pendampingan petani.

"Tidak terpikir mau berapa tahun saya mengajar di sini. Kalau

sekolah ini sudah aman, tenaga pengajarnya mencukupi, saya baru mau

meninggalkan sekolah ini dan merintis di tempat lain," kata Saeful.

Haslinda Qadariyah (28), jebolan Fakultas Ilmu Komunikasi

Universitas Padjadjaran, juga jatuh hati pada SMP Plus Sururon. Ia

tidak merisaukan masa depannya. "Tidak tahu sampai kapan saya di

sini. Anak-anaklah yang bikin saya betah. Kalau bisa, saya ingin lama

tinggal di sini," kata Haslinda.

SMP Plus Pasawahan merupakan kebanggaan petani Pasawahan. Di

areal bekas tanah perkebunan, yang hanya bisa dijangkau dengan

bersusah payah dengan menggunakan ojek atau mobil bak terbuka,

terdapat sebuah sekolah yang tidak kalah dengan sekolah-sekolah di

kota.

Perjuangan untuk memperoleh hak atas tanah dan pendidikan

memberikan harapan baru bagi para petani yang selama ini dipinggirkan.***

Dr Robert Bowman

ThePatriots.us

17 Aug 2007

by Dr. Robert M. Bowman, Lt. Col., USAF, ret.; National Commander, The Patriots

I am going to ask you to pretend that I am speaking to you as President of the United States and giving my State of the Union Address shortly after inauguration. Your role is as Members of Congress, the Supreme Court, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Cabinet, and various dignitaries. Your task, as is always the case in these events, is to cheer and clap like crazy when you hear something you agree with . and to sit on your hands when you don't. The purpose of this is, of course, to let the people watching on television know what they're supposed to think. Seated behind me are the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate (the Vice President of the United States ).

Madam Speaker, Madam President, distinguished Members of the Congress, honored guests, and my fellow Americans: The United States is unquestionably number one in the industrialized world: number one in our use of the world's resources, number one in the production of pollution, number one in the gap between the rich and the poor, number one in deaths by gunfire, number one in teen pregnancy, number one in poverty among the elderly, number one in citizens without health coverage, number one in child poverty, number one in homeless veterans, and number one in citizens behind bars. We are the world's #1 debtor nation, #1 in the creation of new billionaires, #1 in school dropouts, #1 in poverty, homelessness, hunger, divorce, suicide, and (oh yes) #1 in military force, nuclear weapons, and military spending -- as much as all the other nations in the world combined. We also lead the world in the number of hours worked per family, since it now takes two wage-earners and three jobs to provide the income earned with one 40 hour per week job in the 1950s. Despite soaring productivity, real wages are now a third of what they were in the 1950s. If it wasn't for corporate control of our government and the resulting trickle-down economics, ordinary workers could support their families with one job . working two days a week! Would you like to have a five-day weekend every week? If worker pay had kept pace with executive pay, the average worker would now be making a million dollars a year!! and the minimum wage would be $171 an hour!

What do you call a country in which the gap between the rich and the poor is growing beyond bounds, whose principal exports are wood pulp and scrap metal, whose principal imports are manufactured goods, and whose fastest-growing industry is the construction and operation of private prisons? A third world country. That is the state of the union we have inherited.

In our government's drive to protect the far-flung financial interests of multinational corporations, we have abandoned our principles and fought wars of aggression against small countries. We have overthrown popularly-elected leaders and installed puppet dictators who sell out their own people to our corporations. In our drive toward a corporate New World Order, we have sold out our workers, our families, our environment, our children's futures, and the American dream. This too is the state of the union we have inherited.

We have had the opportunity to create a land without want. What went wrong? Why are our workers paid such a tiny percentage of their true worth? Why are we the only major nation without a national health program? Why are our high school graduates two years behind their counterparts in other countries? Why are we hated by so many around the world? Why do we have hundreds of thousands of troops patrolling foreign lands and supporting foreign dictators? What is going on?

The answer, I'm afraid, is that we have lost our republic. Legislators no longer represent the people who elect them, but the corporations who finance them. They answer not to their constituents, but to the lobbyists who line their pockets and fill their campaign coffers.

For years now, through both major political parties, the world's billionaires have directed U.S. policy for their own personal profit. This has included agreements like NAFTA, CAFTA, and the World Trade Organization falsely portrayed as supporting free trade, but in reality promoting free investment , overturning U.S. laws, and putting American workers in competition with those in the Third World . NAFTA, for example, has destroyed the standard of living and quality of life on BOTH sides of the Rio Grande , and by driving Mexican farmers off the land, has been largely responsible for the flood of illegal immigrants into our country.

