Thoughts and Ponderings

I'm baaackk!!

2004-11-19T16:10:00.000-08:00

I am so bad. I thought I would stay with the blog, but I just didn't. Now with all the big stuff happening, I think it will be important for me to stay with it again.

What have I been so busy with the past couple months? Well in October I was working with Move On for the election. Luckily this is a very democratic neighborhood so we had major turnout.

Unfortunately, Shrubbie stole this election again. Hopefully the truth will come out and he will go down...and all his cabinet members too. As sad as we are about the outcome of this election, and the prospect of Alberto Gonzalez becoming attorney general and 4 more years of this, we need to keep working for change. We built a great coalition during the election and we must continue. It is sad that for so many of these people they voted for Bush just because of the gay marriage issue. Sad sad sad.

My grandfather passed away last Saturday, very suddenlly. I am still sad and recovering from that...i have a mentally mean aunt and uncle and cousins who have been causing hell for my family during what is already a hard time. I figure that they will get what's coming to them in the end. We are all getting restraining orders from them eventually.

Will keep posting...later.

Ooh, Baby, Baby It's a Wild World

2004-09-22T14:42:00.000-07:00

Wow, Cat Stevens, your song years ago predicted what kind of world we would be living in. We are living in a country where a musician like Cat Stevens, who penned so many beautiful songs, can be deported! Cat Stevens, who converted to Islam years ago and is now known as "Yusuf Islam", was on a security watch list and was denied access to the United States. Imagine, Cat Stevens being questioned. You can read Common Dreams account, Singer Cat Stevens Refused Entry to the US . While reading these lyrics...think...How can someone that wrote these be treated this way?

Meanwhile, in the spirit of my blog, I want to post lyrics to a few songs by Cat Stevens that I find particularly beautiful:

Morning Has Broken
Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the world

Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day

Peace Train

Now I've been happy lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun

Oh I've been smiling lately, dreaming about the world as one
And I believe it could be, some day it's going to come

Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again

Now I've been smiling lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun

Oh peace train sounding louder
Glide on the peace train
Come on now peace train
Yes, peace train holy roller

Everyone jump upon the peace train
Come on now peace train

Get your bags together, go bring your good friends too
Cause it's getting nearer, it soon will be with you

Now come and join the living, it's not so far from you
And it's getting nearer, soon it will all be true

Now I've been crying lately, thinking about the world as it is
Why must we go on hating, why can't we live in bliss

Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again

Wild World

Now that I've lost everything to you
You say you wanna start something new
And it's breakin' my heart you're leavin'
Baby, I'm grievin'
But if you wanna leave, take good care
Hope you have a lot of nice things to wear
But then a lot of nice things turn bad out there

Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
It's hard to get by just upon a smile
Oh, baby, baby, it's a wild world
I'll always remember you like a child, girl

You know I've seen a lot of what the world can do
And it's breakin' my heart in two
Because I never wanna see you a sad, girl
Don't be a bad girl
But if you wanna leave, take good care
Hope you make a lot of nice friends out there
But just remember there's a lot of bad and beware

Chorus

Baby, I love you
But if you wanna leave, take good care
Hope you make a lot of nice friends out there
But just remember there's a lot of bad and beware

Howard Dean

2004-09-20T18:16:00.000-07:00

I saw Howard Dean speak on Saturday and it was an incredible experience. The auditorium at the library was packed to the brim with people that were all, presumably, like-minded. Dean spoke of his continuing dedication on helping Americans take back our country...He is just such an amazing speaker and person. I really wish we lived in a world where he could be our President...Oh well. I bought one of his books and I shook his hand before he signed it. Yay! :) Tis all, bye!

Deja Vu

2004-09-18T08:44:00.000-07:00

John Fogerty, of Creedence Clearwater Revival fame, is coming out with a new album this Tuesday. The title and title track are "Deja Vu All Over Again." I don't know if it is getting much airplay anywhere except for on WXPN, but the lyrics are fantastic. I was told that John will be here in Philly for the Vote for Change tour singing old Creedence songs with Bruce Springsteen (I can NEVER spell his name, I hope that is right!).

Anyway, for today I will share the lyrics for Deja Vu All Over Again

DEJA VU (ALL OVER AGAIN)

Did you hear 'em talkin' 'bout it on the radio
Did you try to read the writing on the wall
Did that voice inside you say I've heard it all before
It's like Deja Vu all over again

Day by day I hear the voices rising
Started with a whisper like it did before
Day by day we count the dead and dying
Ship the bodies home while the networks all keep score

Did you hear 'em talkin' 'bout it on the radio
Could your eyes believe the writing on the wall
Did that voice inside you say I've heard it all before
It's like Deja Vu all over again

One by one I see the old ghosts rising
Stumblin' 'cross Big Muddy
Where the light gets dim
Day after day another Momma's crying
She's lost her precious child
To a war that has no end

Did you hear 'em talkin' 'bout it on the radio
Did you stop to read the writing at The Wall
Did that voice inside you say
I've seen this all before
It's like Deja Vu all over again
It's like Deja Vu all over again

John Fogerty
©2004 Cody River Music / ASCAP

Tidbits du jour

2004-09-17T19:12:00.000-07:00

A few bits today. AlterNet had an interesting, fun article about all the musical acts working to get out the vote this election season...You can read Beatboxing at the Ballot Box.

Bill Moyers has an article on TomPaine.org about the media which the website claims is a "must-read." You can read Journalism Under Fire via Tompaine.org. It really is powerful coming from someone who has been in media for such a long time.

In crazy conservative news, conservatives groups are urging a boycott of Proctor and Gamble products. These groups suggest that

P&G is tacitly supporting gay marriage.

They setup a website here.

You can read the article on Yahoo! News here. What whack jobs!

Finally, a mother in South Brunswick, NJ was arrested in a "chaotic scene" at a campaign rally with Laura Bush. Her son was killed in Iraq, and she came into the speech with a shirt saying "President Bush, You Killed My Son." Common Dreams has a good article, Mother of GI Killed in Iraq Arrested in 'Chaotic' Scene .
Tis all for today ;)

Send Cheney Soap!

2004-09-17T19:03:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting email campaign I received today...I might check it out a little further...Here is the direct text:

Please spread this email onâ€¦.

If you think it's time for Dick Cheney to come clean on his shady backroom deals with Halliburton, go to Cheneycomeclean.com to join our new grassroots effort to get Cheney to fess up once and for all.

For a small donation, Washington Democrats will send a real bar of soap in your name to Dick Cheney at the Bush-Cheney headquarters in Washington, DC.

Help us make sure that we send a message that is both LOUD and CLEAN to Dick Cheney. Let's see if we can get at least 1,000 bars of soap sent to Dick Cheney in the next week.

Dick Cheney & Halliburton: A Dirty Little History

An incriminating email links Halliburton's no-bid contract directly to
Dick Cheney's Office.

NO RESPONSE FROM THE VICE PRESIDENT.

Halliburton and other contractors waste over $1 billion in Iraq.

THE VICE PRESIDENT HAS NO COMMENT.

Halliburton is fined $7.5 million for Enron-like accounting
irregularities during Cheneyâ€™s tenure as Halliburton CEO.

NOTHING. NADA. RADIO SILENCE. CHENEYâ€™S LIPS ARE ZIPPED.

Paid for by the Washington State Democratic Party
P.O. Box 4027, Seattle, WA 98194; 206 583-0664

Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee.

Leno a Leftie!

