Fr. Roy Bourgeois was born in Lutcher, Louisiana in 1938. He graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana with a Bachelor of Science degree in geology.

After college Fr. Roy served as a Naval Officer for four years--two years at sea, one year at a NATO station in Europe, and one year of shore duty in Vietnam. He received the Purple Heart.

After military service, Fr. Roy entered the seminary of the Maryknoll Missionary Order. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1972, and he went on to work with the poor of Bolivia for five years before being arrested and forced to leave the country, then under the repressive rule of dictator and SOA grad General Hugo Banzer.

In 1980 Fr. Roy became involved in issues surrounding US policy in El Salvador after four US churchwomen--two of them his friends-- were raped and killed by Salvadoran soldiers. Roy became an outspoken critic of US foreign policy in Latin America. Since then, he has spent over four years in US federal prisons for nonviolent protests against the training of Latin American soldiers at Ft. Benning, Georgia.

In 1990, Roy founded the School of Americas Watch, an office that does research on the US Army School of the Americas (SOA), now renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation or WHINSEC, at Fort Benning, Georgia. Each year the school trains hundreds of soldiers from Latin America in combat skills - all paid for by U.S. taxpayers.

The School of the Americas Watch, located just outside the main entrance of Fort Benning and in Washington, DC, informs the general public, Congress and the media about the implications of this training on the people of Latin America.

Roy has worked on and helped produce several documentary films, including 1983's "Gods of Metal" about the nuclear arms race and 1995's "School of Assassins." Both films received Academy Award nominations.

Fr. Roy was the recipient of the 1997 Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace Award.

In December of 1998, Roy testified in Madrid before Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon seeking the extradition of Chile's ex-dictator General Augusto Pinochet.

From 1999 to the present time, Roy has and continues to travel extensively, giving talks at universities, churches, and other groups around the country.

Please Visit: https://soaw.org/home/

Julia Butterfly - Environmentalist and Founder of Circle of Life Foundation

Info: Julia brought international attention to the plight of the world’s last remaining ancient forests when she climbed 180 feet up a 1000 year-old Redwood tree and refused to come down.

Her historic 738-day protest of the environmental destruction caused by clear-cutting ancient redwoods culminated with a negotiated agreement that provided permanent protection for the tree (“Luna”) and a nearly 3 acre buffer-zone.

Julia is a writer, poet and activist. She is author of the national best seller The Legacy of Luna and co-author of One Makes The Difference, both published by HarperSanFrancisco.

The Legacy of Luna, based on Julia’s personal account of the Luna tree-sit, will soon be made into a major motion picture. Julia and the film’s producers, Baldwin Entertainment, have publicly stated their commitment to setting a “green set” standard for the film industry with this project.

Julia speaks regularly at universities, has addressed the UN, lobbied congress, and continues to stand on the front lines of environmental and social justice issues worldwide. Her message of hope, empowerment, love and respect for all life has inspired millions of people worldwide.

I am many things to many people but mostly a Mindset Coach and Business Strategist to entrepreneurs who want to live powerful passionate lives. I am also a speaker, NLP Practitioner, Hypnotherapist, Author to Amazon best-seller to Vitality Knocks, creator of Mind Your Business Class, Mind School & Ah-ha! Academy for entrepreneurs, 21 Day Journey to Success and various other programs for business and leadership success. As Hypnotherapist and Travel creator of “Getaway to Find Your Way” Anita executes programs and destination getaways and online programs that build your mindset and strategies for business and leadership success.

My Motto is “Instill an internal legacy to live life fully and to your true potential. Learn, experience and love”. I live this in my life and business everyday and love helping others.

I created tools and programs to create ah ha! moments for entrepreneurs in their business that bring the riches and freedom they desire. I was a 27 year pro corporate management advocate that had the bottom pulled out from under me. I knew then at that ah ha moment what I was made of. My mindset and strategies created the business I am leading, and the financial freedom and time I desired. I am never looking back. I have the tools I share in all my programs so you can have all you desire as well.

I bring true joy and passion to what I do. I love seeing the successes of my amazing entrepreneurs. You are what you think and do.

RE-WIRING THE RULES OF LOVE FOR SINCERE WOMEN AND MEN SO THEY CAN HAVE AND KEEP A LOVING, LASTING EXTRAORDINARY RELATIONSHIP. 

Dr. Gary Salyer speaks to audiences across the country as a featured expert, inspirational speaker on how to create the love we all deserve. He is an expert in Attachment Theory, the science of relationships, Bert Hellinger's Family Systems approach and Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP). As a master transformational relationship coach, Dr. Gary helps people re-write the rules for love in their brains.

Dr. Salyer is the creator of the Safe to Love Again™ Workshop and the Extraordinary Couples™ and Extraordinary Singles™ Retreats. He is also a highly sought after guest on various podcasts, TV and radio shows such as The Aware Show on Hay House Radio.

Smart, savvy, professional women in their thirties, forties and fifties who are tired of the heartache in their love lives are resonating with the message of ‘safe to love again.’ Gary’s biggest passion is to help both singles and couples discover how they can have a loving sweetheart lying beside them at night, rather than a lonely pillow or a frustrated, distant partner.

