US Civil Rights Progress (in the last 100 years)

Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

As of Jan 17, 2011 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day) we are still working to realize this dream.

In the relatively recent past…

• Women did not have the right to vote (fixed in 1920, 19^th Amendment).
• Minorities could be excluded from public schools (fixed in 1954, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas).
• The poor could be prevented from voting by a poll tax (fixed in 1964, 24^th Amendment).
• Many of different race, color, religion, or national origin could legally be discriminated against (fixed in 1964, Civil Rights Act of 1964).
• Homosexuals were required to disclose their sexual preference and be excluded from military service (partially fixed in 1993, with the Don’t ask, Don’t tell policy by Bill Clinton).
• Homosexuals were dismissed if their sexual preference became known (fixed in 2010, bill passed Congress that allows homosexuals to serve openly).
• Same sex marriages were not allowed (in transition, as of 2010 some states allow this but many don’t).
• Women were not allowed in combat roles in the military (in transition, 2011 military panel recommended removing this restriction).

We hope that eventually all peoples in our world will enjoy the unalienable rights of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Google Does Good

Good move for Google, bad one for China. It is wonderful that Google is taking a stand and doing the right thing. It is sad that China continues to do wrong and repress free speech -- China fears those with new & different ideas that it cannot control. For more see:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100114/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_google_china

I hope Google is able to maintain this stance in face of governmental and economic pressures. In the long run it could make economic sense.

Additionally, Google is the only major web-based email vendor I know that does not automatically show the originating IP address of the sender in email headers (for emails sent using their web interface) -- thus providing some anonymity to those who need to protect their identity.

Bravo Google!

Halloween Peace

Sunnyvale Voices for Peace had an enthusiastic monthly meeting on the street corner this past Friday from 6 to 7 pm. Many of us came in Halloween costumes and we had a new family show up and another newcomer promise to come next month.

November will hopefully be a celebration rally for a new more peaceful President that the rest of the world respects (Obama). December will be our annual Santa Hat peace rally.

Here are some pics from yesterday's costume peace rally.

9/11

Sept 11, 2001 was a sad day. On that day many regular citizens were killed in four coordinated terrorist attacks.

To prevent such future tragedies, we need Unity.

From the 9-11 Commission Final Report:
"We call on the American people to remember how we all felt on 9/11, to remember not only the unspeakable horror but how we came together as a nation—one nation. Unity of purpose and unity of effort are the way we will defeat this enemy and make America safer for our children and grandchildren."

Lincoln said "United we stand, divided we fall." At that time he spoke of just one nation.

Today unity just in our nation is not enough. We as a world must follow this same mantra if we, humankind, are to ultimately survive.

I highly recommend that every US Citizen read and re-read the full 9-11 report. It has many lessons for all of us. It can be found at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/Index.html

Sincerely,
Tim Oey

Poetry in Motion -- Is Democracy...

We had about 16 peace rally people this past Friday July 6, 2007 including 6 who helped with our Poetry in Motion project where 6 individuals held 6 signs that collectively formed a poem. The rally was at a busy intersection in Sunnyvale. We had US flags and peace signs waving. We got hundreds of positive honks, hundreds of other cars whizzing by with no comment, and just one person who gave us the finger.

Here is a picture of the signs that the 6 people held during the rally.

The poem itself reads:

Is Democracy...
...forced on others?
...freely chosen?
...for the people?
...by the people?