2004-09-16T18:14:00.000-07:00

Only one bit today...was a slow day in terms of news in my inbox jumping out at me. Jay Leno had gotten a reputation for awhile for being a pawn for the Republican Party, partially because people perceived he was going soft on Dubya and he spoke at the Terminator's inauguration. But, an article from Alternet with an interview with Jay has him say, outright, that he is indeed a liberal, and he thinks the administration has lied their asses off (in a nutshell :) ). The article is called Jay Leno: I am a Liberal, Really. I don't stay up that late now that I work full-time, but when I was in college and my regular bedtime was 1 AM, my preferred was David Letterman. I have no idea why...I think I found Dave's monologues funnier.

On a couple small local exciting Philadelphia notes...Howard Dean will be speaking at the Free Library of Philadelphia on Saturday, Sept 18th at 5pm. The event is free, so that should be really cool. And I got an email from the local Kerry group that we will be getting 7 hours of Air America Radio here in Philly, from 12noon-7pm on 1340AM. Hot dog!

Don't forget that tonight is the season premiere of Will and Grace!

Ta ta!

Here Kitty Kitty

2004-09-15T17:02:00.000-07:00

As much news as I read, yesterday was the first I heard about this book coming out by Kitty Kelly. She wrote a book exposing lots of dark secrets of the Bush family, including stuff about drugs and big secrecy. Alternet has an article, Kitty's Litter that you may be interested in reading.

In unfair election news, troops overseas are being denied secret ballots for the Presidential election.

Members of the military will be allowed to vote this year
by faxing or e-mailing their ballots - after waiving their
right to a secret ballot.

You can read the disturbing account on the NY Times.

David Corn on Tompaine.org, reports today on the panic sweeping through anti-Bush circles on the not-too-good news coming from the Kerry campaign...people are trusting Bush more, and Kerry hasn't been handling the campaign as well as he should. See the article, here.

Tis all for today.

Giggle for the Day

2004-09-15T16:26:00.000-07:00

George Bush is taking a stroll around Capitol Hill with a senior
member of Congress when he meets a little girl carrying a small
basket with a blanket over it. Curious, he says to the
girl, "What's in the basket?".

She replies, "New baby kittens" and opens the basket to show him.
"How nice" says Bush. "What kind are they?". The little girl says
says, "Republicans". Bush smiles and pats the little girl on the
head and they continue on.

About three weeks later, he and another Congressional colleague are
again strolling around Capitol Hill when he sees the little girl
again with the same basket. Bush says to his colleague; "Watch
this, it's very cute" and they approach the little girl. Bush asks
the girl how the kittens are and she says fine. He then says, "What
kind of kittens are they?" and she replies,"Democrats." Somewhat
abashed, Bush says, "Three weeks ago you said they were Republicans!"

"I know," she says." But now their eyes are open".

Guns and stuff

2004-09-14T17:30:00.000-07:00

In case you were sleeping the past few days, the Federal ban on assault weapons, put in place by Bill Clinton in 1994, has expired. Dubya again has chosen special interest groups like the NRA over ordinary people. I wrote a letter to the Inquirer today, that was a bit more thorough than what I just said...I doubt they will publish it because I was just in. I did write a longer piece that I need to get further information for that I will try getting into the local paper and Philly IMC.
John Kerry promised that if he is elected, he will immediately reinstate this ban, which is great. Howard Dean yesterday had an interview published by Truthout.org where he expresses his distaste with this. You can read Howard Dean's article here. I know here in Philly there were a great number of deaths in or near public schools, and if these assault weapons become more easily accesible, like they now are, I can see it getting worse. Tonight I will do a little research on numbers for gun violence (A sad but important search) for my articles I'm doing.
Also today, Buzzflash sent out a statement by many prominent people who supported Nader's 2000 campaign who are now urging people to support Kerry. You can read the statement here
Another interesting piece today from a newspaper in Tennessee, a woman was fired from her job at a factory for having a Kerry/Edwards bumper sticker on her car. She was asked to remove the sticker or be fired, and Lynne Gobbell kept the sticker and was fired. You can read the troubling story here.
Finally, Katha Pollitt had a very interesting piece in Common Dreams yesterday about the candidates trying to get the women vote...The Girlie Vote.

What's new?

2004-09-14T17:15:00.000-07:00

Hey there, I have been a bit busy the past couple of days, and finally have a smidge of time to make a post. Saturday was nice, one of the speakers at the Stand for Peace was a young 11 year old girl who spoke about gun violence. The keynote speaker was a man whose son was killed by a 13 year old gang member, and has forgiven his son's killer and has become friends with him. That was definitely a moving story.
Sunday I went to church in the "gayborhood" At a local bookstore there, an organization was handing out Hoeffel and Kerry bumper stickers and posters, as well as registering voters. I think the "gayborhood" is an excellent place to do that...what with Bush bringing up gay marriage every time things seem to be going rough for him. Last week, in case you didn't hear, the Log Cabin Republicans (the gay Republican org/lobby) made an announcement that they will not be endorsing George W. Bush for this election. A big kudos for them for that!
Ta ta! Will make another post with actual news in a few.

September 11th

2004-09-11T08:26:00.000-07:00

In memory of the horrible tragedy of September 11th, I will post the lyrics to Bruce Springsteen's "The Rising," which he wrote for that tragic day. I will be back Monday with a real post instead of lyrics.

THE RISING

Can't see nothin' in front of me
Can't see nothin' coming up behind
I make my way through this darkness
I can't feel nothing but this chain that binds me
Lost track of how far I've gone
How far I've gone, how high I've climbed
On my back's a sixty pound stone
On my shoulder a half mile of line

Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

Left the house this morning
Bells ringing filled the air
Wearin' the cross of my calling
On wheels of fire I come rollin' down here

Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li

There's spirits above and behind me
Faces gone black, eyes burnin' bright
May their precious blood bind me
Lord, as I stand before your fiery light

Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li

I see you Mary in the garden
In the garden of a thousand sighs
There's holy pictures of our children
Dancin' in a sky filled with light
May I feel your arms around me
May I feel your blood mix with mine
A dream of life comes to me
Like a catfish dancin' on the end of my line

Sky of blackness and sorrow (a dream of life)
Sky of love, sky of tears (a dream of life)
Sky of glory and sadness (a dream of life)
Sky of mercy, sky of fear (a dream of life)
Sky of memory and shadow (a dream of life)
Your burnin' wind fills my arms tonight
Sky of longing and emptiness (a dream of life)
Sky of fullness, sky of blessed life

Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li

I hope you are able to find something meaningful to do today. I am volunteering in the morning and going to a stand for peace in the afternoon.

Let me just say this. We were pitied after September 11th, and now thanks to the so-called leadership of Bush and wars on Iraq, we are one of the most hated countries in the world. This is one of the other big reasons I think we need to get Bush out of office. John Kerry will not be perfect, probably more like Clinton, but for the future of this country's honor it is imperative that we get Bush out of the White House in November. If not, imagine what will happen to our democracy? If you think what has happened in the past 4 years has been bad, imagine another 4 years where he doesn't have a re-election campaign to worry about...If I go back to school to be a librarian (Which I think is where I'm now headed!), libraries will probably lose alot more funding if he is re-elected. That appalls me as a future librarian and as a very very loyal patron to the Library of Philadelphia. And I'd bet that Benjamin Franklin, who founded the first libraries, is rolling around crying in his grave at the usurption of our democracy by Bush & Co.

Ok, enough for now. Good day.

In Memory of...

2004-09-10T16:41:00.000-07:00

In Memory of the 1,000 soldiers and the large number of innocent civilians that have died as a result of this war, I am today posting the lyrics to John Lennon's "Imagine." Let's all imagine the world that Lennon envisions for us:

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Just One for Today...