Corporate control of our government has also resulted in a series of wars, from Iraq to Bosnia to Kosovo to Afghanistan to Iraq again -- wars which are never in the interest of those fighting them, or of the families left behind . wars which only serve the insatiable greed of the global investor class.

Those of us who dedicate our lives to peace, economic justice, and environmental preservation can make little progress in our struggles so long as ultimate power is in the hands of those who profit from war, poverty, and pollution.

Well, I didn't get here tonight by taking corporate millions. I didn't get here by selling myself to the oil companies, the pharmaceutical companies, the insurance companies . . To be quite honest, I'm not sure how I got here! But here I am, and as long as I am President of the United States , this government will serve the needs of the people, not the greeds of the wealthy elite.

Turning things around won't be easy. What our Constitution empowers me to change, I shall. But for much of what needs doing, I will need the cooperation of you in Congress, and I ask for it tonight. The Constitution does not make me "the decider," only the proposer and the implementer. You, the people's representatives, are the deciders. I am therefore vacating all the over 800 signing statements imposed by my predecessor. I'm revoking Presidential Directives 20 and 51, which give me dictatorial powers. I ask for repeal of the misnamed Patriot Act and all the martial law and special and dictatorial powers acts passed in the last seven years. This is not a monarchy!

But I warn you members of Congress. If you continue to violate your Constitutional responsibility to serve your constituents, and instead serve only yourselves and the big money interests you are indebted to, if you ignore the Constitution and attempt to protect the crooked corporate-dominated status quo, I will go over your heads to the American people and ask them to retire all of you, regardless of party.

We must sever the connection between big money and political power. This means electoral reform and media reform. The latter can be done now. I have ordered the Federal Communications Commission to reinstate the equal time rules and to reimplement the ban on multiple ownership. A free press is incompatible with corporate monopoly domination of the media.

Electoral reform is a little more complicated. The immediate need is for paper ballots. We also need Instant Runoff Voting, Proportional Representation, the elimination of burdensome petition requirements for qualifying third party and independent candidates, making Election Day a federal holiday so working people can actually vote, and true campaign finance reform.

Once we succeed in separating big money and political power, everything becomes possible. In this richest of nations, we can and we will guarantee every American access to a good education, a decent job at a living wage, and health care. As a conservative, I believe that the only fiscally responsible way to provide universal health care is to kick the insurance companies out of health care completely with a doctor-run single-payer national health program.

We will also guarantee every American the undiluted protections of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Fear of terrorism is not going to make this nation a police state.

As a step toward the living wage, I propose that the Minimum Wage be indexed for inflation and, over a ten year period, be raised to what it would have been had it been so indexed at its creation (currently over $14 an hour).

As you know, the previous administration resigned under threat of impeachment over their exploitation of the 9/11 tragedy to deceive this nation into unnecessary and illegal wars of aggression. They still face court-martial proceedings over abuse of power as Commander in Chief. The evidence of their guilt was overwhelming. This evidence is in the PNAC document calling for the permanent occupation of Iraq justified by a "new Pearl Harbor ." It is in Richard Clarke's book in which he notes an immediate attempt by the Bush administration to tie Iraq to 9/11 - regardless of the facts. It is in videotaped statements of Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld themselves using 9/11 to justify the Iraq War. It is in CIA documents showing that Wolfowitz, Perle, Libby, Feith, and others "cherry picked" intelligence for use by Cheney and their other bosses. It is in the Downing Street memo which says that the intelligence was being tailored to fit the policy. And it is in speeches by me and others prior to the invasion of Iraq , in which we laid out the truth, predicted the inevitable results, and noted that such an invasion would be an impeachable offense and an act of treason.

There is also evidence of a massive cover-up with respect to 9/11 itself. The official 9/11 Report, tightly controlled by the White House, amounts to little but a whitewash. When combined with the confiscation of videotapes, audio tapes, black boxes, and other evidence by the FBI, it is clear that regardless of who was responsible for 9/11, the subsequent cover-up was itself a conspiracy involving elements of the White House and the intelligence establishment.

This is important because, remember, Richard Nixon wasn't undone by the two-bit break-in at the Watergate, but for the cover-up. Bill Clinton wasn't impeached for his sexual encounters with Monica Lewinsky, but for stretching the truth when asked about it. Scooter Libby wasn't convicted for leaking Valerie Plame's identity, but for lying about when he learned about it. Martha Stewart didn't serve time for insider trading, but for not telling the truth. Is there ANYONE who believes the Bush administration always told the TRUTH about 9/11?

