By J. Lee Nelson

In 2022 midterms, 72 percent of women ages 18-29 voted for Democrats in House races nationwide.

The entirety of disregarded and underestimated women are a sleeping giant. Females influence more than 80 percent of all consumer purchases. We dominate activity on social media by more than a 55/45 split over males, and the influence gap is even wider because our messages are way more substantive. We also register and vote at a higher rate than men. When women finally harness and assert our full collective power to condemn injustice and obtain equal rights, we can move mountains for humanity by making politicians listen.

THERE WILL NEVER BE SUBSTANTIAL PROGRESS IN GENDER EQUALITY, RACIAL EQUALITY AND ECONOMIC EQUALITY WITHOUT WOMEN AT THE FOREFRONT

A GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT THAT IS TOO BIG TO FAIL CAN ONLY BE LED BY WOMEN

Women in solidarity and the men that support them comprise a dominant popular majority that transcends boundaries. Women can create bridges and mighty alliances that expand civic participation among the many different groups and communities that they are important members of. Fearless, unapologetic and practical female leadership in America will have extraordinary reach and political impact. Female sensibilities and activism can inspire, unify and mobilize people of color, the working class, people in poverty, young people, senior citizens, and independent voters. The collective actions of those core groups and other passionate supporters can produce a quantum leap in voter turnout.

Females are generally more understanding, compassionate, unselfish and honorable than males. A study conducted by Facebook found that women are warmer and friendlier on social media than men are. As nurturers and family-oriented caregivers, maternal figures are more concerned about being respectful of others and would prefer a simpler and happier life. Women are terrific problem solvers because they are grounded, open, honest, tolerant, compromising and collaborative. By nature, we are better at channeling conversations toward reasonable and ethical outcomes. Though women are usually less biased, pretentious, and cruel than men, we are not weak.

WOMEN IN SOLIDARITY CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

Women In Solidarity can advance Democracy, human rights and world peace. The tipping point is simple. Women must come together and WORK TOGETHER to to stand up and speak up with a non-negotiable position of equality for all. We will not see a more harmonious, just and loving world until enough women get on the same page. Please reply to me if you are SERIOUS and want to contribute to achieving the objectives. We have to increase kindness and caring to defeat hatred and tyranny, Please help us propel a quantum leap in voter turnout so that we can permanently end the MAGA extremist and GOP fascist threat to Democracy, in 2024? WHEN WE VOTE, WE WIN!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/553563159754346 AND GUN REFORM You can also view our website: TruthJusticeAndCHOICE.com

We Can Do This! LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOO.                                                                                                             

A few days ago we featured a post on Trump being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.  A number of you questioned whether or not it was made up or perhaps a joke.  No, it is neither.  Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24) did nominate him for the award.  We just can't make this crap up. “

The following is the exact press release posted on her website.

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24) today nominated former President Donald Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize for his groundbreaking efforts to foster peace and cooperation between Israel, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and the United Arab Emirates through the Abraham Accords.

In 2020, President Trump negotiated the normalization agreements between Israel, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, and Sudan, which were signed in December 2020 and January 2021. Trump also worked diligently to lay the groundwork for a future normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded for the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt in 1978 and for the Oslo Accords in 1994. Yet, the Abraham Accords, achieved by President Trump, continue to go unrecognized by the Nobel Peace Prize Committee. Today, Tenney nominated former President Donald Trump to recognize his efforts in achieving these historic normalization agreements.

“Donald Trump was instrumental in facilitating the first new peace agreements in the Middle East in almost 30 years,” said Congresswoman Tenney. “For decades, bureaucrats, foreign policy “professionals,” and international organizations insisted that additional Middle East peace agreements were impossible without a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. President Trump proved that to be false. The valiant efforts by President Trump in creating the Abraham Accords were unprecedented and continue to go unrecognized by the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, underscoring the need for his nomination today. Now more than ever, when Joe Biden’s weak leadership on the international stage is threatening our country’s safety and security, we must recognize Trump for his strong leadership and his efforts to achieve world peace. I am honored to nominate former President Donald Trump today and am eager for him to receive the recognition he deserves.”

 

It’s time to turn the tables on our food system by centering justice over profits.