2004-09-09T17:22:00.000-07:00

Just one quick article today. AlterNet posted an article written by a young woman who used to be ardently anti-choice...going to marches, etc. until she was faced with an unintended pregnancy. She went through one of those Crisis Pregnancy agencies and when they found out that the father of the baby was black, they told her flat out that they don't have any demand for bi-racial babies and pretty much hung up on her. I encourage you to read the entire account here.

The Man in Black

2004-09-09T17:00:00.000-07:00

Today was a slow news day, at least compared to my usual flow. So I am going to post lyrics to a song by one of my favorite musicians, the recently deceased Johnny Cash.

Folsom Prison Blues By: John R. Cash...Recorded 1/13/68

I hear the train a comin'; it's rollin' 'round the bend,
And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when.
I'm stuck at Folsom Prison and time keeps draggin' on.
But that train keeps rollin' on down to San Antone.

When I was just a baby, my mama told me, "Son,
Always be a good boy; don't ever play with guns."
But I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.
When I hear that whistle blowin' I hang my head and cry.

I bet there's rich folk eatin' in a fancy dining car.
They're prob'ly drinkin' coffee and smokin' big cigars,
But I know I had it comin', I know I can't be free,
But those people keep a movin', and that's what tortures me.

Well, if they freed me from this prison, if that railroad train was mine,
I bet I'd move on over a little farther down the line,
Far from Folsom Prison, that's where I want to stay,
And I'd let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away.

My Cats Are Kissing!

2004-09-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

Here are some assorted articles that don't really have any connection with each other except that they should definitely be of interest to you. So, first is this week's article from Arianna Hoffman. This week Arianna discusses, basically, the concept of 2 Americas, made famous by Vice Presidential nominee John Edwards, as well as a bit of advice for our friend John Kerry. Some quick little snippets:

Of course, leadership is about more than "a spine of tempered steel". It's about character, values, priorities, and a clear vision of where the country should be heading. So Kerry needs to offer a compelling, overarching narrative tying his strength -- and Bush's weakness -- on issues like jobs, the economy, the environment, and health care to his vision for America's future.

What's more, it's impossible to talk about the reality of the Two Americas without talking about Bush's miserable failures in Iraq, as Kerry did on Labor Day, pointing out to a crowd in Cleveland that this "wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time… cost all of you $200 billion that could have gone to schools, could have gone to health care, could have gone to prescription drugs, could have gone to our Social Security."

The people who flock to John Kerry's rallies know the truth. People like Lori Sheldon, a 45-year old mother of two who approached Kerry at a Labor Day rally in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania where he spoke of the struggle of middle-class Americans no longer even trying to get ahead but just to hang on.

You can read the entire article of Heroes And Villains: Reframing The 2004 Race here.

Next on our plate is a speech made by the government's former anti-terrorism chief Richard Clarke at Berkeley Tuesday night. He basically describes how he believes the so-called war on terror has been a disaster. You can read the entire article via Common Dreams here. It is titled War Against Terror is a Failure, Ex-White House Official Says.

Molly Ivins' article appeared today too. Today's article, The Nerve of Bush can also be accessed via Common Dreams. In a nutshell, she discusses how Bush continues to stump at his speeches about how good things in Iraq are and the economy is when in reality they really aren't. You can read the entire article through the link above.

Finally, one of the best and very important pieces I came across today...I figured I'd save the best for last. Former President Jimmy Carter wrote a letter to Democrat Zell Miller (GA) that spoke venomously last week at the RNC against the Democrats. Some clips from his letter...

Everyone knows that you were chosen to speak at the Republican National Convention because of your being a "Democrat," and it's quite possible that your rabid speech damaged our party and paid the GOP some transient dividends.

Perhaps more troublesome of all is seeing you adopt an established and very effective Republican campaign technique of destroying the character of opponents by wild and false allegations. The Bush campaign's personal attacks on the character of John McCain in South Carolina in 2000 was a vivid example. The claim that war hero Max Cleland was a disloyal American and an ally of Osama bin Laden should have given you pause, but you have joined in this ploy by your bizarre claims that another war hero, John Kerry, would not defend the security of our nation except with spitballs. (This is the same man whom you described previously as "one of this nation's authentic heroes, one of this party's best-known and greatest leaders --- and a good friend.")

Zell, I have known you for 42 years and have, in the past, respected you as a trustworthy political leader and a personal friend. But now, there are many of us loyal Democrats who feel uncomfortable in seeing that you have chosen the rich over the poor, unilateral pre-emptive war over a strong nation united with others for peace, lies and obfuscation over the truth, and the political technique of personal character assassination as a way to win elections or to garner a few moments of applause. These are not the characteristics of great Democrats whose legacy you and I have inherited

You can access the letter through Common Dreams News Center

Spoke Too Soon!

2004-09-08T16:35:00.000-07:00

Last week when speaking about the protesters in NYC, I said that I hadn't heard of any major disasters like what happened in Philly. I really should have put a [knock on wood] at the end. Well, now a week later mailing lists I'm on are being infiltrated by articles and letters from people that have been mistreated or have dealt with unfair situations by the NYPD during the protests last week at the RNC.

Joel Viertel, the author of this story, wants this information to be known and says that his arrest is public record. Anyone can contact Joel at McWawa@aol.com to verify the information here. His piece was a bit long, and there is no URL for it, as he emailed it to someone, who emailed it to a Yahoo Group I'm on. Here are a few snippets I thought were most important...

A large percentage of the people arrested weren't even protesters. They were observers, passersby, press, you name it.
Pretty much nobody was read their rights.
A lot of people were never told what they were being charged with.
People were held for anywhere from 12 to 60 hours before being arraigned. New York City only allows the police to hold detainees for 24 hours from their arrest.
I spent 40 hours in prison before seeing a judge and was never told what I was charged with up until that moment. But I was told, point blank, by a corrections officer that we were intentionally being detained as long as possible so we couldn't disrupt W.'s speech.

And another victim of the NYPD...

There was a very distraught father on the news here several days during the convention protesting that his teenaged daughter had been arrested on her way to join friends to see a movie several blocks from MSG. Forty hours later he still had not been allowed to contact her and she had not been allowed to phone anyone (a basic right upon arrest). They never mentioned the final result, but there were hundreds of such stories floating around.

A friend who works for the EPA told me last weekend that his entire department has been taken off of work on all projects and assigned to work on items that will help the Bush reelection effort. Mind you, it is illegal for government employees to actively work on reelection campaigns during office hours.

You can find the URL here.

In other news...

2004-09-07T21:06:00.000-07:00

Some quick things you should check out....

I was sent the link to the site Operation Truth from a mailing list I'm on. This is a new group/organization of former/current soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan that are speaking out about the war...There are first-hand accounts from actual soldiers that you really should check out. From the main page follow the link that says "Soldiers reveal the truth about the war." You can get email updates too!
The Vietnam Veterans association has released an official statement denouncing people at the RNC using purple band-aids to mock the Purple Hearts won by John Kerry. The VVA states:

With our nation's sons and daughters at war to protect global freedom,
demeaning military service in this way {with purple band-aids} is especially hurtful. Vietnam Veterans of America urges all Americans to decry this type of
outrageous, disrespectful, and infantile behavior.

You can read the entire statement here.
According to a video from ABC News and small piece from TalkLeft,

Watch this ABC news video of a young Republican supporter kicking a female protester inside Madison Square Garden as she was lying on the ground being held by three secret service agents. The protesters were arrested. The young Republican was not. A search is on for his identity. Have you seen him?
Dubya made another Bush-ism at a campaign stump today in Missouri...He spoke about frivolous lawsuits. When speaking about medical lawsuits, he said "We've got an issue in America. Too many good docs are getting out of business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." Yikes!
Michael Moore will not seek an Oscar for best documentary for Farenheit 911. Moore says that he wants as many people to see the film as possible before election day and is trying to get it to air on public television. You can read the entire account from The Smirking Chimp news site.