Among Dr. Salyer’s strongest gifts is his ability to help clients stop making themselves wrong, no matter what painful patterns are happening in their relationships. Because of his innovative new theory on how to change people’s brain ‘wiring’ for love, both singles and couples experience deep shifts with lasting results that happen in an easy, natural way.

FREE GIFT: "Love Notes with Dr. Gary Salyer” - A collection of short, heartfelt and practical 3-4 minute videos that are designed to help both singles and couples find and create the love they deserve.  One engaged couple in Oregon claims these videos saved their engagement and they are now happily married after implementing the insights and tools that are taught in these videos.

Each brief video will both inspire and show how you can create more real love in your life now, delivered to your inbox twice a week.  Go to http://garysalyer.com/; scroll down and fill out the form in the section called “Love Inspirations.”

RICK NAHMIAS

He’s spoken internationally on food justice issues, and his work has been profiled in dozens of publications including The Guardian, Sunset Magazine, and the Los Angeles Times. Rick has been named a regional delegate to the Slow Food/Terra Madre Conference in Torino, a Ralph M. Parsons Fellow, a Good Food Champion by LA City Council, and was a solo presenter at the 2014 SXSW Eco Conference. A 2010 winner of the LA Social Venture Fast Pitch, in 2015 Nahmias was chosen from over 135 past participants to represent Los Angeles in the inaugural National Fast Pitch competition in Austin, TX and was awarded the Innovation and Audience awards. In 2016 he received an inaugural Trailblazer Award from the International Association of Culinary Professionals. Rickwas named a 2017-18 Senior Fellow at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Policy. He serves on the Leadership Board of the LA Food Policy Council and the Steering Committee for the Los Angeles County Food Recovery Initiative. When he’s not in the kitchen or up a tree, he’s learning steel guitar with his trusty Catahoula Leopard Dog, Rufus, by his side.

Laura Poitras is a filmmaker, journalist, and artist. CITIZENFOUR, the third installment of her post-9/11 Trilogy, won an Academy Award for Best Documentary, along with awards from the British Film Academy, Independent Spirit Awards, Director’s Guild of America, German Filmpreis, Cinema Eye Honors, Gotham Awards and others. Part one of the trilogy, MY COUNTRY, MY COUNTRY, about the U.S. occupation of Iraq, was nominated for an Academy Award. Part two, THE OATH, focused on Guantanamo and the war on terror, and was nominated for two Emmy awards.

ASTRO NOISE (2016), her first solo museum exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art curated by Jay Sanders, is a series of immersive installations and new work, including: ANARCHIST; O'Say Can You See; Bed Down Location; Disposition Matrix; November 20, 2004; and Last Seen. 

Her film RISK premeired at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Her collaboration with Henrik Moltke, PROJECT X, screened at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

Her reporting on NSA mass surveillance based on Edward Snowden’s disclosures won the George Polk Award for national security journalism, and shared in the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.

In 2006, the U.S. government placed her on a secret watchlist and, through 2012, she was detained and interrogated at the U.S. border each time she traveled internationally.  In 2015, the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a FOIA lawsuit against the U.S. government to obtain her FBI and other government files. Over 1,000 pages have been released.

She has received many honors for her work, including a MacArthur Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship, Creative Capital grant, and a Peabody Award. She has attended the Sundance Institute Documentary Labs as both a Fellow and Creative Advisor. She is on the board of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, and is Co-Creator of the visual journalism project Field of Vision.

ALEX NESTER

Alex’s bout with cancer has helped shape her unique sound filled with messages of love, faith, positivity, and healing while channeling the retro soul artists of the 60’s and 70’s… Which only makes sense as she is currently touring with Salvador Santana, recently toured with Tito Jackson (of Jackson 5 fame), and has opened as a solo artist for such acts as Earth Wind & Fire, Chicago, The Rascals, Evelyn “Champagne” King, The Stylistics, and Dave Mason. Most recently she has added multi-platinum selling artist Rachel Platten to that list as well. Her resume already includes 12 albums, countless jingles, and over 25 theatrical productions, as well as working with established musicians such as Carlos Santana, Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops, The Fifth Dimension, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Desi Arnaz, Jr., Alphonse Mouzon, Brandon Fields, and Eric Marienthal.

As the music industry settles for what’s “safe”, Alex will continue to push the boundaries of music making. Her songs are a musical testament of loss and hope, failure and triumph. It is a promise to the listeners that her music will never be anything less than sincere and honest. And most importantly, it’s 100% Alex Nester groove!

Anne Rice (born October 4, 1941) is a best-selling American author of gothic and
later religious themed books. She was born Howard Allen O'Brien. Best known for her Vampire Chronicles, her prevailing thematical focus is on love, death, immortality,
existentialism, and the human condition. She was married to poet Stan Rice for 41 years until his death in 2002. Her books have sold nearly 100 million copies, making her one of the most widely read authors in modern history.

She completed her first book, Interview with the Vampire, in 1973 and published it in 1976.  This book would be the first in Rice's popular Vampire Chronicles series, which includes 1985's The Vampire Lestat and 1988's The Queen of the Damned.