By Sonali Kolhatkar

Americans have had to weather much in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic first began, including price inflation of basic necessities. Grocery bills, especially, are a drain on household finances. But, as recent reports show, inflation is easing across many industries, and yet food prices overall have remained stubbornly high. Not only is that an indication of a deep rot at the heart of the food industry, agribusinesses, and corporate grocery chains, but it is also a clear sign that we need to repair our entire food system.

Reporting on a new Census Bureau survey, USA Today’s Sara Chernikoff found that “[t]he average American household spends more than $1,000 per month on groceries.” And, while it’s not surprising that those residing in expensive states like California have high grocery bills, there’s little relief for those living in states with lower costs of living. An average California family’s weekly grocery bill is $297.72, but an average North Carolina family’s bill is $266.23—nearly as high.

Attempting to downplay this reality, Paul Donovan, chief economist of UBS Global Wealth Management, wrote in an op-ed in the New York Times that Americans might be overestimating how serious inflation is, feeling the pinch most especially when they buy something as small as a candy bar. “[C]onsumers perceive inflation as higher than it actually is,” wrote Donovan. Further, he claimed, “[h]umans are genetically programmed to emphasize bad news over good news when they make decisions.” Donovan is implying that we’re just imagining high grocery bills.

In fact, inflation in the grocery industry has been higher than in other industries, rising 25 percent over the past four years compared to 19 percent overall, and many have pointed to simple greed as the reason: food prices are high because the companies setting prices think they can get away with padding their profits. Since we all have to eat, naturally this hits lower-income families harder, rather like a regressive tax. A new report by the Groundwork Collaborative found that in 2022, “consumers in the bottom quintile of the income spectrum spent 25 percent of their income on groceries, while those in the highest quintile spent under 3.5 percent.”

Economists have attempted to explain the reasons for grocery-related inflation remaining stubbornly high by pointing fingers at supply chain issues, higher labor costs, and agricultural pests. The Washington Post even admitted—albeit with little additional comment—that “consolidation in the industry gives large chains the ability to keep prices high.” (I’ll return to this critical point below.)

Fearing that voters feeling the pinch every time they shop for food will punish him at the ballot box, President Joe Biden has taken aim at the food industry. At an event in South Carolina on January 27, 2024, the president remarked that, while “inflation is coming down… there are still too many corporations in America ripping people off: price gouging, junk fees, greedflation, shrinkflation.”

To be fair, some foods did become cheaper, such as eggs. Remember the nationwide scramble on eggs in the early months of the pandemic with many grocery retailers limiting the number of cartons per customer? But in the years since, prices leveled off. And then they whisked up again. In fact, eggs are a far better indicator of why Americans are upset about food-related inflation than a Snickers bar.

There are plenty of short-term interventions that government can apply to help American families cope with the high cost of groceries, and President Biden has implemented many of them. Groundwork Collaborative’s report cites an increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for the lowest-income Americans, as well as the federal government’s initiative in taking food corporations to court over price gouging and helping to lower the prices of crop fertilizers. But many of these fixes are workarounds to compensate for the massive monopolistic corporatization of our food industry. Recall the point that the Washington Post made with little additional analysis: “consolidation in the industry gives large chains the ability to keep prices high.” The fact is that only a handful of corporations control the majority of our food system. We are all at the mercy of a small number of big companies. And, unless we make serious systemic changes to our food systems, we will remain so.

When thinking about longer-term fixes that free our foods from corporate profiteering, the humble egg is once more a good example. When eggs were prized items during the early months of the pandemic, small producers and farmers markets became the only reliable suppliers for many Americans. I recall being even more grateful than usual for my membership with the Urban Homestead, a small farm in the heart of Pasadena, California, where I live. Each week, I place an order with them for fresh produce and other locally grown foods to supplement my store-bought groceries. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, Urban Homestead was one of the few sources my family had for eggs and fresh produce.

But such small producers are few and far between. While the lucky ones among us may have access to urban farms, there are simply not enough small-scale growers to feed most Americans. Those farms that do exist operate on razor-thin margins, struggling year after year to remain financially viable. They remain on the outskirts of a massive capitalist playing field that is tilted toward profit-centered, highly subsidized agribusinesses and grocery chains. While small farmers, both urban and rural, are struggling, food trading companies are gobbling up massive profits. And the federal government’s farm subsidy program disproportionately benefits large corporate growers rather than the family farmers they are ostensibly aimed at.