This is all for today :)

Church and State in a Blender

2004-09-07T20:42:00.000-07:00

Buzzflash sent an article today titled 33 Extreme Reasons to Give Bush the Boot. Maureen Farrell discusses, basically, what many of us know. That church and state are being mixed creepily by the Bush administration. He has abandoned the mainline Protestant churches (i.e. Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, etc.) in favor of more evangelical/right wing congregations. Some excellent quotes have been collected for the article.

"George Bush has shown an ideological commitment to the literalist Christian tradition at the expense of the broader view of the larger religious community," National Council of Churches general secretary Rev. Bob Edgar told Salon.com, which is just a nice way of saying that the girl next door has been dumped for Tammy Faye Baker.

On theology in regards to foreign relations...

"Most of all, apparently, we're not supposed to know the National Security Council's top Middle East aide consults with apocalyptic Christians eager to ensure American policy on Israel conforms with their sectarian doomsday scenarios," The Village Voice's Rick Perlstein wrote, making stains on a blue dress seem oh-so-run-of-the-mill.

And a declaration...

With a foreign policy that reflects Biblical prophecy and a domestic agenda that caters to evangelicals, the President's intentions are either starkly dangerous or politically crafty - with the end result being the same: George Bush is tinkering with something far too precious -- our country's future.

As stated in the title of this article, Maureen lists 33 extreme reasons to give Dubya the boot. I won't post all of them (but encourage you to follow the link above to the article), only a few that are most frightening. Many, I'm sure, you are already familiar with...this is what we are up against:

1. Howard Ahmanson: "On a mission from God to stop gay marriage, fight evolution, defeat "liberal" churches -- and reelect George W. Bush," this "quirky millionaire" (as Salon.com put it) is a chief financier of the Christian Reconstructionist movement. Affiliated with the Council for National Policy, he's also been connected to the controversial voting machine company, ES&S.

3. John Ashcroft: A former member of the Council for National Policy, John Aschroft was initially considered an extreme choice for Attorney General, but the folks at Prophecy Central rallied behind him, as did Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who reportedly anointed the America's Attorney General with cooking oil, in the manner of King David.

7. The Christian Coalition: A key player in the culture war, the Christian Coalition "applauds" recent legislative efforts to subvert the Constitution. Three especially frightening pieces of Christian Coalition-backed legislation are: The Constitution Restoration Act of 2004 ("If the Act passes, Iraqis would have stronger protection from religious extremism than Americans," columnist James Heflin wrote); The Congressional Accountability for Judicial Activism Act," (HR 3920) "to allow Congress to reverse the judgments of the United States Supreme Court"; and The Marriage Protection Act, which, having already passed in the House, could, according to the Atlanta Constitution Journal's Jay Bookman, allow Congress to pass a law "making Christianity the national religion, and bar the courts from hearing a challenge."

8. Christian Reconstructionists/Dominionists: Deemed "scary," even by Jerry Falwell's followers, Dominionists literally want to impose Biblical law and reconstruct America as "the Kingdom of God on earth." In short, they seek to toss out the U.S. Constitution, override the authority of the Supreme Court and turn the U.S. into a theocracy. Embracing a "Biblical world view" as the only worldview, Reconstructionists would squelch democracy and all its trappings, while making homosexuality and other "sins" punishable by death. Rev. Timothy LaHaye, who played a role in putting Bush in the White House, was one of the movement's framers.

19. Reverend Timothy LaHaye: Co-founder of the Council for National Policy and one of the framers of the Reconstructionist movement, Reverend LaHaye is also the co-author of the extremely popular Left Behind series and believes 1) that the Bible is the literal word of God and that 2) Armageddon will be unleashed from "the Antichrist's headquarters in Babylon." (i.e. Iraq) Newsweek recently explained that "Bush and LaHaye have a history, and share a sense of mission." while, according to Rolling Stone, LaHaye "played a quiet but pivotal role in putting George W. Bush in the White House."

Also on the subject of church/state mixing, Barry Lynn in Milwaukee's Journal Sentinel published No politics from the pulpit on Sunday. He speaks, as indicated by the title, of preachers like Jerry Falwell who use their pulpit as a means to promote political candidates.
According to law:

Federal tax law simply does not allow this (endorsing political candidates/parties). Under the Internal Revenue
Code, non-profit, 501(c)(3) organizations - including houses of
worship - may not endorse or oppose candidates for public office.

Jerry Falwell considers this blasphemy. He and his friends are urging evangelical churches to push Bush. According to Lynn's article:

Of all people, Falwell ought to know how wrong that is. His "Old Time
Gospel Hour" was found to have engaged in unlawful campaign
intervention by the IRS in 1993. The ministry's tax exemption was
revoked for 1986 and 1987, and he was required to pay $50,000 in back
taxes.

With regards to religious being caught for pushing political candidates from the pulpit and getting caught:

Tax law experts say it (being caught) may also lead to loss of
a church's property tax exemption or even put a pastor's ministerial
housing allowance in jeopardy.

...

By forging a church-based political machine, they hope to control the
government.

Howard Dean on Labor Day

2004-09-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

Truthout sent out an article written by Howard Dean today about organized labor titled simply Labor Day.

Just a small clip, but you should read the whole article via the link above.

All Americans ought to remember that achieving fairness and balance is the key to long term success of the country. We are rapidly alienating middle class and working families which, ultimately, makes America weaker. To re-establish that balance, a good first step is to restore the ability of organized labor to stand up for all American workers.

Women's Health Issues Are Being Threatened

2004-09-06T10:49:00.000-07:00

I'm almost certain this is a no-brainer for pretty much everyone that reads my blog. Besides the big issues in this election like the economy and terrorism, women's health issues have gotten continually rejected by members of the Bush administration and sometimes even pharmacists. I take an oral contraceptive for a health problem I have. The monthly cost of my pill has gone from $15 a month to $30 a month in the past year. Marie Claire, of all magazines, has an excellent spread this month on women's privacy with regards to access to healthcare being invaded. Unfortunately, there is no access to this article online, but you can pick up Marie Claire pretty much anywhere. Of all those girly fashion magazines, Marie Claire actually has excellent articles on women's issues around the world and here.
Anyway, here is a run down of interesting stuff covered in the articles:

According to statistics from the article, only 15% of health insurance companies cover oral contraceptives.
By contrast, more than half of insurance companies cover Viagra." (!).
Fact: In France, Sweden and 28 other developed countries, oral contraceptives are fully reimbursed or available for minimal cost.
The birth-control wins FDA approval in 1960.
On 5/6/04 the FDA voted against making the morning-after pill available over-the-counter. As a result, women must schedule a dr's appointment, get a prescription, find a pharmacy with EC...this is bad news considering EC must be taken within 72 hrs after an encounter to be effective.
Many pharmacies don't even carry EC...as many as 1.7 million unintended pregnancies and 800,000 abortions could have been prevented in the US last year if EC was more readily available.
Millions of women in 3rd world countries use international health programs for prevention and treatment of AIDS, STDs and gender-based violence, and maternal mortality. On 7/16/04 Dubya blocked $34M in US government aid to the UN Family Planning Fund. US government is withholding money from overseas health clinics that offer info on legal abortions - or even mention the word abortion - in addition to other services. Without funding, UNFPF will be unable to provide family-planning services to women around the world.
A doctor in Kentucky prescribes prayer for PMS and refuses to give oral contraceptives to his unmarried patients, was reappointed this year to the FDA's Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee. Along with his peers, he will make important decisions on funding for birth control and STD research.
Rep. David Vitter of Louisiana proposed an amendment that would shut down private health clinics that receive public funds if those clinics offer abortions. These clinics help women making $23K a year or less. If they lose funding, they will close. More than 1 million women depend on these clinics for preventative health care.
Certain states have laws allowing pharmacists to refuse any prescription that violates their religious beliefs. This includes birth control pills.
Funding for the government's "abstinence-only" education program is up $58M over the past 3 years to $138M. But research says it isn't working.