This raises the question, "If the Bush Administration had nothing to hide, why did they hide everything?" Were they covering up guilt or incompetence? If it was incompetence, why was no one demoted or fired or court-martialed or even reprimanded? If they were protecting guilty parties, are they Saudis? Pakistanis? Israelis? Americans? All the above? And why on earth aren't the people's representatives in Congress asking these questions . and demanding answers?

The American people have still not been told who was really responsible for 9/11. Dedicated researchers [like Dr. David Ray Griffin, Dr. Kevin Barrett , and Dr. Steven Jones] have proven that it could not have happened the way the Bush administration said it did. Hijacked airliners do not fly around for an hour and 40 minutes without being intercepted . unless our air defense system was deliberately sabotaged. Indestructible "black boxes" are not vaporized by the same fire from which undamaged passports float to the street below. Steel skyscrapers do not implode and collapse at free-fall speed because of a kerosene fire. Steel buildings do not collapse at all because of a kerosene fire (never have and never will). And building seven wasn't even struck by an airplane. {3 minute video of WTC 7} Millions of 9/11 Truthers consider this the "smoking gun" that "proves" 9/11 was an inside job. But even if they're wrong, even if the Bush administration's official conspiracy theory was essentially correct, [you know, the one about 19 Arabs with box-cutters and an old man on a dialysis machine in a cave. Even if that official conspiracy theory was essentially correct,] the American people would still need to know (for example) why our multi-trillion dollar defense establishment failed to protect even their own headquarters from an unarmed aircraft. The truth about 9/11 is that after six years we still don't know the truth about 9/11 . and we should. I am therefore appointing a commission to conduct a new and truly-independent investigation of 9/11. It will have oversight by a few of you in Congress, by Senator Max Cleland, by Dr. David Ray Griffin, theologian, of the 9/11 Truth movement, by Karen Breitweiser and Mindy Kleinberg, Jersey girls, representing the families of victims, and by Sibel Edmonds and other whistle-blowers in the FBI. They will have full subpoena power, able to require sworn public testimony from anyone up to including me and the former president and vice president. I think we've had enough so-called testimony behind closed doors with no oaths and no transcripts. This time, we want the truth! The new commission will examine all the evidence, even that which seems to contradict the official story (and there's a mountain of it), and it will have no predetermined conclusions about who the conspirators were. (They won't even assume Cheney is guilty.) There have been all too many Pearl Harbors , Gulfs of Tonkin, 9/11s, and Reichstag Fires. We must make it clear that the truth will out. Never again must we allow this nation to be stampeded into war under false pretenses.

Speaking of war, the new Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and I have redefined two basic missions for our armed forces: (1) deterring anyone from attacking the United States with weapons of mass destruction, and (2) defending our shores and borders from foreign invasion. Period. This redefinition of mission will, after a few years of transition, result in a peace dividend of $400 Billion per year . with no one joining the ranks of the jobless. Until new contracts come out for renewable energy, non-polluting transportation, and the rebuilding of our infrastructure, there are to be no layoffs. If we can pay farmers not to grow crops, we can pay engineers and machinists not to build weapons.

Among the new weapons they will NOT build are new nuclear weapons and "Star Wars" weapons in space.

The part of the defense budget which is absolutely inviolable is that part which takes care of our veterans. The VA must be fully funded. The cost of caring for the disabled combat veterans from the Iraq War alone will be in the trillions of dollars over their lifetimes. But it is a cost we must bear. The signature wound of this war is brain trauma. Yet the Bush Administration slashed the budget for the Brain Trauma Center by 50%. To create so many thousands of disabled veterans in their wars of aggression and then refuse to take proper care of them was perhaps the worst sin of the Bush administration. The care of those wounded in action, wracked by PTSD, and poisoned by Depleted Uranium is NOT a discretionary expenditure to be avoided by delay, denial, and bureaucratic red tape. It is a solemn obligation of this government, and it will be met.

In the last half a century, the United States has gone from savior of the civilized world to the number one rogue nation on earth. As a result, despite spending a billion and a half dollars a day on military power, the American people are less secure today than at any time since the end of the Civil War. The expenditure of fourteen trillion dollars since World War II has brought our people only more insecurity, massive debt, and the loss of many of the cherished rights enshrined in our Constitution.

It's time for the cycle to end. It's time to end the belligerence, bring home our troops, and rejoin the family of nations. And that's what we're going to do.

To set the stage for discussing our plans for Iraq , I would like to give you a little historical background. First, I'd like to read a few excerpts from a speech I gave to an anti-war rally on February 15, 2003 , a month before the Iraq War started.

