Network Speech, There is no America, no Democracy
It is referring to how most Americans see America differently than what certain people claim on paper and how the government is owned by corporations (big businesses and big banks).
By: Movie Vine
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Network Speech, There is no America, no Democracy - Video
Democracy Now! The 2007 Interview
There is a reason why so many in the Bundist Movement vocally oppose the airstrikes on Syria. This film is mostly taken from this lager interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOtbNC4oJ54...
By: Bundist Movement
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Democracy Now! The 2007 Interview - Video
This year marks the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, Latin for Great Charter.The document, sealed by King John in 1215, helped launch the long struggle for democracy and civic rights around the world. Yet by many measures, traditional democracy at least the kind spread widely in the 20th century appears to be in trouble, leading some experts to ask if democracy itself is changing.
Consider these recent surveys:
For the ninth straight year, political rights and civil liberties across the globe have declined, according to Freedom Houses annual report. In 2014, democracy was under its greatest threat in the last quarter century in places such as Egypt, Thailand, and Russia. Another survey, called AmericasBarometer Study, found a precipitous drop of trust in elections in 26 countries in the Americas, from Chile to Canada.
Globally, public trust in government, business, media, and nongovernmental organizations evaporated last year, according to a survey of 33,000 people by the Edelman public relations firm. For the first time, nearly two-thirds of the 27 nations surveyed fell on the distrustful side of the Edelman Trust Barometer. Surprisingly, trust in NGOs fell for the first time.
In the United States, a federal survey shows a steady decline in 16 of 20 indicators of civic health. Fewer Americans, for example, say it is important to report a crime. In the last elections, only slightly more than one-third of eligible voters cast ballots.
Support for democracy remains high around the world. But, says political scientist Hendrik Wagenaar of the University of Sheffield, Satisfaction with the performance of their own democratic system does not tally with citizens political aspirations.
Professor Wagenaar, like many scholars, wonders if people are searching for new forms of civic association based on shared values and beliefs, often local in nature or through digital communities.
They feel that official democracy, the democracy that the media report on, does not do well in addressing these concerns, let alone solving them, he writes. People havent abandoned politics, but politics, they feel, has abandoned them. He cites cases in Europe of citizens coming together to organize social goods in voluntary attachments, such as in sustainable energy, rural transport, or access to the Internet. They create ties of mutual dependency outside of government.
Most people want to engage with democracy, he states. But not the democracy of political parties, powerful lobbying organizations, and the spectacle of politicians arguing about a political agenda that is not theirs. Citizens care for responsibility, respect and a measure of control. It is astonishing to see how ordinary people are then able to master complexity, resolve conflict and arrive at creative solutions.
In the US, one measure of this shift is seen among those under age 30 (Millennials). Unlike other Americans, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll, they have a much lower commitment to traditional civic duties such as voting, jury duty, or following the news media. Yet this age group does cite one civic activity, volunteering, as a very important obligation.
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Remodeling democracy, 800 years on
The Democracy Fund, New Havens public campaign financing program, took a step last night toward extending its services to races for the Board of Alders.
The funds board met Wednesday night, after last weeks meeting was postponed when the absence of secretary William Wynn prevented the board from achieving a quorum. The fund, which was established in 2006, aims to support clean elections by offering grants and matching funds to candidates who do not accept donations from PACs or corporations and do not accept private donations exceeding $370. At yesterdays meeting, the board discussed extending the fund to include more local elections namely races for alder, city clerk, voter registrar and probate judge in addition to mayoral and state-level races, including state senators and representatives.
Were trying to get an understanding of under what circumstances the Board of Alders would allow an expansion of the fund, Fund Administrator Alyson Heimer said.
Heimer prepared a questionnaire, which was up for discussion at the meeting, for the Board of Alders to gauge their interest in using the fund. After a brief review, the funds board members unanimously approved the questionnaire and moved to send it to the alders.
As administrator, Heimer must file a request regarding the expansion to present to the alders by the end of the month. The Democracy Fund board entered into an executive session, separate from the review, last night and discussed the potential format of such a presentation behind closed doors.
At last weeks informal meeting, members of the funds board agreed that the Board of Alders would likely have questions about the impact on the city budget if the proposal to extend the Democracy Fund to Board of Alders races were to pass.
Yesterday, Democracy Fund Chair Jared Milfred 16 suggested that a report he prepared last year, which includes an analysis of the costs of aldermanic races, could be utilized to supplement the funds presentation to ease any concerns about the increased costs of an expansion. In the report, Milfred found that the average amount spent on an aldermanic race was $3,367 less than 1 percent of the Democracy Funds current operating budget of $342,581 for the 201516 fiscal year. There are 30 members of the Board of Alders.
Heimer will meet with Mayor Toni Harp today to discuss the funds place in the 2015 budget. She said she does not foresee requesting any additional funding from the Board of Alders.
Meetings between the funds board and the Board of Alders will also help determine whether the Democracy Fund will extend only grants, only matching funds or both services to Board of Alders candidates, Milfred said. While grants are direct donations to campaigns, through matching funds, the Democracy Fund matches private donations from $10 to $25 on a 2:1 basis.
At the meeting last night, Heimer also proposed that the fund update its grant and matching fund amounts to reflect changes in the Consumer Price Index. Although the funds by-laws call for a re-evaluation of these amounts every four years, some figures have not been updated since 2008.
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Democracy Fund may extend services to Board of Alders races
The Statesman Thursday 29th January, 2015
Bangkok, 28 January
Thai junta chief and Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha has said the coup staged by the army was aimed at saving democracy and made it clear that he will not lift the martial law as it could lead to political turmoil.
"Thai democracy will never die, because I'm a soldier with a democratic heart. I have taken over the power because I want democracy to live on," he was quoted as saying by the Nation newspaper today. He claimed that the situation in Thailand was unique, as nowhere else was a coup staged to restore democracy. "We are building democracy every day. I did not seize power to give money away to this or that person or take it as my own property," said Gen Prayut, who seized power last year ousting Yingluck Shinawatra, the country's first woman prime minister, in a bloodless military coup.
"Although this government came from a seizure of power, it happened because there was no (effective) government (at the time). Though there was a government, it was as good as not having one. Where was Yingluck Shinawatra? She couldn't perform her duty because she had been removed by the Constitution Court," Gen Prayut said.
Insisting that the people should recognise the fact that Thailand is still free, Gen Prayut said he could have exercised his power as junta leader and placed former premier Yingluck under house arrest or stopped her from meeting certain people, but he chose not to do so.
Prayut said 21 envoys had met wit...
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Coup aimed to save democracy Thai PM