This has all gotten increasingly worse since Shrub has been in office. Imagine what will happen if he is re elected.

Greatest songs of all Time

2004-09-05T20:50:00.000-07:00

XPN, the public music station in Philly, asked a few weeks ago for their listening audience to send them their list for their top 10 greatest songs of all time. Being the music-phile I am, it was extremely hard coming up with just 10. There are songs that bring back memories the instant I hear them...like this weird song "Banditos" by the Refreshments, which I'm sure no one here remembers, that reminds me of a guy I had a HUGE thing for in high school. Alot of those weird alternative songs remind me of high school, like "Diz Knee Land" by Dada or "Natural One" by Folk Implosion or remember that weird band Silverchair with the guy who wanted to be Kurt Cobain? That was all before Britney tainted MTV. Or the Spice Girls, Hanson, Chumbawamba and Chris Isaak all whish me back to college. Even now, anytime I hear music from Third Eye Blind's first album I can not help think of my friend Maggie who played it constantly in college, making me despise the band eventually. Anytime now that I hear Bob Marley I instantly think of my friend Mutheu, for some reason. REM's whole "Automatic for the People" CD always helps alleviate my mood or mellow me out, depending on my mood that day. After sifting through all the songs and all the memories different ones bring, I finally came up with my list. Mostly music that was made before my time, but most of which are classics or move me in some way every time I hear them.
So here is the list I eventually came up with:

1. In My Life - The Beatles
2. Imagine - John Lennon
3. Yesterday - The Beatles
4. Nightswimming - REM
5. Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
6. You're So Vain - Carly Simon
7. Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley's version
8. Galileo - Indigo Girls
9. Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin
10. Dreams - The Cranberries

Now, people that know me know I am not a crying-type person, but numbers 1, 2, 3, 7 and sometimes 10 all bring definite tears to my eyes most of the time when I hear them. So to me that means something. And I think 6 is great because all the passion in it and the fact that to this day still no one knows who she was singing about...was it Mick Jagger? Warren Beatty? Who? 9 always fires me up and picks me up. 10 always puts me in a pensive mood, which is why sometimes it brings tears to my eyes and it definitely brings back memories, in the way that 1 does sometimes. If you have never heard any version of 7, Jeff's or Rufus's especially, you REALLY need to. Rufus's version was on the first Shrek movie. A couple songs that almost made the list but didn't? "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong...guaranteed tear-jerker that I didn't even think about until I went to XPNs message board and someone mentioned it. "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison, which always makes me feel good. That didn't make it because I could have easily made a top 10 list with all Beatles and solo Beatles stuff and I couldn't leave out any of the ones I put up. And in brainstorming songs I am disappointed in myself that I didn't think to include anything by Tracy Chapman, considering the fact that I'm a huge fan. It would be extremely hard to choose which of hers is my favorite, even more so than it was with choosing only 1 from REM.
I just love music so much, for the assortment of emotions it can bring. It can easily comfort when one is down, for me it works for me like alcohol might work for other people, except music has no detrimental effects. It picks me up when I need picking up. Anyone else have a top 10 list they can share?

Today's Boondocks

2004-09-05T10:59:00.000-07:00

Today's Boondocks was really good and I think I'll leave you with that as my Sunday post. If you don't get boondocks in your paper, read it at UComics.com . It is a "must read" comic.

See it here

Making Up History

2004-09-04T08:14:00.000-07:00

According to an article in Friday's San Francisco Chronicle, some of the Austrian history evoked by The Terminator during his speech of being an immigrant coming to America at the RNC was not accurate.

Recalling that the Soviets once occupied part of Austria in the aftermath of World War II, Schwarzenegger told the convention on Tuesday: "I saw tanks in the streets. I saw communism with my own eyes."

The Soviets already had left Styria in July 1945, less than three months after the end of the war, {historian Stefan} Karner noted.

"Let me tell you this: As a boy, I lived for many years across the street from where the Russians were based in Vienna -- and honestly, I never saw a Russian tank there," retiree Franz Nitsch said Friday. "He said it all on purpose, and that's bad."

In his convention address, Schwarzenegger also said: "As a kid, I saw the Socialist country that Austria became after the Soviets left" in 1955 and Austria regained its independence.

But Martin Polaschek, a law history scholar and vice rector of Graz University, told Kurier that Austria was governed by coalition governments, including the conservative People's Party and the Social Democratic Party. Between 1945 and 1970, all the nation's chancellors were conservatives -- not Socialists.

What's more, when Schwarzenegger left in 1968, Austria was run by a conservative government headed by People's Party Chancellor Josef Klaus, a staunch Roman Catholic and a sharp critic of both the Socialists as well as the Communists ruling in countries across the Iron Curtain.

Norbert Darabos, a ranking official of Austria's opposition Social Democratic Party, sharply criticized Schwarzenegger's "disdain for his former homeland."

Lots of good quotes from this one...if you want to read the entire article, you can find it here.

Civil Disobedience Aplenty

2004-09-04T08:05:00.000-07:00

On The Nation's blog yesterday, there was a posting done about Iraq War Veterans protesting outside the RNC...These protesters, they have 40 members now, including some still in Iraq, have actually seen the horrors of this war, and have every right to protest the war they were sent to unjustly. Some excerpts from the blog...

"I saw bombed-out cities, and entire towns on fire," said Michael Hoffman, who served as a lance corporal in Iraq beginning in March 2003. "Some of my friends lost people in their unit, who died in their arms."....Hoffman and his fellow veterans wanted badly to take part {in a "die-in"}, but couldn't risk arrest. If they went to prison, the new organization would suffer.

You can read Liza Featherstone account of the events in NY here.

Another act of civil disobedience...some localites may remember hearing a few months ago about Lani Frank being arrested at a movie theater in Chester County for handing out voter registration forms after Farenheit 9/11...In Friday's editorial section in the Inquirer there was an article about Ms. Frank.

Considering all the commotion in New York, Frank's noise would hardly be audible by comparison. Still, her private dispute with Gorman was turned into a criminal offense that resulted in a $230 fine. In the process, Trooper Thomas Barton and Arnold have created the unfortunate impression that in America, political activities as benign as distributing voter-registration cards can lead to criminal charges.

She was not charged with solicitation or loitering or criminal trespass. She was arrested for disorderly conduct - for having a heated argument with a business manager. No theater patron testified to inconvenience, annoyance or alarm. Indeed, Segal said that the tete-a-tete was "interesting but not alarming."

You can read the whole thing here.

Wishes for a speedy recovery

2004-09-04T05:46:00.000-07:00

Bill Clinton was hospitalized yesterday for blockages in his heart arteries. Best wishes and prayers for a speedy recovery. Yahoo has a bit of information here.

Homophobia at the RNC

2004-09-03T17:20:00.000-07:00

As we all know, Shrub and Co. are not the nicest people in the world when it comes to gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people. This was displayed easily at the RNC this week by members of the party, at or away from the convention.

Although I am in Philadelphia, I'm following the US Senate race in Illinois with Barak Obama, who proved himself a great speaker and candidate (Dare I say, eventually President if he plays his cards right?) at the DNC last month. Mr. Obama is going up against Republican Alan Keyes. Mr. Keyes has been known for his extremism...The Chicago Tribune reported yesterday about some inflammatory remarks against gays made by Mr. Keyes. According to the Tribune:

Keyes told a New York radio station Monday that homosexuality is "sexual hedonism." In response, the show's host asked if Mary Cheney, Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter, was a "sexual hedonist." Keyes replied: "Of course she is."