"Saddam Hussein is a bad guy. He's a bad guy now. He was a bad guy in 1990 when April Glaspie of the State Department gave him the green light to invade Kuwait . He was a bad guy in the 1980s when Donald Rumsfeld sat down with him for a chat while Saddam was supposedly gassing the Kurds. He was a bad guy in 1977 when Zbigniew Brzezinski met with him and proposed the invasion of Iran . And he was a bad guy in the 1960s when the CIA hired him to assassinate Iraqi leader Abdel Karim Qassim and then helped Saddam take over Iraq . He's always been a bad guy. But he was always our bad guy. Right up to 1990, official DoD documents praised Saddam for vastly improving the education, medical care, and standard of living of his people, along with women's rights and religious freedom. His regime was called one of the most enlightened, progressive governments in the region . and it was.

"But there was a problem. The Berlin wall had come down and the Soviet Union had collapsed. The first Bush White House had to find another bad guy - fast, to justify the defense budget. And they did -- Saddam Hussein. They suckered him into attacking Kuwait , and the first Gulf War was on.

"Now the second President Bush wants his Gulf War too. But starting a preemptive war against Iraq : (1) would be immoral. (2) would be costly, in terms of American lives and in dollars. (3) would require us to keep troops in Iraq indefinitely. (4) would come between us and our allies. (5) would incense the Arab world. (6) would provide Osama bin Laden with thousands of new recruits, and (7) would therefore greatly increase the terrorist threat.

"As a combat veteran, I will not stand idly by and watch our security destroyed by a president who went AWOL rather than fight in Vietnam .

"When I joined the Air Force, I swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States against all enemies -- foreign and domestic. That includes a renegade president. If they go ahead with this war, I will call for the impeachment of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and the whole oil mafia. This war would be treason! God bless America ! And God save us from George W. Bush!"

That was Feb 15, 2003 . A month later, troops were massed in Kuwait , but "Shock and awe" hadn't yet started. This is a little of what I said on Mar 15, 2003 , on the eve of the war.

"I've been severely criticized for speaking out in opposition to this coming war. We're told that we're aiding and abetting the enemy. We're told that we should support the president no matter what. Well I say, "Hogwash!"

"I feel an affinity for the troops deployed in Kuwait . They are my comrades in arms. But the truth is, they are not over there protecting our freedoms. Our freedoms are not under attack by Saddam Hussein. Our freedoms are under attack by John Ashcroft. They are threatened by John Poindexter. They are trampled by Donald Rumsfeld. They are disdained by Dick Cheney. And they are not even understood by George W. Bush.

"The troops surrounding Iraq are not protecting us. We are protecting them . and their honor . and their freedoms . by speaking truth to power.

"Here is the truth that we proclaim. This coming war has nothing to do with national security or freedom or democracy or human rights or protecting our allies or weapons of mass destruction or defeating terrorism or disarming Iraq . It has to do with money. It has to do with oil. And it has to do with raw imperial power. And it is wrong.

"A preemptive war would be immoral, illegal, unconstitutional, a war crime against the people of Iraq , and treason against the United States of America ."

That was Mar 15, 2003 , on the eve of the Iraq War. Now the point of this bit of history is that we in the peace movement knew better. We weren't taken in by the doctored and manipulated intelligence and the outright untruths we were told to justify this war.

One more little bit of history. I would like to quote briefly from the memoirs of the first President Bush, written before his son got the job.

"Trying to eliminate Saddam .. would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq. . there was no viable 'exit strategy' we could see. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."

My sisters and brothers, it's just too darn bad his son doesn't read!

Now here we are four years and 3,700 American lives later. This misguided war has cost more American lives than 9/11 and has dragged on longer than World War II. Yet we still have no accountability for how this war started. We know that most of you lily-livered members of Congress from both parties abdicated your Constitutional responsibility to declare war . or not, and gave a blank check to the imperial presidency. We also know that you were lied to by George W. Bush and his people. What I can't figure out is how you believed those lies. I sure didn't. Are the members of Congress that much more stupid than we in the peace movement? Or did you really know better, but were just being lap-dogs for the fat-cats as usual?

Well, in 2006 the Democrats took control of Congress. Months went by . and more months went by, and you still failed to hold President Bush accountable for his lies. What on earth was wrong with you?

It's a hackneyed expression, and you've heard it many times, but it's true: " Clinton lied, no one died." If it was OK to impeach Bill Clinton for fibbing about an event which only embarrassed his family and soiled a blue dress, what took you so long to impeach Cheney and Bush for deceiving us into a war costing so many thousands of lives? Where's the accountability?

If it was right for Richard Nixon to have to resign under threat of impeachment for covering up an attempt to peek at the other party's plans, why was it not right for you to immediately get rid of those responsible not only for two deadly wars of aggression, but also for the loss of habeas corpus, spying on American citizens, torturing suspects in the phony war on terror, saddling our grandchildren with more trillions in debt, giving away our sovereignty with the North American Union, and subverting the Constitution itself? Where is the accountability?

