When this blog site was started a number of years ago, I gave it the title Human Beings Anonymous. That title was also the intended title for a book that I had started to write at that time – basically a Twelve Steps book for people who seem to believe that they do not have any addictions or attachments. That book is yet to be completed.

This blog site has had several beginnings and restarts during those years, and has addressed a wide variety of topics – some more effectively than others. It has also  had several false starts – just like the one that brought me back to writing just a few weeks ago.

Over the years I have never found a center to give this blog site a focus and a true reason to be. That all changed the morning of Wednesday, November 9, 2016 – the morning following the recent election.

That morning I was convicted to change this blog site to one that tells the stories of people who made left invisible by society – the true anonymous human beings – women, people of color, LGBTQ people, senior citizens, ethnic and religious groups that society has  forced to the fringes of existence, and for me especially, our Native American sisters and brothers who continue to exist with the oppressions that have existed since the very earliest days of this country – and I know that this is not a complete list.

From this point forward this site will be dedicated to telling the stories of those who find it difficult for their voice to be heard. This site will be a communication ally for the marginalized, the oppressed, the hurting, and the invisible anonymous human beings that share life with us on this planet.

If anyone knows a story that needs to be told, or if you have a story that you need to tell, please be in contact with me so that we might find the most effective way to assist you in moving from anonymous and invisible to a place of love, respect, and compassion.

i know that there is some risk in committing to this work, but it is my calling, and I must begin this part of my life adventure!

Grace, peace, and love

Tom

I just signed the petition to President Obama to join us in taking the important step to STOP the Dakota Access Pipeline. The text of the request from CREDO follows and I have also reposed this request on my Facebook page. I encourage everyone to sign this petition and lend your support to this important cause for all of humanity.

Tell President Obama: Stop the Dakota Access pipeline.

It’s Keystone XL all over again: The Dakota Access pipeline would carry 450,000 barrels of dirty oil per day from North Dakota to Illinois and cut through fragile wildlife habitat, environmentally sensitive areas and sovereign tribal property. Worse, the pipeline would cross under the Missouri River, threatening drinking water downstream if a catastrophic oil spill occurs.

The Army Corps of Engineers granted the Dakota Access pipeline’s permits using a controversial fast-tracking process called “Nationwide Permit 12.” This allows the Corps to essentially rubber-stamp pipeline projects on private property or Native American lands with little environmental review and no meaningful public input.

The Corps incorrectly applied this fast-track process in conflict with numerous federal laws and agreements, including the “Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, as well as federal trust responsibilities guaranteed in the 1851 and 1868 United States treaties with the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota tribes.”

Tell President Obama: Stop the Dakota Access pipeline.

The Standing Rock Sioux have been protesting for months in peaceful prayer camps in North Dakota, and farmers and landowners in Iowa have been fighting to stop the pipeline there for more than two years. Now, thousands of people have joined in solidarity. In recent days, activists in Iowa and North Dakota have been arrested for physically blocking the pipeline’s construction, with more protests planned in the coming weeks and months.

We must stand with the local leaders and communities who are holding the line against this dirty and dangerous oil pipeline.

This fight is winnable. Hundreds of thousands of CREDO activists, along with our allies across the country, applied massive public pressure on the Obama administration and stopped the Keystone XL pipeline. We can – and must – do it again.

Tell President Obama: Stop the Dakota Access pipeline.

Grace and peace