Some Republicans were actually disappointed at his extremist remarks. Keyes later defended his remarks saying:

"Do I know whether or not the daughter of the Cheneys is engaging in
such acts? It is not for me to know," Keyes said. "I only know the
argument I have made. It is for others to draw the conclusion."

Dick Cheney's wife Liz Cheney replied:

"I'm surprised, frankly, that you would even repeat the quote, and
I'm not going to dignify it with a comment," she said.

Meanwhile, on a related note, according to an article on the online GLBT news site Gay365.com and an article I read elsewhere yesterday, it seems a little fishy that following his acceptance speech Wed at the RNC, Dick Cheney's family joined him on stage...everyone except lesbian daughter Mary Cheney. You can read the full story here

And I'm sure many have heard by now that the Terminator, in his speech, called people that complained about the economy "girly men." So, to worry about finding a job and not having your job outsourced makes someone "girly"? Creepy. The Philadelphia Inquirer had a good article Wed on Ahnold...some highlights...

Here's a guy who has been dogged by documented allegations of tawdry behavior toward the opposite sex - and he's a featured speaker for an audience that still thinks ill of Bill Clinton's tawdry behavior toward the opposite sex.

Here's a guy who, as governor of California, backs abortion rights and gay rights - and he's schmoozing an audience that has endorsed a platform rejecting abortion rights and urging states to ban civil unions.

Some more...

Gary Bauer, a religious-conservative leader and former presidential candidate, said yesterday: "I would prefer a convention where all the speakers agreed with the platform on all major issues, and I happen to think that protecting unborn children and traditional marriage are major issues. And on those, Schwarzenegger is way out of step with the President and the party.

A little more extremism:

...as antiabortion activist Randall Terry contended the other day, awarding a podium gig to someone like Schwarzenegger "is mere appeasement to those who slay the innocent."

and finally...

Tony Perkins, the conservative activist, knows it; the other day, he was distributing fortune cookies bearing the message "Real Men Marry Women." And, as Sen. Bill Frist assured conservatives last week, the platform "will live on much longer than the spoken word."

You can read this entire story here

Some good news for gay rights advocates...Home Depot has announced that it will offer health benefits for same sex couples. This is one day after a 365gay.com story announced that the company was offering pet health insurance benefits but not same sex couple benefits. Kim Mills of the Human Rights campaign said:

The only thing keeping Home Depot from a perfect score is its lack
of a non-discrimination policy covering gender identity," said HRC
Education Director Kim I. Mills. "We will continue to work with the
company to ensure all its employees get equal treatment."

You can read this article in its entireity here.

Ciao!

This just in...

2004-09-03T14:18:00.000-07:00

According to an article just sent by Roll Call, Gary Bauer, Mr. Family Values, was walking through throngs of protesters outside of Madison Square Garden.

But one particularly unruly agitator managed to get right in Bauer’s face, yelling at the conservative Christian activist, and calling him “a fascist.”
Well, that just did it. Bauer, without skipping a beat, popped off the now commonly procured and deployed F Bomb. “F--- you,” Bauer said as he kept walking.

Witness to an Illegitimate War

2004-09-02T19:02:00.000-07:00

Meenal Raval, along with several others, was arrested last year at the beginning of the war of Iraq for in an act of civil disobedience here in Philadelphia. She prepared a piece with her statement to the court, along with some narrative. I thought this was a very important item to share:

As most of you know, I protested the start of the war in Iraq over a year and a half ago. I was finally called for a hearing today, with 6 other co-defendants. We were explained our options, basically pay a fine or do the time, then allowed to make our statments. All 7 of us (4 women and 3 men) decided to not pay the fine. The sentence is 7 days in jail. We don't know yet when we'll have to go in, and are on probation right now.

I was terrified of stage fright, but in the end, think I did fine. I felt calm, sure of myself, and not afraid of the Beast. I really appreciated the support from everyone else in the courtroom. Afshin, Genie, my Dad, and friend Norma were there, as well as a few other friends active in the peace movement. Ameet had helped me compose my thoughts & my Mom had supported me earlier. I stood there wearing my Indian clothes, in an attempt to stand out from the mono-culture. Here's the gist of what I said:
I did not agree to this war, a year-and-a-half ago or now. If anyone is guilty, it is Mr. Bush, and it is he who needs to spend time alone.

I came to this country almost 30 years ago. For the past 25 years, I have worked hard, paid my taxes, been responsible and ambitious in pursuing the American dream for myself. And for most of that time I've been proud to be an American. Now I am learning the true meaning of being an American: to stand for a government that truly represents us, the people, not the interests of a small group of elite oilmen. When I became a naturalized US citizen in '85, I agreed to bear arms for my new country. Instead, I now find myself bearing witness to a government that has lost its legitimacy.

I never thought I'd be here. While blockading the entrance to the Federal Building at the start of this illegitimate war on Iraq, I was reassured that I could disappear into the crowd at any moment. For some reason, I stayed at the door, arm-in-arm with other patriots. Since then, I was told I could pay the citation and still, disappear into the hubbub of everyday life. For some reason, I didn't. Well, now I'm here and I don't regret any of it. I say NO to war and militarism. I consider blockading the Federal Building to be my most patriotic act.

Mr. Bush's government has tried to sell us a perpetual war on terrorism. I think this is fear-mongering, a ploy to steal our civil liberties and a grab for increased government control of our lives and our privacy. We now live in times when any brown person, dressed a little differently, any of my brothers and sisters, can be locked up and tortured without access to a lawyer, all under the guise of "preventing terrorism". How did we get to this point? More importantly, what will the courts, empowered to check the power of the executive branch, do to restore the legitimacy to our government?

I appeal to your Honor for a not-guilty verdict.
Well, despite all our attempts, we didn't sway the judge. And onward we went to the Probation Office. The probation intake was quite intimidating; this is when I felt I was treated like a criminal, and was asked waaay too many questions, most of which I refused to answer... parents & siblings names, my net worth, my liability, whether I filed a tax return last year, consent forms to get medical history, etc, etc. I believe he actually wrote down someplace, and told me I was being uncooperative. Oh, well.

In summary, I'm calm and ready to go in, whenever they call. I look forward to spending a week developing my singing voice, as well as meditation & journaling.

We all know War is not the Answer. So, please share my story with all you meet, and use it in any way you can to towards building a country we can be proud of again.
In peace,
Meenal

In regards to this illegitimate war, Michael Moore's piece today for USA Today, Don't Send More Kids to Die discussed very well this war that seems like it will have no end. Some good excerpts:

I would love to hear Bush apologize tonight to the parents and loved ones of those who have died in Iraq. I would like to hear him say he knows what it means to love your children and that he, in good conscience, cannot send any more children to their deaths.

And not related to the war, but yesterday someone told me about this about the Bush twins, which I missed since I can't stomach any of the RNC:

They {the twins} seemed to have embarrassed their grandmother with a joke about the TV show Sex and the City as a place to have sex. And they claimed to have seen their boogieing parents "shake it like a Polaroid picture." That's one picture that took the rest of the night for me to shake out of my head.

2004-09-02T17:17:00.000-07:00

John Kerry Medals

It's the Economy, Stupid!

2004-09-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

Molly Ivins' column never gets to grace the pages of the Inquirer, but luckily I'm on some mailing lists that alert me to her latest columns. Her column today, A Bushel of What?, like always, offers great insight into the current happenings with the Bush administration. You can find the link to today's column via Tulsa World (Yes, Tulsa, Oklahoma). Some highlights...