Much changed while George W. Bush was in office. Nearly 3,000 died on 9/11. Many more than that died in his wars and occupations. There are more than 27,000 wounded soldiers whose lives will never be the same. There are tens of thousands of young men and women with serious psychological problems because of what they have seen and what they have done. There are hundreds of thousands poisoned by Depleted Uranium who will suffer lives of pain and disability, and who will father thousands of children with severe birth defects. Our military services are depleted and demoralized. The VA system is overwhelmed. The National Guard and Reserves have been subjected to tour after tour, disrupting lives for even the lucky ones who return unscathed. Jobs have been lost, marriages have been destroyed, homes have been foreclosed, children have been estranged, and natural disasters like Katrina have been undealt with. And still, there was no accountability.

That was just in this country. In Iraq , things were even worse. Religious liberty was lost, mosques, churches, and synagogues which thrived under Saddam were destroyed, women lost their rights and freedoms, essential services were disrupted, people were tortured, hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians were killed, cities like Fallujah lie in ruins, and in spite of heroic efforts by the vast majority of our young men and women in uniform, most of the remaining people of Iraq are much worse off than they were before we "liberated" them.

More than four years of war have destroyed Iraq , destroyed our standing in the world, destroyed our national security, destroyed our civil liberties, destroyed precious lives, and brought our nation to the brink of financial disaster. And it was all predictable, because we in fact predicted it! The hundreds of billions of dollars already spent on this war have not just vanished. They have gone to Condoleezza Rice's Chevron-Texaco and Dick Cheney's Halliburton and George Bush's Carlisle Group, and through their lobbyists into the pockets of you Congressional incumbents. Perhaps that's why there has been no accountability.

Well no longer. The American people finally got together and demanded a government which (1) follows the Constitution, (2) honors the truth, and (3) serves the people. And that's exactly what we intend to give them.

I am asking the UN to send peacekeepers to Iraq to do a job we can't do as an occupying army. But whether or not they do, we will leave completely within three months. We are going to support what's left of our troops by bringing them home while they are still alive.

Terrorism is a real threat. In the short term we must protect the American people from the terrorists our misguided policies have already created. This means enhancing port security and strengthening the border patrol and Coast Guard. These we will do.

But in the long term, we must stop making more terrorists. That means stopping policies and actions which make people fear and hate us. It means listening to the legitimate grievances of peoples we have wronged, and then changing our ways. Only one thing has ever ended a campaign of terror (anywhere in the world) -- separating the handful of terrorists from the larger community upon which they depend. This is done by ending the feelings of desperation, hopelessness, and powerlessness afflicting the people. It is done by listening to them and then actually making their lives better. It is not done by revenge and retaliation, which only create more terrorists.

We have at times (including, I think, the last few years) had a government with bad policies. But we are a good people. What we have long needed is a government which reflects the values and goodness of the American people.

Our values and goodness are not reflected by a government which violates international law in its conflicts and denies its own citizens their Constitutional rights. I have therefore ordered the release of all those being detained without charge, the closure of the prison at Guantanamo Bay (we'll find somewhere else for Bush and Cheney), and the end of the "rendition" program in which suspects are kidnapped and taken to secret foreign prisons to be tortured. All contracts for mercenaries, including those with Blackwater, are being cancelled. This includes contracts with DoD, CIA, and the Department of Homeland Security (which, by the way, is being abolished). There will be no more Blackwater goons terrorizing the poor people of New Orleans .

I have also pardoned a host of political prisoners, including Border Patrol agents jailed for 12 years for doing their job against a Mexican drug smuggler bringing 700 pounds of cocaine across the border. Agents Campean and Ramos are now free. I have also pardoned Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu Jamal, and I've given a blanket pardon to all those convicted of the possession or use of small amounts of marijuana.

(I must admit to you, however, that I have NOT pardoned Scooter Libby. He will at least have to pay his fine.)

Our values and goodness are not reflected by a government which promotes a globalization which depresses living standards at home and allows corporations to destroy the quality of life in banana republics and client states all over the world. The WTO, the IMF, and the World Bank have caused untold suffering. If we can't reform them, we will abolish them.

With respect to our relationship with the government of Mexico, I have ordered (1) the cancellation of the "Security and Prosperity Partnership" or "North American Union", (2) abandonment of plans for a NAFTA Super Highway which would have put nearly all American longshoremen and truckers out of work, and (3) suspension of NAFTA completely until Mexico gives its workers union rights, protections for safety, health, and the environment, and wages at least matching the US federal Minimum Wage.

From now on, globalization will mean raising living standards in developing nations to match ours - not the other way around.