In 1998, after spending most of her adult life as a self-described atheist, Rice returned to her Roman Catholic faith, which she had not practiced since she was 18. In October 2005, as she reaffirmed her Catholic faith, Rice announced in a Newsweek article that she would "write only for the Lord." She called Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, her first novel in this genre, the beginning of a trilogy that will chronicle the life of Jesus.  Christ The Lord: Out of Egypt is being made into a feature film that will release in the near future.

BETH BELL

Beth Bell is known as a Flower Whisperer, International entrepreneur, author and Radio Show Host. After 15+ years in her corporate career she left her high heels, corporate suits, and luxury high rise living for flip flops, helmet hair and the rice fields of Bali to pursue her mission to be “Pollinating the Planet with Love”.

Beth founded Blossom B.L.I.S.S. Bali, an empowering line of products including inspirational jewelry, flower affirmation cards and flower photography.  Her love of observing and photographing flowers provides her a deep connection to mother nature that’s lead her to channel messages from the flowers. She’s captured the 4 life lessons she’s learned from flowers that provide simple, yet profound insights. Her book “Flower Power 4 Pure Love” was recently launched in Australia just in time for spring and is available on Amazon.

On the Beth Bell Radio Show she interviews guests living their passions to empower listeners to know pure love & purpose. Beth along with her guests share how they took intuitive risks and big jumps to get to where they are today. She believes through sharing personal life journey lessons and pearls of wisdom we gain along the way, we empower others to live their passions and life’s purpose.

Beth currently resides in Bali, Indonesia and travels globally sharing the life lessons she’s learned from flowers along with her personal life journey lessons and pearls of wisdom.  

JESSE CAMPBELL

An International recording artist who sings heart-felt Universal music with soul. Born in Chicago, IL, Jesse Campbell’s voice emerged at the age of sixteen when he began leading songs with the church choir where his father, Bishop W.J. Campbell is Pastor.

Jesse broke out of his gospel roots in 1994, signing a recording contract with Underworld/Capitol Records.  During this time, he recorded and released his first hit single, When You Cry, I Cry, from his debut album, Never Let You Go.  He also recorded the smash hit, Where Is The Love, from the movie soundtrack Dead Presidents, which sold over 500,000 copies, and was certified gold.

Jesse has performed for many of the world’s renowned speakers and has performed both LIVE and in-studio with some of the most successful recording artist of the music industry. During season two of NBC’s “The Voice”, the stars aligned and Jesse was invited to join the hit reality show, giving the world a glimpse of his profound vocal talent. His story and live performances were featured on commercials, movie screens and other promotions. After wooing the hearts and mutual respect of Industry peers / celebrity coaches Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton, along with 40 million viewers, Jesse’s fan base drastically increased and continues to grow worldwide via social media and jaw dropping live performances. Since then, Jesse has performed as the guest celebrity on “The Voice” Vietnam, and has worked in partnership with many companies and big name corporations including McDonalds, Apple, Spirit & Cellardoor Winery.

During Jesse’s career he has also made many personal appearances and live performances on national television shows including: The Tonight Show, WGN Morning Show, Showtime at the Apollo, BET’s Video Soul, and Soul Train. With Jesse’s vocal talent he has the pleasure of working alongside many highly respected recording artist’s including Jesse J, Mary J Blige, Christina Aguilera, The Winans, Andre Crouch and The Hawkins. Jesse has and continues to travel the world sharing his vocal prowess in South and Central Americas, UK, Eastern Europe, South Africa, Asia and many more to come.

Jesse is currently in the studio working on his next Album of World music you can feel. Jesse is one of today’s most gifted singers, whose unique, captivating vocals command attention from the first note. Jesse’s charisma, unique gift of reaching others and humble roots inspire people from all walks of life, and his amazing voice continues to catapult him to greatness.

MURRAY HIDARY

This purpose-driven approach to the Internet’s power garnered Murray considerable business success, including EarthWeb’s groundbreaking IPO in 1998, which was the third largest single day share gain in NASDAQ history at the time, and the growth and sale of several more companies including career site Dice and expert network Vista Research. In addition to his robust career in tech, Murray is an acclaimed photographer, composer, and musician with a voracious appetite for ongoing learning and adventure.

Murray has studied theoretical physics extensively; trained in the study of Aikido and the Shakuhachi (the Japanese bamboo flute) and its ancient music tradition of the Zen monks with some of the greatest teachers. Additionally, he journeyed the globe mindfully connecting with the fundamental elements that surround us. In an effort to gain deeper understanding of himself and of nature, Murray sought out experiences to simultaneously challenge and test himself physically and mentally as well as give him perspectives of natures core elements including water, rock and wind.

Climbing Mont Blanc, the Grand Teton and Mount Cook as well as countless technical rock climbing routes gave him and intimacy with the earth. Scuba-diving the Great Barrier Reef extensively and whitewater kayaking rivers allowed to ‘become’ the water. Paragliding the high mountains from Colorado to Mexico allowed him to feel and connect with the wind and understand flight. These pursuits, in addition to several marathon runs allowed him to push his mind and body connection, see what he was made of and learn how to confront, process and act in the face of fear.