Localizing our food supplies and shortening the chain between food buyers (i.e., all of us) and grocery suppliers ought to be the focus of food-centered government policies. This requires adopting a mindset based on the idea of “food justice,” a topic on which much has been written. We need to make it easier for small-scale farmers to grow food while remaining financially stable, and harder for large-scale corporate agribusinesses to control our food supply. This requires incentivizing small-scale farmers to remain small and sustainable—the opposite of the “growth” ideals of corporate profiteers.
Lawmakers and corporate media outlets are so attached to the idea that food producers and distributors deserve massive profits in exchange for controlling our food supply, that a justice-based approach of de-growth rarely enters their discourse. Rather than the rich eating us (and our wallets), it’s time for us to eat the rich.

Author Bio: Sonali Kolhatkar is an award-winning multimedia journalist. She is the founder, host, and executive producer of “Rising Up With Sonali,” a weekly television and radio show that airs on Free Speech TV and Pacifica stations. Her most recent book is Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice (City Lights Books, 2023). She is a writing fellow for the Economy for All project at the Independent Media Institute and the racial justice and civil liberties editor at Yes! Magazine. She serves as the co-director of the nonprofit solidarity organization the Afghan Women’s Mission and is a co-author of Bleeding Afghanistan. She also sits on the board of directors of Justice Action Center, an immigrant rights organization.

This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

Will Americans of faith choose progressive values of compassion over the gospel of prosperity and power?

 

By Sonali Kolhatkar

 

Pastor Eligio Regalado in Denver, Colorado, is being charged with multiple counts of fraud and other illegal activity after convincing members of his congregation to buy millions of dollars of worthless cryptocurrency. Regalado and his wife pocketed nearly half of the $3.2 million they raised and used several hundred thousand dollars to remodel their home.

Justifying his actions, the pastor claimed that “the Lord” told him to do it, and that, “We took God at his word and sold a cryptocurrency with no clear exit.” In attempting to explain the charges he now faces, Regalado said, “Either I misheard God,” or “God is still not done with this project and he’s going to do a new thing.”

Compare this story with that of another pastor in trouble. Chris Avell, who leads a church named Dad's Place in Bryan, Ohio, was charged with violating zoning laws for using his church, which is classified as a business, for residential purposes.

But Avell wasn’t engaged in some nefarious scheme to trick his congregants or the city. Instead, he too was adhering to what he thought was God’s word by opening up his church to unhoused people in the dead of winter in order to help protect them against the cold. “This is what the word of God teaches,” said Avell.

According to Commondreams’s Julia Conley, “Dad's Place is located next to a homeless shelter, but overcrowding at the facility led Avell to begin offering space to unhoused people.” The church is in the habit of welcoming unhoused people into its space to keep warm in the winter. Ohio’s winters are so cold that the state’s health department has an entire page on its website offering advice on how to survive the potentially deadly weather. And no, there is no guidance for those who have no homes.

While these pastors are claiming to have heard two wholly contradictory messages from God, most individuals of faith might conclude that Avell’s version of Christianity is the one that is true to religious ideals grounded in compassion and care for one’s fellow human beings.

But Pastor Regalado’s version of Christianity is tragically far more consistent with what many Christian leaders in the U.S. have embraced: the idea that God wants people of faith to be wealthy at all costs. Regalado is convinced that “God is going to work a miracle in the financial sector.” His only misstep appears to be that he didn’t know what he was doing when he sold his congregants a cryptocurrency that wasn’t solvent.

But for those Christian leaders who are financially savvy, the Church is akin to a bank. Eight of the top 10 wealthiest pastors on the planet are based in the U.S. and are worth anywhere from $20 million to $300 million. There is no contradiction between scripture and the pursuit of wealth for those who see Christianity as a capitalist enterprise. As per Rodney Stark, who was a Distinguished Professor at Baylor University, Western dominance of the Americas and other colonies was enabled by capitalism, a set of ideals that stemmed from Christianity. “The rise of capitalism… was a victory for church-inspired reason,” he wrote in 2005, in apparent praise of capitalism, colonialism, and Christianity.

Indeed, Biblical scripture was not only used to promote capitalism but to justify slavery and settler colonialism, both of which undergirded American capitalism.