Our values and goodness are not reflected by a system in which all our personal income taxes go to pay interest on a staggering national debt created out of thin air. The Constitution authorizes Congress to print our money, not a private cartel. I ask Congress to pass legislation abolishing the Federal Reserve.

Our values and goodness are not reflected by a government which uses our money to train death squads in the techniques of torture, intimidation, and assassination. The School of the Americas (by whatever name they choose to call it) will be closed. [As Commander-in-Chief, I have ordered that the students presently attending the School be shown the movies "Romero" and "Panama Deception" and then sent home.]

Our values and goodness are not reflected by a government which gives Most Favored Nation status to the butchers of Tienanmen Square and places an illegal secondary embargo on the impoverished people of Cuba . The embargo of Cuba must end! And it just did.

I recognize that we need advance information on the activities of Al Qaeda and those who wish to do us harm. But our values and goodness are not reflected by, and our security is not enhanced by, an organization which promotes instability, insurrection, tyranny, torture, terrorism, murder, and war around the world in our name and with our money. If the CIA won't stick to gathering intelligence, I will abolish it.

Our values and goodness are not reflected by a government which sends its working-class youth around the world to kill the sons and daughters of working people in other countries. Our values and goodness are not reflected by sending our children to the Middle East to kill Arabs so the oil companies can profit from selling the oil under other people's sand, making us the target of terrorists.

No more Iraqs . No more Kosovos. No more El Salvadors. These are not isolated incidents of stupidity. They are part of a long, bloody history of foreign policy being conducted for the financial interests of the wealthy few. It is a new form of colonialism. It violates our Constitution. It endangers our national security. It mortgages our future. It sacrifices our children. It must stop . and it just did.

As president, I will use the men and women in our Armed Forces to protect our borders and our people, not the financial interests of Folgers, Chiquita Banana, Exxon, and Halliburton. Needless to say, there will be NO nuclear attack on Iran . My special envoy to the Middle East , Jimmy Carter, will be meeting with them to solve our differences. Once he has finished there, he will straighten out the Israelis and Palestinians.

With over sixty years having passed since World War II, and with the Cold War long since over, I see no reason why we should still be occupying Germany and Japan . Our global military presence will end within two years. This is not isolationism. It is common sense. It is in the security interest of our people. And it is obeying our Constitution for a change.

Instead of a worldwide military presence, we are going to have a humanitarian presence. Along with the other wealthy nations of the world, we shall initiate a new Marshall Plan, providing funds to rebuild the Middle East as we rebuilt Europe after World War II. We will also have a Domestic Marshall Plan, fulfilling the unkept Bush promises to rebuild New Orleans and the surrounding area. In addition, we will take the lead in complete debt forgiveness for the poorest countries, starting with those in Africa . If we are once again to be a great nation, we must first be a good nation.

Finally, I'd like to speak directly to the American people. I understand that I am but an interim president. I could never have been elected under the present system. I know. I tried in 2000. And I am unlikely to even finish out this term -- partly because I have terminal cancer from Agent Orange, and partly because there are powerful interests with hundreds of billions of reasons for wanting me assassinated. (By the way, if you hear that I have suddenly committed suicide . by shooting myself in the back . with a shotgun . three times, you might be just a little suspicious. They'll call you a conspiracy theorist, but be suspicious anyway.) But, you know, it won't matter. They can kill me, but they can't kill what we have started. It's too late for that. My words, heard tonight by a few, will tomorrow reach many. Through the internet, the vision of The Patriots will spread across the land and around the globe. You, the American people, will not let it die.

I am unlikely to get there with you, but like Brother Martin, I have been to the mountain top, and I have seen the Promised Land.

What I have seen is an America in which every person (regardless of their race, creed, color, age, or sexual orientation) is valued and lives in dignity, every person is cared for, and every person is free to reach his or her full potential.

It is an America in which every family can be supported by one wage-earner with one job paying a living wage. It is an America in which single parents can freely choose to stay home to care for their children or to work outside the home knowing that their children are taken care of in a safe and nurturing environment. It is an America in which health care is provided to all as a right. It is an America in which our youth spend two years in the American World Service Corps, perhaps serving in the Peace Corps or AmeriCorps or Habitat for Humanity or some other worthy organization, in exchange for their higher education, including whatever advanced education the person can successfully handle. It is an America in which educators and teachers are highly valued and financially compensated accordingly. It is an America in which policemen, nurses, poets, firefighters, teachers, and garbage collectors can afford a good house in a nice neighborhood and live in comfort, not just scientists, brain surgeons, CEOs, rock stars, lawyers, and basketball players. It is an America whose borders are secure, immigrants are legal, and workers are amply rewarded. It is an America in which faith is respected, culture is preserved, the arts are supported, and the Constitution is followed.