Murray’s work, quest and ongoing studies remain closely entwined: he’s out to ignite transformation, to connect the seemingly disparate elements of this world, and to live in a constant dance of unfolding the hidden universe. At age 30, Murray wrote and recorded his first symphony in St. Petersburg, Russia. Moved by direct experiences that his curiosity towards deeper levels of consciousness created through music that began with his study of zazenor moving meditation with the Japanese Zen flute, Murray translated that process to the piano and began to lay the groundwork for what would eventually become MindTravel. The essence of MindTravel started as a personal practice for Murray many years ago, bringing music and visual art together, blurring the lines and pushing the edges of these mediums for direct expressions of deeper consciousness.

In bringing MindTravel to a broad audience, Murray’s goal is to create the space for people to have a powerful journey, which is at once provocative and reflective, healing and transcendent. Murray’s musical performances are a fusion of contemporary classical style, and contain a highly original expression of the avant garde, presented to audiences in concert halls, beaches, parks and beyond. For Murray, music communicates a profound coalescence of language and concept – a bridge connecting that which is hidden with that which is manifest.

Murray is involved with several philanthropic causes. He is the board chairman of the new music string quartet ETHEL, resides on the boards of UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance and Four Way Books, a publisher of poetry and short fiction by emerging and established writers. He is also a member of the New York University Dean’s Advisory Council and is the recipient of the NYU Distinguished Service Award where he has given the commencement speech at Madison Square Garden.

Murray is currently touring MindTravel, composing new work, hiking and meditating in beautiful places.

THOM TRAN

Los Angeles based comedian, musician, and U.S. military veteran and advocate Thom Tran started his career as a standup comic after a combat injury ended his career as a soldier.

Thom enlisted in the United States Army at 18 years old before he even finished high school. After joining the Army, Thom spent his entire career as a Communications Sergeant as well as a Civil Affairs Sergeant within the United States Army’s Special Operations Community. In 2003, four days after crossing the border into Iraq, Thom was wounded during a firefight when a sniper’s bullet found it’s way to the back of his skull. He bandaged himself up, continued the mission, and finished his 12 month tour in Iraq. But his wounds would eventually bring an end to his military life. After redeploying to the United States, Thom was medically retired in 2005.

Post-combat, comedy saved his life. After touring the United States as a road comic, Thom moved to Los Angeles in 2008 and two years later created The GIs of Comedy Tour, a Comedic Troupe of Troops that has toured all over the United States and to 18 different countries performing to audiences both military and civilian, bringing the healing power of laughter to those who need it the most. The group has raised nearly $20,000 for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, a charity that raises college scholarship funds for the children of fallen US Special Operations personnel.

When Thom isn’t on the road he makes his home in Hollywood, CA performing at The World Famous Laugh Factory & clubs all over SoCal.

Recently, Thom’s love of rock and roll finds him back on stage playing lead guitar for a heavy metal band and cover band he co-founded called The Diver Rockstars playing bars and nightclubs in Southern California!

More About Thom Tran, SSG (Retired) US Army, Comedian – Creator – Executive Producer: The GI’s of Comedy

 Karen Kwiatkowski (ka-tao-skee) was commissioned in 1982 as a second lieutenant in theUnited States Air Force. She served at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, providing logistical support to missions along the Chinese and Russian coasts. After tours in Massachusetts, Spain and Italy, Kwiatkowski was assigned to the National Security Agency, eventually becoming a speech writer for the agency’s director.

Col. Kwiatkowski transferred to the Pentagon, first working on the Air Staff as a political military affairs officer, then moving over to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Under Secretary for Policy, in the Sub-Saharan Africa Directorate. From May 2002 to February 2003, she served in the Pentagon’s Near East and South Asia directorate (NESA).  While at NESA, she wrote a series of anonymous articles, “Insider Notes from the Pentagon” that appeared on the website of David Hackworth, protesting neoconservatism inside the Pentagon and the pro-war propaganda being put forth by Pentagon appointees.  Kwiatkowski was in her office inside the Pentagon when it was tragically attacked on September 11, 2001.  She left NESA in February 2003 and after 20 years of service, retired from the Air Force.

In April 2003, she began writing articles for the libertarian website LewRockwell.com. In June 2003, the Ohio Beacon Journal, published her op-ed ”Career Officer Does Eye-Opening Stint Inside Pentagon” which attracted international notice. Kwiatkowski became publicly known for criticizing a corrupting political influence on the course of military intelligence leading up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Her most comprehensive writings on this subject appeared in a series of articles in The American Conservative magazine in December 2003 and in a March 2004 article on Salon.com.

Kwiatkowski has become a respected columnist for various international media outlets. She is a regular contributor to Lewrockwell.com and has had articles about her work with the Department of Defense published in the American Conservative.  She has hosted the popular call-in radio show American Forum, and blogs occasionally on Liberty and Power.  Since her retirement, she has taught American government related classes at Lord Fairfax Community College and James Madison University, and teaches information systems related classes for the University of Maryland.  She and her husband raise beef cattle in Shenandoah County, Virginia.  They have been married since 1982 and have four children.

EDUCATION:

    MA in Government from Harvard.
    MS in Science Management from the University of Alaska.
    Completed both Air Command and Staff College and the Naval War College seminar programs.
    Holds a Ph.D. in World Politics from Catholic University of America.

