well, i had a fun time, 2009

but that was then; now it’s 2010

it’s about that time for real change to begin

Inspired by Wes to upload this.

skydiving FAQs:

Where was this? Lake Elsinore.  SkyDiveElsinore.com

When was this? August 4, 2007.

How much was it? At least $300.  This includes video and pictures.  Plus, you get a T-shirt, but I think everyone gets a shirt!

Were you scared? Not until after I got mini-me’d to my partner’s chest. You see, when he stood up, my feet were off the floor.  I felt totally out of control.  And then I had like 10 seconds to rationalize the situation: John is trained.  I am strapped to John.  I am fine.  And by the time we counted “3,” I was ready to lean forward and out of the plane.

How was it? Worth it.  I would do it again.  But I wish it last longer - the free fall anyway.

I am in the process of MAJOR cleaning/organizing my room, bumpin the SAMA SAMA MIXTAPE I picked up at FPAC from mga kasama.  It’s a tough task, as I take longer focusing on filtering necessary items for my room.  However, it’s still rewarding because I find myself hearing certain bars “for the first time” and really connecting with it.  You should get one:

Follow them on twitter, too.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

San Diego Community STAND UP! I’m excited for this event!

Follow the event on Facebook.

Nobel Spotlights Need for Obama to Act on Rights

Stand up for Persecuted Human Rights Activists; Shut Guantanamo
October 9, 2009

(New York) - The award of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama should encourage him to apply his stated principles to both foreign and domestic human rights policy, Human Rights Watch said today.

The Nobel committee awarded the prize for “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” and Obama said he would accept it “as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations.” Human Rights Watch said Obama should now act decisively to end abuses in US counterterrorism policy, promote accountability for serious human rights crimes wherever they occur, and push for the protection of human rights defenders worldwide.

“As a Nobel laureate, President Obama has a special responsibility to speak up for activists jailed and persecuted for promoting human rights,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “The president will honor his Nobel Prize when he puts a meaningful end to the debacle at Guantanamo, by trying or releasing all of the prisoners held there.”

Human Rights Watch said Obama should use his status and celebrity to protect human rights activists under threat or marginalized, including Nobel laureates Aung San Suu Kyi, the Dalai Lama, and Shirin Ebadi, and other reported candidates for the prize such as the Chinese dissidents Hu Jia, Liu Xiaobo, Gao Zhisheng and Chen Guangcheng, the Egyptian opposition leader Ayman Nour, and the Russian human rights group Memorial.

Obama, who said the prize “must be shared with everyone who strives for justice and dignity,” spoke of “the young woman who marches silently in the streets on behalf of her right to be heard even in the face of beatings and bullets; for the leader imprisoned in her own home because she refuses to abandon her commitment to democracy.” The latter was a reference to Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese leader who has been jailed or under house arrest for almost two decades.

However, Human Rights Watch said Obama - who was recently unwilling to meet the Dalai Lama - should push for a vigorous public discussion of Tibet during his Beijing visit in November.

Obama should also institute real reforms on counterterrorism issues, Human Rights Watch said. The president signaled his clear intention to repudiate the Bush administration’s abusive legacy on his second full day in office by announcing the shutdown of CIA “black sites” and the planned closure of the military prison at Guantanamo. But he later backtracked significantly from his promise of reform by resurrecting the failed system of military commissions and suggesting that his administration would continue to hold some prisoners in preventive detention.

Human Rights Watch said Obama should end the practice of arbitrary detention by abolishing Guantanamo. Simply moving the prisoners from Cuba to the United States, as his administration has signaled it may do, will not solve the problem, but rather give it a new name.

US counterterrorism abuses had been a boon to terrorist recruiters and a key irritant in relations between the United States and the Muslim world, Human Rights Watch said. By eliminating these abuses - and bringing to justice those responsible for such abuses - Obama’s reforms would lessen the likelihood of future conflict.

The Obama administration has strongly defended the principles of international justice as applied to Congo, Kenya, and Sudan, but changed its position when the UN Goldstone report urged investigation of Israel and Hamas for possible war crimes. Human Rights Watch urged Obama to apply those principles to all parties, regardless of whether they are US allies or not.

“Justice is a critical component for lasting peace, because impunity for perpetrators of serious crimes fuels further violence,” Roth said. “President Obama should use his leadership to press for justice for all victims of human rights abuses, wherever they live.”

Statement by BAYAN-USA

October 10, 2009

Nobel laureate Obama should show commitment to peace by recalling US troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Mindanao — Bayan

The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan today called on Nobel Peace Prize laureate US president Barack Obama to show a genuine commitment to peace by pulling out US troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Mindanao.

Obama was given the Nobel Peace Prize in a stunning decision brought about by his earlier calls for reduction of nuclear arms and moves to ease tensions in the Middle East.

“Having tens of thousands of US troops engaged in wars and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan is quite antithetical to the peace prize. Having hundreds of troops engaged in covert combat operations in the Philippines, in the name of the “war on terror” also goes against the principles of peace,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.

“The continued deployment of US forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, Mindanao, and even Japan and South Korea shows that the US is waging and perpetually preparing for war. It is this policy of military hegemony which has caused conflict and tension in many regions in the world,” Reyes added.

Reyes said that while Obama said he will depart from the Bush regime’s policy of unilateralism, it remains to be seen if there will be major policy shifts in Iraq and Afghanistan. There have been calls to increase US troop deployment in Afghanistan by 40,000 based on recommendations of the US military commanders there.

“A president who is supposed to stand for peace should not be the one most interested in waging war in all four corners of the globe.  The global network of US military bases must be shut down. The US must end its presence in Iraq and Afghanistan and cease its incursions into Pakistan. The US should pull out its Special Forces operatives in Zamboanga and Sulu. The US war machine should be decommissioned if the world is to see peace,” Reyes said.

He added that the Nobel Peace Prize further raises expectations for Obama to fulfill his commitments in rectifying the errors of the Bush regime.

“Actions always speak louder than words. Now more than ever, the world will be watching the moves of the US president. Will he live up to his billing as a man of peace, or will he waste the goodwill given to him by the world by escalating US military intervention?” Reyes asked. ###

well, that’s new… cameo’s by mark and lacey not really necessary or that exciting… but it reminded me of this:

goodtimes.