It is an America that seeks not to be king of the hill nor subservient to the World Trade Organization, but to be a responsible sovereign member of the family of nations (nothing more, and nothing less) . an America that is free of the threat of terrorism because it is no longer feared and hated . an America that leads the world -- not just with military might, but with its vision, its compassion, its democracy, its productivity, its freedom, its standard of living, its care for the global environment, its treatment of its own people, and its goodness. Above all, it is an America at peace with the world and with its own people. That's the America I have seen, the America our people deserve, and the America you can build . and you don't need me to do it.

Spread the word. Keep the dream alive. Drop your own pebbles in the pond and make some waves. Never vote for any politician who takes money from corporations or lobbyists, and never elect a president who raises a hundred million dollars from special interests or is the darling of the corporate media. If you can't find anyone worth voting for, run for office yourself. Cleave to your sisters and brothers all across the political spectrum in demanding the basic reforms I've outlined tonight, and never settle for anything less than government of the people, by the people, and especially for the people.

I know it wasn't original to him, but my old friend, William Sloane Coffin, used to say, "He who makes peaceful change impossible makes violent revolution inevitable." Let us be thankful for our many blessings, bringing us this far on our journey; and let us pray that this, our inevitable second American revolution, will continue to be a nonviolent one.

It matters not if my presidency is real or fanciful. My part is done. It is finished. The rest is in your hands. The future and the dream itself depend on you. May God sustain you in your struggles and bless America through your actions. Thank you, and good night.

Will we let the elite pull the plug on Canada's sovereignty? A documentary exploring the Security and Prosperity Partnership and how it is a stepping stone for an eventual North American Union. The film also explores the resistance movement to the SPP and the protests of August 2007 in Montebello, Canada. For inquiries about obtaining a high-quality DVD, please contact: nations.deathbed.movie@gmail.com or dan@pressfortruth.ca«

http://e3s.ca/torontochange/

KETENTUAN UMUM

1. Pemberian dispensasi pembayaran SPP/BPI berupa : penundaan pembayaran, pengurangan/keringanan, atau pembebasan dari kewajiban membayar SPP dan/atau BPI.
2. Penundaan pembayaran SPP dan/atau BPI hanya dapat diberikan kepada mahasiswa baru yang belum siap dana pada saat mendaftar awal semester satu.
3. Pengurangan/Keringanan atau Pembebasan pembayaran SPP dan/atau BPI dapat diberikan kepada mahasiswa yang termasuk katagori :

• Yatim, Piatu, atau Yatim Piatu, (Orang tuanya PNS UNS dan sudah meninggal dunia), dan nama anak tersebut masuk dalam daftar lampiran gaji (KP4).
• Anak PNS-UNS Golongan I, II yang tidak mempunyai penghasilan lain, selain penghasilan sebagai PNS, dan nama anak masuk dalam daftar lampiran gaji (KP4).
• Anak kandung Pegawai Honorer UNS yang tidak mempunyai penghasilan lain selain penghasilan sebagai Pegawai Honorer.
• Anak Panti Asuhan.
• Mahasiswa dari keluarga yang termasuk kategori miskin atau tidak mampu.

Berdasarkan hasil seleksi oleh Tim, mahasiswa dapat diusulkan untuk diberikan dispensasi berupa :

1. Penundaan pembayaran SPP dan/atau BPI.
2. Pengurangan/keringanan SPP dan/atau BPI.
3. Pembebasan SPP atau BPI.

PERSYARATAN

UMUM

1. Mahasiswa mengajukan permohonan tertulis kepada Rektor melalui Dekan Fakultas yang bersangkutan, dan ditanda tangani oleh orang tua/wali pemohon.
2. Tidak sedang memerima beasiswa apapun termasuk tunjangan belajar, dan belum bekerja yang dinyatakan dalam surat pernyataan dari yang bersangkutan dan diketahui oleh Pembantu Dekan III Fakultas yang bersangkutan.
3. Pada saat mengajukan pengurangan/keringanan atau pembebasan SPP dan/atau BPI mahasiswa yang bersangkutan, tercatat secara sah sebagai mahasiswa dan aktif kuliah yang dikuatkan dengan surat Keterangan dari Ketua Jurusan/Program Studi yang bersangkutan.
4. Foto copy Kartu Keluarga (KK) yang disahkan oleh Kepala Kelurahan/Kepala Desa dan Camat setempat.
5. Surat Keterangan dari Kepala Kelurahan/Kepala Desa dan Camat setempat bahwa mahasiswa yang bersangkutan belum pernah menikah.
6. Bukti pembayaran rekening listrik dan/atau Telepon 3 bulan terakhir.