ON 9-11
Contributor to 9/11 and American Empire: Intellectuals Speak Out 8/23/06:  Account of Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, Pentagon employee and eyewitness to the events at the Pentagon on 9/11.  "I believe the Commission failed to deeply examine the topic at hand, failed to apply scientific rigor to its assessment of events leading up to and including 9/11, failed to produce a believable and unbiased summary of what happened, failed to fully examine why it happened, and even failed to include a set of unanswered questions for future research.  

It is as a scientist that I have the most trouble with the official government conspiracy theory, mainly because it does not satisfy the rules of probability or physics.  The collapses of the World Trade Center buildings clearly violate the laws of probability and physics.

There was a dearth of visible debris on the relatively unmarked [Pentagon] lawn, where I stood only minutes after the impact.  Beyond this strange absence of airliner debris, there was no sign of the kind of damage to the Pentagon structure one would expect from the impact of a large airliner. This visible evidence or lack thereof may also have been apparent to the secretary of defense [Donald Rumsfeld], who in an unfortunate slip of the tongue referred to the aircraft that slammed into the Pentagon as a "missile". ...

I saw nothing of significance at the point of impact - no airplane metal or cargo debris was blowing on the lawn in front of the damaged building as smoke billowed from within the Pentagon. ... all of us staring at the Pentagon that morning were indeed looking for such debris, but what we expected to see was not evident.

The same is true with regard to the kind of damage we expected. ... But I did not see this kind of damage. Rather, the facade had a rather small hole, no larger than 20 feet in diameter. Although this facade later collapsed, it remained standing for 30 or 40 minutes, with the roof line remaining relatively straight.

The scene, in short, was not what I would have expected from a strike by a large jetliner. It was, however, exactly what one would expect if a missile had struck the Pentagon.

More information is certainly needed regarding the events of 9/11 and the events leading up to that terrible day."

Margaret Cho was born December 5, 1968 and raised in San Francisco. "It was different than any other place on Earth," she says. "I grew up and went to grammar school on Haight Street during the '70s. There were old hippies, ex-druggies, burnouts from the '60s, drag queens, and Chinese people. To say it was a melting pot - that's the least of it. It was a really confusing, enlightening, wonderful time."

Her grandfather was a Methodist minister who ran an orphanage in Seoul during the Korean War. Ignoring the traditions of her patriarchal culture, her mother bravely resisted an arranged marriage in Korea and married Margaret's father who writes joke books - in Korean. "Books like 1001 Jokes for Public Speakers - real corny stuff," Margaret says. "I guess we're in the same line of work. But we don't understand each other that way. I don't know why the things he says are funny and the same for him."

Margaret started performing stand-up at age 16 in a comedy club called The Rose & Thistle above a bookstore her parents ran. Soon after, she won a comedy contest where first prize was opening for Jerry Seinfeld. She moved to Los Angeles in the early '90s and lived in a house with several other young performers.

I moved out because I wasn't the most famous. If the Manson Family had come, I wouldn't have been Sharon Tate; I would have been one of the supporting victims, and who wants that? Janeane Garofalo moved into my old room. Anyway, 'Cho' written in blood on the wall doesn't look as cool as 'Garofalo.'

Still in her early twenties, Cho hit the college circuit, where she immediately became the most booked act in the market and garnered a nomination for Campus Comedian of The Year. Arsenio Hall introduced her to late night audiences, Bob Hope put her on a prime time special and, seemingly overnight, Margaret Cho became a national celebrity.

In 1994, she starred in a short-lived ABC sitcom called All-American Girl. Says Margaret:

There were just so many people involved in that show, and so much importance put on the fact that it was an ethnic show. It's hard to pin down what "ethnic" is without appearing to be racist. And then, for fear of being too "ethnic," it got so watered down for television that by the end, it was completely lacking in the essence of what I am and what I do. I learned a lot, though. It was a good experience as far as finding myself, knowing who I was and what direction I wanted to take with my comedy.
In 1999, Margaret chronicled her experience on the sitcom in an off Broadway one-woman show called I'm The One That I Want. The show was extremely well received, toured the U.S, and was made into a concert film and a best-selling book of the same name.

The film, which garnered incredible reviews, broke the record for the most money grossed per print in movie history. After the success of her first show, Margaret launched Notorious C.H.O. in 2001, a smash-hit 37-city national tour that culminated in a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall. Notorious C.H.O. was also recorded and released as a feature film, hailed by the New York Times as "Brilliant!" Both films were acquired by Showtime Cable Networks in 2004 and are currently airing on their channels. Margaret embarked on her third sold-out national tour, Revolution, in 2003. The tour ultimately grossed 4.4M and was heralded as "Her strongest show yet!" by the Chicago Sun Times. The concert film premiered on the Sundance Channel in 2004 and was released on DVD later that year. The CD of Revolution was nominated for a Grammy for best comedy album of the year for 2003.

In 2004, Margaret took her politically charged State of Emergency tour through the swing states of the Presidential election. Lauded as "Murderously funny!" by the New York Times, State of Emergency eventually evolved into her fourth national show, Assassin. Her most political and topical work to date, Assassin toured the US, Canada and Australia and was filmed at the Warner Theatre in Washington D.C. The concert film premiered in select theatres and on the gay and lesbian premium channel Here! TV in late 2005and is now available on DVD.

