Tampa, Florida has more homeless people per capita than any city in America. Yet you won't hear much -- if any -- talk from the podium on the Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired convention set about America's poverty crisis.
And this lack of attention won't be exclusive to the GOP. You can expect more of the same (or is that actually less of the same?) when the Democrats descend on Charlotte next week -- after all, President Obama hasn't devoted even one speech to the subject of poverty since he moved into the White House.
This bipartisan back-turning is why we are reviving the Shadow Conventions -- gatherings I helped organize in 2000 with the goal of sparking a national conversation on three issues that neither party was seriously addressing: the corrupting influence of money on our politics, the persistence of poverty in America, and the disastrous war on drugs.
Twelve years later, both parties are still largely ignoring these issues. As a result, each of these problems has gotten worse:
In 2000, 31 million Americans lived below the poverty line. In 2010, it was over 46 million -- including 16.4 million children -- a figure that is expected to rise when the new census figures are released this fall. This is the largest number of people living in poverty in over half a century.
The drug war numbers are similarly troubling: There are over 100,000 more arrests per year for possession of marijuana than there were in 2000 -- yet over 6 million more Americans are using illicit drugs today. A quarter of all prisoners in U.S. jails are there because of a nonviolent drug offense. And while African Americans represent just 12 percent of all drug users, they make up 59 percent of those in state prison for a drug offense.
As for the increasing role money plays in our political campaigns, the founding democratic principle of "one man, one vote" has been replaced by the arithmetic of special interest politics: Thousands of lobbyists plus billions of dollars equal access and influence out of the reach of ordinary Americans. While $54 million was spent by outside groups on the 2000 presidential race, that number has already reached $318 million in 2012. And, thanks to Citizens United, that includes large piles of money funneled through super PACS and "dark money" groups.
To battle the two parties' neglect of these issues, HuffPost Live and The Huffington Post are hosting Shadow Conventions 2012 -- devoting a day during each of the national conventions to focusing on one of the three issues. Today and next Tuesday, a wide array of HuffPost sections -- from Politics to Green to Entertainment to Science -- are featuring stories and blog posts highlighting the effects the war on drugs is having on so many aspects of our lives. On those same days, between 12-4 pm ET (and again between 6-10 pm ET), HuffPost Live's team of host/producers will be joined by a broad range of politicians, thought leaders, activists, and celebrities for in-depth interviews and panel discussions on various aspects of the drug war. Tomorrow and next Wednesday the focus will be on poverty and jobs, while the many ways money is influencing our politics will be front and center on the next two Thursdays.
And we want you to be a central part of these discussions. That's what HuffPost Live is all about -- sparking real conversations about issues that impact our lives.
Among the drug war-related topics being discussed today on HuffPost Live are over-incarceration; how racial disparity in the drug war has led to the disenfranchisement of millions of Americans (especially people of color); the drug war's impact on families; and the reasons why the drug war is such an electrified third rail of American politics. Click on any of the above to go to a HuffPost Live "green room" page where you can learn more about the specific topic, leave a comment, and sign up to join an on-air Shadow Convention conversation.
The Shadow Conventions are for the 96 percent of Americans who have not contributed to a political campaign; the nearly 90 percent of Americans who favor treatment over incarceration for first-time drug offenders; the 80 percent who believe that Congress today is being run not for the benefit of the people but for the benefit of special interests; the more than 40 percent of Americans who are not planning to vote in November; the more than 22 percent of our country's children living below the poverty line.
The Shadow Conventions are your conventions. Join us and be part of a convention that's unscripted, surprising, and a lot more interesting than the over-produced political commercials in Tampa and Charlotte.
It costs billions a year without getting anywhere while ensuring that several legitimate industries do not exist while also destabilizing nations and initiating full scale wars that do nothing but consume resources and lives profiting the rich and shattering the lives of the poor.
The drug war is a lie perpetuated by the Military industrial complex.
Register to vote for legalization in Colorado, Oregon and Washington.
Medical marijuana in Arkansas, Massachusetts, Montana and North Dakota.
Decriminalization in Detroit MI.
A strong positive result will nullify and void both federal and international drug law and will result in other states and nations following suit and legalizing.
Register to vote and take part in history.
War is Over!
2012!
A provider of free online auto insurance quotes says it has conducted a study that concludes marijuana uses are safer drivers. “What law enforcement agencies and insurers do not understand is that driving while high is actually a safe activity,”
—James Shaffer, chief executive officer of the national auto-quote provider, in a statement.
According to the study, marijuana users may get into fewer accidents than other drivers. The study looked at data on accidents, traffic violations and insurance prices. The only significant effect of smoking marijuana may be slower driving.
http://www.4autoinsurancequote.org/uncategorized/reasons-why-marijuana-users-are-safe-drivers/
http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/27/13509508-teen-pot-use-linked-to-decline-in-iq
Don't get me wrong: I believe that if marijuana is illegal alcohol should be as well.
Hough and Wahhaj are leaders in the separatist American Islamist movement. While they may be able to get a few thousand Muslims to attend the event, they are NOT going to be mainstream Muslims. Most will likely come from Hough and Wahhaj’s radical networks that have long been entrenched in the Charlotte area. Make no mistake they are part of the Islamist movement.
The leaders of this event – Jibril Hough and Imam Siraj Wahhaj [are not] moderates. They are radicals. These individuals embrace Islamist supremacy and have demonstrated support for radical ideologies.
When an imam like Siraj Wahhaj says “it his duty and our duty as Muslims to replace the US Constitution with the Quran…we need to speak up!”
1. Migration of production to the Third World countries must be stopped.
2. Adoption of new technology to facilitate the labor of workers
3. To introduce and explore the System of Identification, Assessment, and Use of the Heuristic Intelligence starting from age of 12 years old. Otherwise the talented people won’t be able to evaluate their abilities and progress in industry and science, too
this does no good to anyone unless all this is brought up on the mainstream media (and yeah this includes fox news), both cable and network news. we sit back and type away our comments in disgust and anger, read endless articles to stir up our feelings about a situation and have special channels (eg huffpo live) in which only a certain number of people will watch - but nothing will get done. we rally ourselves up but no change will happen until the entire country hears it and gets involved. not on these special areas of the interwebs - hidden little jewels were we share our thoughts.
either way I wish you luck and that something cames out of this - I still applaud your need to share this information.
Imagine thousands or hundreds of thousands of people marching in D.C. and across America peacefully protesting your three discarded tragedies : “the corrupting influence of money on our politics, the persistence of poverty in America, and the disastrous war on drugs”
I suggest that people carry signs but otherwise march in silence.
Everyone would be well aware beforehand of the “Shadow Conventions March”, topics and purpose. The time to debate these three horrific realities is through. Without debate, our politicians and government pundits would not know what to do with the silence.
We also do not need to give the police a reason to cart us off to jail.
We need to draw worldwide attention this march, its topics.
Worldwide media attention and worldwide embarrassment transmitted through silence would drive the message home better than any typical protest methods.
Please consider this Arianna. Please consider using your status as a respected author, commentator, and head of the Huffington Post to help launch this idea. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/shadow-conventions-2012_b_1834857.html#
Such an event would help bring not only Washington but America to its senses.
So as the REGULAR PARTY CONVENTION CONVENES there should be REBUTTLE CONVENTION should be convened by the rebutting party. that would balance side by side rather than people wait for three weeks for listening the others side ---- the time gap helps human memory fade away the speeches like Christie made so politic-large- sizely--- what was CHANTED in unison on the Convention STAGE.