KHUSUS

Anak Yatim, anak Piatu, atau anak Yatim Piatu (orang tuanya PNS-UNS) melampirkan :

1) Surat Keterangan Kematian orang tua, Ayah dan/atau Ibunya dari Kepala Kelurahan/Kepala Desa.

2) Foto copy Daftar Keluarga beserta lampiran daftar gaji (KP-4) yang disahkan oleh Kepala Bagian Keuangan untuk PNS Kantor Pusat, Lembaga, UPT dan Kepala Bagian Tata Usaha untuk PNS Fakultas.

•  Anak PNS Golongan I dan II, melampirkan :

1) Surat Keterangan dari Kepala Kelurahan/Kepala Desa dan Camat setempat yang menjelaskan bahwa PNS yang bersangkutan tidak mempunyai penghasilan lain, selain penghasilan sebagai PNS.

•  Foto copy Daftar Keluarga beserta lampiran daftar gaji (KP-4) yang disahkan oleh Kepala Bagian Keuangan untuk PNS Kantor Pusat, Lembaga, UPT dan Kepala Bagian Tata Usaha untuk PNS Fakultas.

•  Foto copy Surat Keputusan Kenaikan pangkat terakhir yang disahkan oleh Kepala Bagian Kepegawaian untuk PNS Kantor Pusat, Lembaga, UPT dan Kepala Bagian Tata Usaha untuk PNS Fakultas.

•  Anak Kandung Pegawai Honorer UNS, melampirkan :

•  Surat Keterangan dari Kepala Kalurahan/Kepala Desa dan Camat setempat yang menjelaskan bahwa Pegawai Honorer yang bersangkutan tidak mempunyai penghasilan lain selain penghasilan sebagai Pegawai Honorer UNS.

•  Foto copy Surat Keputusan sebagai Pegawai Honorer yang disahkan oleh Kepala Baagian Kepegawaian UNS untuk Pegawai Honorer Kantor Pusat, Lembaga, UPT dan oleh Kepala Bagian Tata Usaha untuk Pegawai Honorer Fakultas.

•  Anak Panti Asuhan, melampirkan :

Surat Keterangan dari Kepala/Pimpinan Panti Asuhan yang diketahui oleh Kepala Kalurahan/Kepala Desa dan Camat setempat.

•  Mahasiswa dari keluarga yang termasuk kategori miskin atau tidak mampu, melampirkan :

•  Surat Pernyataan bermeterai dari orang tua yang menjelaskan tentang

Pekerjaan/mata pencaharian dan penghasilan per bulan (keterangan penghasilan/gaji dari Instansi Ybs bagi Pegawai), serta tanggungan anggota keluarga, yang diketahui oleh Kepala Kalurahan/Kepala Desa dan Camat setempat.

•  Foto copy KTP orang tua Kartu Keluarga yang disahkan oleh Kepala Kalurahan/Kepala Desa dan Camat setempat.

SELAMAT BELAJAR

nb: info mungkin dirasa kurang lengkap, akan segera di update

7/3/2008 TruthWire

The Nation’s Deathbed - A new Canadian Independent Documentary Film about the Security and Prosperity Agreement.

This Nation’s Deathbed exposes the SPP Summit and the protests of Montebello Quebec held in summer of 2007. The film offers the best explanation to date of, of what the Security and Prosperity Partnership Agreement actually is and what it’s grave implications on Canadian Sovereignty would be once fully implemented;

From binding and unfair contracts that would give license to American corporate interests over the annexation of natural resources such as water and lumber.

The merger of the 3 country’s military forces and rise of a police state.

The transformation of the economy and its currency.

The dismantling of health care.

The further erosion of democratic proceedings, checks and balances on government and corporations.

The privatization of Canadian infrastructure such as highways, energy, water, and agriculture.

In short the SPP amounts to the the allowance of private corporations to rule over deciding policies that will inevitably harm the quality of life that many simply take for granted, as corporations would be unaccountable to the well being of Canadian lives, and only interested in profit.

The film tells the story of a building resistance movement; one that began outside the Montebello resort to demonstrate and expose treason as it was committed. And it follows on into the continued protests held nation wide in cities across Canada. It is a movement that has promised that it shall persist until the people’s voices are heard, when the SPP is put to a public referendum.

Featured speakers include patriotic Canadians like Wendy Forrest, Connie Fogal, Diana Nicholson, Vijay Sarma as well as guest appearances from authors such as Jerome Corsi of the Late Great USA and Linda McQuaig, author of Holding the Bullies Coat.

Produced by White Buffalo Films, Steven Davies and Dan Dicks