In addition to her busy touring schedule, Margaret has proven herself an established writer and blogger; her second book, a collection of essays on all subjects political and pop, I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight was published by Riverhead Books, a division of Penguin Group (2005). She has also completed her first narrative feature; Bam Bam and Celeste, written by and starring Margaret, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in late 2005 and has since played at the AFI Fest, Frameline, Fusion, and the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival.

In 2007, Margaret hit the road with 80's legends Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry & Erasure along with indie faves The Dresden Dolls and The Cliks to host the True Colors Tour, benefiting the Human Rights Campaign. A true entertainment pioneer, Margaret also created and starred in The Sensuous Woman, a live variety show featuring vaudevillian burlesque and comedy, which she took for an extended off-Broadway run last fall.

This year Margaret is returning to her stand-up roots with a brand new tour, Beautiful, debuting in Australia at The Sydney Theater on February 27, 2008. This will mark the first time that Margaret has premiered a new show abroad. Margaret quips, "I love Australia! The audiences are so smart and rowdy, it's really exciting. I love that they just voted out Bush's boyfriend, John Howard. How thrilling!" Immediately following the Australian dates, Margaret will launch a national U.S. run of Beautiful, beginning on March 6 in Hawaii and running through June. Ticket and show info is available on her tour page. In describing what Beautiful means to her, Margaret explains:

I want to explore the nature of beauty. What is funny and scary about it, why we often don't feel beautiful because our society's standards are so rigid and unattainable. A DJ once asked me, "If you woke up tomorrow and you were beautiful, what would you do? If you were, blonde, blue-eyed, 5 foot 11, and weighed 100 pounds, what would you do?!?" Well, I probably wouldn't get up in that case, because I'd be too weak to stand. If that is his only idea of beauty then I feel really sorry for him. I want everyone to feel beautiful and I want to do it with laughter. Why not feel good about ourselves?

Margaret was the recipient of the first ever Best Comedy Performance award at the 2007 Asian Excellence Awards. She also recently received the First Amendment Award from the ACLU of Southern California, and the Intrepid Award from the National Organization for Women (NOW). She has also been honored by GLAAD, American Women in Radio and Television, the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF), the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), and PFLAG for "making a significant difference in promoting equal rights for all, regardless of race, sexual orientation or gender identity."

I didn't mean to be a role model. I just speak my truth. I guess speaking from your heart really creates a huge impact, and if I can encourage people to do that, then I would love to be a role model. If I could encourage people to use their voices loudly, then that's my reward. I don't care about winning an academy award; I don't care about mainstream acceptance, because it's never going to be what I want it to be. I just want to do my work and love it.

Lincoln Davenport Chafee is a former United States Senator from Rhode Island. Running as a Republican, he lost his re-election bid in 2006 to Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse. In the summer of 2007, he left the Republican Party and became an independent. He is currently a visiting scholar at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies.

A Rhode Island native educated at Phillips Academy and Brown University, Chafee worked as a professional blacksmith for seven years before entering state politics in 1985. He was a delegate to the Rhode Island State Constitutional Convention, a member of the Warwick, Rhode Island city council, and later the mayor of Warwick. Chafee was appointed to the United States Senate in 1999 upon the death of his father, Senator John Chafee, and in 2000 was elected to a full six-year term.

A political iconoclast, Chafee was the only Republican senator to have expressed support for same-sex marriage; the only Republican to vote in favor of reinstating the top federal tax rate on upper-income payers; the only Republican in the Senate to have voted against authorization of the use of force in Iraq; the only Republican to vote for the Levin-Reed amendment calling for a nonbinding timetable for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq; and the only Republican to vote against Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. Chafee favored increased federal funding for health care, supported affirmative action and gun control, supported women’s reproductive rights, and endorsed federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Sometimes referred to by conservatives as a RINO (Republican in Name Only), Chafee turns the tables on the right and asks why it has enabled Bush Jr. to pull the GOP and the nation away from traditional principles of fiscal conservatism, respect for our environment, and aversion to foreign entanglements.  

Chafee's book, AGAINST THE TIDE: How a Compliant Congress Empowered a Reckless President, is an unabashedly frank, memoir recounting his political journey from small-town mayor to a voice crying from the congressional wilderness. It offers a forward-looking assessment of what comes next for the Republican and Democratic parties, and he also addresses the potential rise of a third party within the void created by bipartisan extremism. Most important, Chafee sounds a wake-up call to his Party, and to all Americans, by challenging our government to strive, as Abraham Lincoln once articulated, “to elevate the condition of men.”

Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) served in the United States Senate at a time when his Republican Party drifted so far right it no longer stood for its mainstream principles. In the face of his party's wrongheaded direction under George W. Bush, Lincoln Chafee became, even more fiercely, what he had always been...his own leader. Chafee’s ideological positions make his voting record among the most liberal of the Republicans in the Senate. And it's no surprise that he has an eye-opening story to tell about his 7-year journey in national politics, from small-town mayor to a unique national voice.