Another record. We have already lost more American soldiers (488) in Iraq in 239 days of this year than we did in 287 days last year (482), when there was a war on and before our mission was accomplished.

And I intend to figure out how the template on this blog works so I can put up the counter from Iraqi Body Count, that counts money being spent and lives being lost in Iraq. It is appalling that all these soldiers and of course the civilians have lost their lives for a war based on false pretenses.

Some other information to draw your attention to:

The Census Bureau jumped the gun by a full month reporting the new, highly unfortunate numbers on both poverty and health insurance. This put the announcement in the August congressional recess, with many newsies on vacation -- poverty up by 1.3 million, uninsured up by 1.4 million. Median income stagnant. Children hardest hit -- 12.9 million children living in poverty...
Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, George W. Bush's top donors -- the Pioneers ($100,000) and Rangers ($200,000) have delivered a total of $76.5 million this campaign.

In other words...the poor are getting poorer and the rich are still getting richer.

A bit more...

Speaking of freedom, at a public campaign rally in New Mexico at which Dick Cheney spoke, those who wished to attend were asked to first sign a public loyalty oath, to wit: "I, (full name), do herby (sic) endorse George W. Bush for re-election of the United States." The form also announced, "In signing the above endorsement you are consenting to use and release your name by Bush-Cheney as an endorser of President Bush."

Meanwhile when there were protesters at John Kerry's appearance here in Philly, he welcomed them and said this was what democracy is all about...freedom of speech.

In other economy related news, according to today's Daily Misleader, because of the Census Bureau's findings on the increasing number of those living in poverty and without health insurance, the Bush administration today is announcing plans to change the way the statistics are compiled.

In a Bush administration press release yesterday, the Census Bureau
said next week it "will announce a new economic indicator" as "an additional
tool to better understand" the economy. The change in statistics is being
directed by Bush political appointees and comes just 60 days from the election. It will be the first modification of Census data in 40 years

There is lots of good information on this mislead, you can follow the link above to read the entire report.

Ciao for now!

He admits he's wrong

2004-08-31T18:07:00.000-07:00

In a strange turn of events, Dubya has admitted that *maybe* this so-called "war on terror" is unwinnable. Now, most of us have been saying that this spectacle in Iraq has been wrong from the start, and that Dubya had been planning on this invasion since he stepped his foot in office. Thanks to Fox News and much of the major media, the war was sold to the public, and people started to *really* believe that Saddam Hussein was an inevitable threat. However, to us that don't need media to do our thinking for us, we knew that a pre-emptive attack against a country much weaker than us, would cause a catastrophe and we were right. Dubya did not have the foresight to see how badly the violence would escalate...Did he really expect the Iraqis to be happy to have this big rich country of SUVs and Starbucks on every corner bombing their cities and destroying innocent lives, especially when they did nothing to us in the first place? And only because we need some oil? Dubya is still planning to run for office as a "war president." So, I suppose this means if he is re-elected (SHUDDER!!), we will expect even more wars, which will hurt our economy even more. Buzzflash has link to an article from Yahoo News describing the Democratic attack on Shrub & Co. for this admission. Truth Out also has a great piece on this issue, better than the one from Yahoo News, I thought.

Michael Moore is reporting for USA Today from the Republican National Convention this week. Follow the link for a copy of the piece he wrote yesterday on people that are what he calls "RINO"s...Republicans in Name Only.

Ciao for now!

Barbara Bush Tells Women What 'W' Stands For, NOT!

2004-08-31T17:55:00.000-07:00

Today an article from Women's eNews catalogs all the claims made by Barbara Bush, Laura Bush and Dubya's 2 daughters that the W in George W. Bush stands for Women. I think most of us can agree this is total crap. Nowhere in any of these speeches did anyone mention abortion rights (Why would they?) and of course that situations for women in parts of Aghanistan and Iraq are not as Brady Bunch-esque as the administration is painting them out to be. Kerry supports fair economic policies for all people, not just for the super-rich, and ones more likely to help underprivileged women.

According to an article I received from the Women's Edge Coalition, all the ongoing violence in Iraq and Afghanistan is hindering women. From the article

The heightened security problems in Afghanistan and Iraq continue to mar the progress of women and girls in education and health, threatening the rebuilding process and their participation in upcoming elections

Canvassing for Mr. Bush

2004-08-31T17:50:00.000-07:00

Someone sent me this funny bit that I need to blog today:

Resident: "Yeah, who is it?"

Canvasser 1: "Hello Mr. Jones, this is Dick Smith and I'm walking the neighborhood reminding all of our registered Republicans to be sure to get out and vote for George W. Bush this November!"

Resident: "Okay. So what's Mr. Bush running on? Tell me something good."

Canvasser 1: "I'd be happy to, Sir! As you know Mr. Bush wants America to be a society of owners. He feels ownership is what makes America strong, sir."

Resident: "Uh huh. So he wants to privatize everything? And companies like Enron would take over the Dept. of Water and Power, and our National Park system. Something like Tyco might own all the libraries. Something like WorldCom might own the interstate freeway system. Okay, so what would it be like if one of these short-term profit-motivated companies cooking the books out of greed went belly up? What could I expect in terms of water quality and delivery if only stockholders have a vote, and I don't?"

Canvasser 1: "Uh, gee, I don't know. I hadn't thought about that. But there's this! President Bush wants to make the world safe for democracy! That's why we went to Iraq, Mr. Jones!"

Resident: "Yeah, right. Didn't he say it was because of WMD and a link to Al Qaeda, proven non-existent?"

Canvasser 1: "Ha ha ha. Good one. But that was then, this is now."

Resident: "Okay, sure. Why didn't I think of that. Kill some Muslim Dads and all their kids can't wait to vote. I feel safer already."

Canvasser 2 (whispering to friend): "Check that clipboard. Do we have the right address?"

Canvasser 2: "Yeah, I don't know what's wrong."

Canvasser 1: "Mr. Jones, President Bush wants to amend the constitution to ban same sex marriage!"

Resident: "Spend my tax dollars to legislate his hatred and keep loving, law-abiding, tax-paying citizens from living happily ever after because he's afraid of them?"

Canvasser 1 and 2 in unison: "DUH!"

Resident: "Exactly."

Canvasser 1: "And they want to let the assault weapons ban lapse."

Resident: "It isn't like they say, it is like they think; "Army tanks don't kill people. People kill people."

Canvasser 1: "That doesn't make sense."

Resident: "You're catching on!"

Canvasser 1: "Explain"

Resident: "Assault weapons are just harmless, inanimate objects until some crazed criminal picks one up. Let's legalize heroin, too! It's harmless while inanimate."

Canvasser 1: "Hmmm, "Heroin doesn't kill people. People kill people." I like it. I like it. Mr. Jones, President Bush's original focus of his administration was tax relief. Remember?"

Resident: "I'm a patriot. I pay my taxes. In full. On time."

Canvasser 2 (whispering to #1): "We've got a problem, Houston."

Canvasser 1: "Mr. Jones, remember, it's your money."

Resident: "Have you seen the freeways lately? And the budget pinch the state is in?"

Canvasser 1: "Mr. Jones, it is your money."

Resident: "Opening fire departments in Baghdad while American first responders go lacking?"

Canvasser 2: "Mr. Jones, this is Fred Brown. It is your money. This is America. You shouldn't have to pay taxes."

Resident: "Hey, I got a question for you. If America asks its young and its physically fit to fight for our freedom and our way of life, shouldn't America asks its fiscally fit to fight for our way of life, too? Doesn't a progressive tax rate structure make sense?"

Canvasser 1 (beads of sweat on forehead): "Mr. Jones! What have you been reading?"

Resident: "Well, I was just kinda thinking..."