Misuses of Christianity aren’t merely a thing of the past. Today, Christianity, especially under the euphemism of “religious freedom” is used to justify all manner of injustices: abortion bans, attacks on LGBTQ children and especially transgender youth, and even Israeli settler colonization of Palestine. The Catholic church, in particular, has offered sanctuary to pedophilic priests.

Evangelicals helped Donald Trump win the 2016 presidential race in spite of Trump’s moral character being so obviously at odds with the basic tenets of Christianity. Far from the election resulting in a weakening of conservative Christianity, many white Trump supporters who weren’t initially church-goers were drawn to the church during his presidency. Now, evangelical conservatives are once again supporting Donald Trump in full force, threatening to return this nation on a path toward fascism through the 2024 race.

Within such a national context, it’s no wonder that Ohio Pastor Avell is facing criminal charges for being so out of step with the American version of Christianity. Kindness, compassion, sacrifice, and love are at odds with a capitalist Christianity that prefers individual wealth accumulation and the control of vulnerable humans.

The only silver lining is that Americans as a whole appear to be ending their love affair with Christianity, according to several recent Pew Research findings. A 2019 update found that fewer Americans were identifying as Protestant or Catholic and that those who identified as “nothing in particular” rose to 26 percent, more than a quarter of all Americans. That number is now peaking at 28 percent of all Americans.

Moreover, more Americans are embracing an identity of “spiritual” rather than “religious,” a seeming rejection of organized religion. The U.S. also appears to be enjoying greater religious diversity, perhaps in line with a demographic shift in the U.S. as 61 percent of Americans say they have friends who are of a different faith than themselves.

The 2020 U.S. Religion Census showed a shifting religious landscape tied to politics. Political scientist Ryan Burge summarized the results of the census saying, “Democrats are making gains in areas where religion is fading.” While Republicans are increasing their hold over some states like Texas and Florida via surges in conservative Christian populations, Burge predicts that “Democrats will continue to gain ground in suburban counties that are predominantly white and where religion is fading in size and importance.”

Although there has always been a strong progressive tradition among some sects of Christianity, the progressive church has been traditionally less successful in rallying voters to the polls based on faith compared to their conservative counterparts. But that may be changing. For example, a coalition called Faithful Democracy is organizing around the idea that “only a healthy, well-functioning democracy has the capacity to attend to any of the issues our faith calls us to address: systemic racism, climate change, hunger, violence, poverty, healthcare and more.” And a decade ago, Reverend William Barber in North Carolina began leading “Moral Mondays,” which are political faith-based protests seeking economic justice.

Regardless of how one identifies when it comes to religion and spirituality (or lack thereof), the core question is: Will Americans choose the ideals of collective well-being that drive Pastor Avell, or the individual selfishness that motivates Pastor Regalado?

Author Bio: Sonali Kolhatkar is an award-winning multimedia journalist. She is the founder, host, and executive producer of “Rising Up With Sonali,” a weekly television and radio show that airs on Free Speech TV and Pacifica stations. Her most recent book is Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice (City Lights Books, 2023). She is a writing fellow for the Economy for All project at the Independent Media Institute and the racial justice and civil liberties editor at Yes! Magazine. She serves as the co-director of the nonprofit solidarity organization the Afghan Women’s Mission and is a co-author of Bleeding Afghanistan. She also sits on the board of directors of Justice Action Center, an immigrant rights organization.

 This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stalking is a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear. Unlike other crimes that involve a single incident, stalking is a pattern of behavior. It is often made up of individual acts that could, by themselves, seem harmless or noncriminal, but when taken in the context of a stalking situation, could constitute criminal acts. Legal definitions of stalking differ depending on where you live; however stalking is a crime under the laws of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Territories, and the Federal government. Stalking is serious, often violent, and can escalate over time.

Victim Connect Resource Center  https://victimc onnect.org/learn/types-of-crime/stalking/

Stalking Prevention, Awareness & Resource Center (SPARC)   https://www.stalkingawareness.org/about-sparc/

 

Take some time to go to these sites.  They are full of important information on what "stalking" is, what you can do about it and resources you can access.  Whether you are a current victim or not, you should familiarize yourself with this information.  1 in 3 Women and 1 in 6 Men experience stalking at some time in their lifetimes.  You could be one of them.  Be prepared by arming yourself with this information.