The Iranian lawyer and human rights activist Shirin Ebadi was born in 1947. She received a law degree from the University of Tehran. In the years 1975-79 she served as president of the city court of Tehran, one the first female judges in Iran. After the revolution in 1979 she was forced to resign. She now works as a lawyer and also teaches at the University of Tehran.

Both in her research and as an activist, she is known for promoting peaceful, democratic solutions to serious problems in society. She takes an active part in the public debate and is well-known and admired by the general public in her country for her defence in court of victims of the conservative faction's attack on freedom of speech and political freedom.

Ebadi represents Reformed Islam, and argues for a new interpretation of Islamic law which is in harmony with vital human rights such as democracy, equality before the law, religious freedom and freedom of speech. As for religious freedom, it should be noted that Ebadi also includes the rights of members of the bahai community, which has had problems in Iran ever since its foundation.

Ebadi is an activist for refugee rights, as well as those of women and children. She is the founder and leader of the Association for Support of Children's Rights in Iran. Ebadi has written a number of academic books and articles focused on human rights. Among her books translated into English are The Rights of the Child. A Study of Legal Aspects of Children's Rights in Iran (Tehran, 1994), published with support from UNICEF, and History and Documentation of Human Rights in Iran (New York, 2000), Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope (New York, 2006).

As a lawyer, she has been involved in a number of controversial political cases. She was the attorney of the families of the writers and intellectuals who were victims of the serial murders in 1999-2000. She has worked actively - and successfully - to reveal the principals behind the attack on the students at Tehran University in 1999 where several students died. As a consequence, Ebadi has been imprisoned on numerous occasions.

With Islam as her starting point, Ebadi campaigns for peaceful solutions to social problems, and promotes new thinking on Islamic terms. She has displayed great personal courage as a lawyer defending individuals and groups who have fallen victim to a powerful political and legal system that is legitimized through an inhumane interpretation of Islam. Ebadi has shown her willingness and ability to cooperate with representatives of secular as well as religious views.

Shirin is currently in the USA on a speaking tour, giving media interviews. Shirin recently initiated the National Peace Council campaign in Iran which asks Iranian officials to soothe their approach toward international issues and advocates direct talks between Tehran and Washington, among its other goals.  Middle East
E-mail this article  Print this article  Write to the editor

Follow the Path of Negotiation and Peace—An Interview With Shirin Ebadi
Niusha Boghrati
Worldpress.org correspondent
January 1, 2008

"Is America going to bomb us after all?" That has been the word on the streets in Iran for quite some months now. It is an issue too big to be ignored in day-to-day life, a fear more real than what an even rare optimistic United States National Intelligence Estimate could not completely ease.

The Iranian people have generally learned to compromise with any given condition and even make a gay life out of the hard times. On this issue they seem to have felt the heat to their bones. And their fear has found expression in the formation of an anti-war movement.

The "seriousness" of the situation has convinced some of Iran's most prominent civil activists to initiate an unprecedented nation-wide campaign to minimize the threat of a United States attack against Iran.

No to war; yes to peace and human rights" is the motto of the recently launched campaign.

Alvin Toffler was an American writer, who wrote on futurism related to communication, digitalization and corporate growth. He was known to be the ‘world’s most famous futurologists’ and is considered as an important influence in shaping of the modern China.

He started as being an associate editor at the ‘Fortune’ magazine and did analysis for them in the field of business and management. Before that, he devoted some of his youth in working at the labor’s level and then became a labor columnist, shared his experience and analysis on the working class. His earlier writings focused on the expansion of technology and its impact on the society which got him research works form companies like IBM and AT & T.

Toffler from there on wrote books like ‘Future Shock’, ‘The Third Wave’, etc. in which he addressed the problems of information overload, increasing military hardware, weapons and technology proliferation, and capitalism. Owing to his impeccable understanding of the future impact of the current revolutionary technological changes, he was a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, serves on the advisory board of the Comptroller-General of the United States, and has been elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

He married to Heidi Toffler, who was a futurist and intellectual in her own right and had an active influence on Toffler’s professional growth.

James George Abourezk was a Democratic United States Representative and United States Senator, and was the first Arab-American to serve in the United States Senate. He represented South Dakota in the U.S. Senate from 1973 until 1979.

He was elected as a Democrat to the House of Representatives, and served from 1971 to 1973. He then was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served until 1979.

As a senator, he criticized the Office of Public Safety (OPS), a U.S. agency linked to the USAID and the CIA that provided training to foreign police forces. He also was the chair of the Senate Select Committee on Indian Affairs and of the American Indian Policy Review Commission. Abourezk was an early supporter of the National initiative and with fellow Senator Mark O. Hatfield (R-OR) introducted an amendment allowing more direct democracy. However, this initiative failed.

In an interview with Counterpunch on April 16, 2006, Abourezk called the groups Hamas and Hezbollah "resistance fighters". [1] He repeated this statement in a 2007 interview on Hezbollah's Al Manar television network and stated that that he "marveled at the Hezbollah resistance to Israel. ... It was a marvel of organization, of courage and bravery.

In th Counterpunch interview, Abourezk also argued that America's support of Israel endures because "the Congress is pretty much reliant on money from radical Zionists".