Canvasser 1: "Stop it this instant!"

Resident: "Yeah, feels good, kinda liberating."

Canvasser 1 (sucking in air as if in shock): "Gasp! Did you say "liber..."?

Resident: "No, not 'liberal'..."

Canvasser 1 (holding ears): "Stop, please..."

Resident: "Yeah, Liberals, you know, the folks that brought you the 40-hour work week, Medicare, Social Security, wilderness protection, a living wage, clean air and water."

Canvasser 1: "How'd you know that?"

Resident: "I just read it the other day."

Canvasser 2 (whispering to 1): "How'd that get leaked?"

Resident: "Hey you guys got any registration forms?"

Canvasser 1 (eyes wide, panic setting in): "Yes, but, you're already registered Mr. Jones."

Resident: "I need to re-register, and check that other box this time."

Canvasser 1: "Mr. Jones, don't do this. Vote freedom first!"

Resident 1: "No, thanks. I'm voting responsible freedom first. Have a nice day."

Protesting the GOP Convention

2004-08-30T17:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Dubya and his posse drew crowds of over 500,000 protesters. Congrats to those out there hitting the pavement against these fear mongers. I had been thinking of going, but I needed the weekend recover from all my excitement from the past couple weeks. Some protesters were arrested, but I haven't heard of anything catastrophic like what happened at the 2000 convention here...yet.

I was just emailed this article about a contingent of Canadians that traveled to NYC to protest Bush! Kudos to our neighbors to the north.

The Philadelphia Inquirer did a fairly ok job covering the protests. Some other articles I came across made the protesters out to all be looney bins, which we all know is not true. Most of the looney bins in NYC yesterday were in Madison Square Garden.

Anyway, of course, United for Peace and Justice has the best coverage of the protesting-action yesterday and has all the latest updates.

In other news, I caught Rick Santorum being interviewed on Fresh Air on NPR this afternoon. Luckily, when my boss isn't there and Annoying Nun isn't watching his phone, I get the whole office to myself so I can listen to NPR. Terri Gross was speaking with him about his support for the ban on partial birth abortion and his support of an amendment that would make it considered a double murder if a person were to kill a pregnant woman. You can listen (if you can stomach it!) to his interview here. They also had Gloria Feldt, President of Planned Parenthood, on to counter Mr. Santorum. She did an excellent job explaining why we need to continue allowing women to have control of their own bodies, rather than government telling them what to do.
Ciao!

Protest Poem

2004-08-30T17:03:00.000-07:00

Someone posted this poem today on the duckdaotsu mailing list. I think it really captures the real reasons why protesting injustice is so important.


PROTEST



To sin by silence, when we should protest,

Makes cowards out of men. The human race

Has climbed on protest. Had no voice been raised

Against injustice, ignorance, and lust,

The inquisition yet would serve the law,

And guillotines decide our least disputes.

The few who dare, must speak and speak again

To right the wrongs of many. Speech, thank God,

No vested power in this great day and land

Can gag or throttle. Press and voice may cry

Loud disapproval of existing ills;

May criticise oppression and condemn

The lawlessness of wealth-protecting laws

That let the children and childbearers toil

To purchase ease for idle millionaires.



Therefore I do protest against the boast

Of independence in this mighty land.

Call no chain strong, which holds one rusted link.

Call no land free, that holds one fettered slave.

Until the manacled slim wrists of babes

Are loosed to toss in childish sport and glee,

Until the mother bears no burden, save

The precious one beneath her heart, until

God’s soil is rescued from the clutch of greed

And given back to labor, let no man

Call this the land of freedom.



- Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919)

Anti-Bush.com

2004-08-29T15:46:00.000-07:00

Last night while randomly surfing the web, I came across a site done by a now 14 year old boy. You can see it at www.anti-bush.com . It is refreshing that someone that young is seeing all the havoc that Bush has been reeking on the United States and the world. He has one of the many copies of Bush's resume floating around the web on the first page, as well as several very well done graphs comparing the economy, unemployment and jobs under Bush Sr., Clinton and Bush Jr. Very disheartening seeing how great everything was under Clinton, economy-wise, and how much everything has gone down since Shrub boy has gotten into office. As much reading as I do on the web and in print, actually seeing the graphs in picture form had more of an impact on me than reading numbers.
Meanwhile, I am still planning on starting my job hunt in October. This job is not as intolerable as my old job with Psycho Gayle and Looney Brain Doctors, but Annoying Nun really drives me crazy with her constant chipper attitude and her speaking in cliches all the time. And of course the fact that she's always flirting with my boss. In addition to right-wing Catholic talk by the nuns. But I remind myself that these kinds of annoyances are small potatoes compared to Looney Woman Brain Doctor screaming at me every other day. In looking at job listings in the Inquirer, I was disappointed to see 1) How thin this week's Sunday job section was...Last time I was job hunting, which was in 2002, it wasn't nearly this thin and 2) How very few jobs listed that I would be able to apply for and have any chance of getting. Right now I'm looking at administrative assistant jobs or any type of editorial/publishing ones. Really, anything I'm qualified for which always seems like very few types of jobs. I'm also checking out the state civil service jobs, which have some trainee type positions. One that they have is an alcohol/drug prevention trainee, which does sound interesting, actually, and I am qualified for. I just hope they have a position open in Philadelphia when I'm ready to look. We seriously can NOT afford to have 4 more years of President Shrubbie in the White House. If he is re-elected, that Sunday jobs section in the Inquirer will only be a two page section in back of the lifestyle page. That may seem an exaggeration, but from all the grim numbers I have been seeing and comparing the Sunday jobs section the past couple weeks with ones from a few years ago, it seems like it may become a reality.
So c'est ca for now. But let us all do everything we can do to get this Shrub out of the White House. Keep up the faith that it is possible.

Revving it up...

2004-08-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

I had a blog before, but it ended up fizzling away. So I am trying again, mostly because I would like practice my writing and I decided again that the website is too much to maintain.

So here it is. I will chat about whatever is on my mind on a particular day.

I have had a really stressful couple of weeks. First the car's transmission blew two Saturdays ago now, making me have to take Septa for a week to work. I give so much credit to people that take the bus I took every day. It only runs once an hour! Then last Thursday or so it seemed like my fridge was dead. The landlord told me to de-ice my freezer, so I did, but to no avail. So Landlord Linda comes to check the fridge, I come home from work only having about an hour before I catch my train to NJ, and Landlord Linda leaves me a little snarky note saying that my kitchen and bathroom are "beyond filthy" and that if I can not get some stuff out of my bathtub and toilet that they will have to take $$ out of my security deposit when I move.
So I go to NJ for the weekend to get my new car (Toyota Corolla!) and am agonizing on how to clean tubs, toilets and kitchen sinks. Sunday I get back to Philly, clean a bit, and go to a Jill's house to borrow a cooler so I can have cold water. I tell her about LL's little note and she tells me I should write a letter. Monday night I clean like a madwoman. Two people came to pick up stuff for Freecycle and I know I looked like crap. Tuesday after work I go to LL's house to drop off this note. I give it to her daughter. See, LL and her husband Steve (Who is really a nice guy) go on vacation an awful lot, so she wasn't there at all this week. Wednesday I get home from work and get a call on my cell phone from a fridge guy (?). To make a long story shorter (Lots of narrative for it, I know), I did get my fridge. I wasn't expecting it so soon, but I am not complaining. No word on the note, but as long as I have my fridge and my car I'm a happy chica.
After all this excitement the past two weeks, I am ready to have a nice, nothing weekend. I'm tutoring Shirley today, teaching her basic Power Point. Money is really tight right now, so I won't be getting her our traditional bubble tea from Chinatown for the lesson.
Later for now!