Jeff Reifman

Seane Corn Encourages Political Women to Attend Sister Giant

"Yet, over the years when I would see women run for office, they would wear the power suits, and they would have the power voice, and they would adopt the rhetoric of the male politicians. And I could no longer identify with these women, they seemed to be taking on the persona of these men ... and I felt more and more not only alienated but really alone in this process of thinking will there ever be anyone who can speak their truth from their heart and always allow love to be the thing that guides their politics above anything else?

Getting involved with yoga helped me personally tap into a conversation with myself that allowed me the process of beginning to find my own voice and speak my own truth and take responsibility for the places where I disengage with my own femininity and I became a little bit more compassionate and I understand why it was so hard for women running for office to engage in their femininity, when it's not supported, it's not celebrated and we as women are not always very comfortable with it."

Sister Giant is in Los Angeles November 10 - 11, 2012. Seane is also the founder of Yoga Votes!

 

Marianne Williamson on Spirituality and Politics - Intro to Sister Giant

This is a beautiful video by Marianne Williamson explaining why spiritual people need to engage themselves in politics:

"What we don't engage we can't transform. And, it's only a counterfeit notion of enlightenment that would ever give us a pass on addressing human suffering. Because, the spiritual journey is a journey of the heart, that can't just be talk. You can't talk about the journey to the heart and turn away from a starving child."

Montana's Challenge to Citizens United is Very Limited in Scope

There's been a lot of discussion and excitement about the Montana State Supreme Court's recent decision to strike down portions of Citizens United. Sorry to bum you all out but my cursory read of the court's Western Tradition Partnership ruling is that it actually challenges only a very small part of Citizens United. Read my full post over at Envision Seattle.

Initiative Measure 103 to End Corporate Rights in Seattle

I am lead organizer behind Seattle Initiative Measure 103 http://www.i103.org which will end corporate personhood in Seattle and elevate the rights of residents above corporate rights.

Three things you can do right now:

1) Join the Measure 103 Facebook page or sign up for our mailing list.

2) Collect petition signatures from your friends and family

3) RSVP for our Kickoff Party March 29th in the University District

What Measure 103 will do in Seattle:

• End corporate personhood and limit corporate rights
• Ban corporate spending on elections
• Ban corporate lobbying except in public forums
• Close the revolving door of employment  between elected officials and large corporations
• Provide citizen oversight of the Seattle Police Department
• Provide constitutional rights for workers
• Provide neighborhoods the right to approve major zoning changes
• Provide rights for nature
• Provide equal access to a free and open Internet, known as network neutrality

Our efforts in Seattle are part of an emerging statewide and national movement to place peoples' rights above corporate rights. 

Learn more about Measure 103

Microsoft's Tax Dodging Killing Education in Washington State

How Governor Gregoire, the legislature, the courts and The Seattle Times have enabled Microsoft's hypocritical stance on education and tax dodging to lead to $693 million in cuts to Washington State's education system:

    When John Burbank, a columnist in the Everett Herald, wrote that Microsoft’s unpaid royalty taxes “could be funding high-quality schools for Washington's children,” the company demanded a correction from the paper but refuses to release data that would prove its position. Listen to Brad Smith acknowledge the company's Nevada tax practices in this clip from our 2004 interview for Citizen Microsoft (Seattle Weekly).

Full story at Microsoft Tax Dodge

How to Occupy the Law - Yes! Magazine

Update: Now on Common Dreams as well...

Yes! has republished our model Community Bill of Rights template for Occupy (and all) communities! Check it out!

Robert Jensen on Thanksgiving and Holocaust Denial

Good essay by Robert Jensen on Thanksgiving culture via Yoga Modern:

I am afraid of Thanksgiving. More accurately, I am afraid of what Thanksgiving tells us about both the dominant culture and much of the alleged counterculture.

Here’s what I think it tells us: As a society, the United States is intellectually dishonest, politically irresponsible, and morally bankrupt. This is a society in which even progressive people routinely allow national and family traditions to trump fundamental human decency. It’s a society in which, in the privileged sectors, getting along and not causing trouble are often valued above honesty and accountability. Though it’s painful to consider, it’s possible that such a society is beyond redemption. Such a consideration becomes frightening when we recognize that all this goes on in the most affluent and militarily powerful country in the history of the world, but a country that is falling apart — an empire in decline.

 

Hypocritical, Tax-dodging Microsoft Supports Increased Sales Tax to Fund Higher Education

Apparently, Microsoft's Brad Smith thought it was safe to start making hypocritical political statements in public again ... 

Shepard Fairey's "Occupy Hope"

Nice. Via BoingBoing:

Ani Difranco's New Album: Which Side Are You On?

"¿Which Side Are You On? marks DiFranco's first studio album in more than three years. The collection features 11 new songs alongside a radically reworked rendition of the classic title song, famously popularized by the one and only Pete Seeger nearly five decades ago, but no less relevant today. Backing DiFranco is a remarkably diverse line-up of stellar musicians, including members of her own crack touring band as well as such guest players as Ivan and Cyril Neville (of New Orleans' first family of funk and R&B, The Neville Brothers), avant-saxophonist Skerik (Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Bonnie Raitt, The Meters), acclaimed singer/songwriter and Righteous Babe Anaïs Mitchell, guitarist Adam Levy (Norah Jones, Tracy Chapman, Amos Lee), and a host of New Orleans-based horn players known for their work in such outfits as Galactic, Bonerama, and The Rebirth Brass Band." Read more and listen now