He reiterated this statement in an editorial for Electronic Intifada on July 30, 2006, where he wrote:"...the U.S. Congress is despicable in its silence. They are all bought off by the Israel lobby and are afraid to criticize. If this were happening in any other country by any other country, there would be speeches on the floor of Congress, legislation introduced to stop aid and other help to whomever would be committing this cruelty. But since their campaign money comes from the Israeli lobby, we hear only silence."

In a letter dated December 2006, Abourezk wrote: "I can tell you from personal experience that, at least in the Congress, the support Israel has in that body is based
completely on political fear - fear of defeat by anyone who does not do what Israel wants done. I can also tell you that very few members of Congress—at least when I served there—have any affection for Israel or for its Lobby. What they have is contempt, but it is silenced by fear of being found out exactly how they feel. I’ve heard too many cloakroom conversations in which members of the Senate will voice their bitter feelings about how they’re pushed around by the Lobby to think otherwise. In private one hears the dislike of Israel and the tactics of the Lobby, but not one of them is willing to risk the Lobby’s animosity by making their feelings public...

I see no desire on the part of Members of Congress to further any U.S. imperial dreams by using Israel as their pit bull. The only exceptions to that rule is the feelings of Jewish members, who, I believe, are sincere in their efforts to keep U.S. money flowing to Israel. I believe that divestment, and especially cutting off U.S.  aid to Israel would immediately result in Israel’s giving up the West Bank and leaving the Gaza to the Palestinians. 

Such pressure would work, I think, because the Israeli  public would be able to determine what is causing their misery and would demand that an immediate peace
agreement be made with the Palestinians."

In an August 30, 2007 interview on the Hezbullah TV network Al-Manar, as translated by MEMRI, Abourezk stated that "the Arabs who were involved in 9/11 cooperatedwith the Zionists. It was a cooperation. They gave them the perfect excuse to denounce all Arabs."

In 1980, Abourezk founded the American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee, a grassroots civil rights organization. In 1989, he wrote Advise and Dissent: Memoirs of South Dakota and the U.S. Senate  and he is the co-author of "Through Different Eyes: Two Leading Americans — a Jew and an Arab — Debate U. S. Policy in the Middle East."

Abourezk now works as a lawyer and writer in South Dakota.

Arun Gandhi - Grandson of Mahatma Gandhi
Info: Mahatma Gandhi was a leader and a friend to all throughout his life. He dedicated his life to fostering the philosophy of nonviolent action, and spreading this concept throughout the world. Born on October 2, 1869, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi did not live an easy life. He struggled to find freedom for his countrymen and to spread his belief in nonviolent resistance. Given the name Mahatma, meaning “great soul,” he spread his message across the globe.

Mahatma Gandhi's grandson, Arun, continues the work of his grandfather through the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence founded in 1991 by Arun and his wife founded in 1991 by the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Arun and his wife, Sunanda.  

Born in 1934 in Durban, South Africa, Arun is the fifth grandson of India’s legendary leader, Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi. Growing up under the discriminatory apartheid laws of South Africa, he was beaten by “white” South Africans for being too black and “black” South Africans for being too white; so, Arun sought eye-for-an-eye justice. However, he learned from his parents and grandparents that justice does not mean revenge, it means transforming the opponent through love and suffering.

Grandfather taught Arun to understand nonviolence through understanding violence. “If we know how much passive violence we perpetrate against one another we will understand why there is so much physical violence plaguing societies and the world,” Gandhi said. Through daily lessons, Arun says, he learned about violence and about anger.

Arun shares these lessons all around the world. For the past five years, he has participated in the Renaissance Weekend deliberations with President Clinton and other well-respected Rhodes Scholars. This year, some of his engagements included speaking at the Chicago Children’s Museum and the Women’s Justice Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He also delivered talks at the Young President’s Organization in Mexico, the Trade Union Leaders’ Meeting in Milan, Italy, as well as the Peace and Justice Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Sometimes, his journeys take him even further. Arun has spoken in Croatia, France, Ireland, Holland, Lithuania, Nicaragua, China, and Japan. Also, he is a very popular speaker on college campuses. In the past year, he spoke at the University of Rochester, North Dakota State University, Concordia College, Baker University, Morehouse College, Marquette University, and the University of San Diego.

Arun is very involved in social programs and writing as well. Shortly after Arun married his wife Sunanda, they were informed the South African government would not allow her to accompany him there. Sunanda and Arun decided to live in India, and Arun worked for 30 years as a journalist for The Times of India. Together, Arun and Sunanda started projects for the social and economic upliftment of the oppressed using constructive programs, the backbone of Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence. The programs changed the lives of more than half a million people in over 300 villages and they still continue to grow. Arun is the author of several books. The first, A Patch of White (1949), is about life in prejudiced South Africa; then, he wrote two books on poverty and politics in India; followed by a compilation of M.K. Gandhi's Wit & Wisdom. He also edited a book of essays on World Without Violence: Can Gandhi’s Vision Become Reality? And, more recently, wrote The Forgotten Woman: The Untold Story of Kastur, the Wife of Mahatma Gandhi, jointly with Sunanda.