Olbermann Speaks to Obama for Me

Keith Olbermann speaks for me in his Tuesday night comment. That is it in a nutshell but I have also left this msg at WhiteHouse.gov/contact:

NO DEAL -- I do NOT want a tax decrease at the expense of going so far into debt. I want to fund my and everyone's social security directly. I am tired of giving more and more money to people who do NOT need it. (Especially when we have to BORROW to give it to them, thanks to these terrible wars you still support.) Your capitulation to the GOP Bush tax extension demands is outrageous. We're getting too little for too much.

STOP this DEAL NOW!!

Call your Congressional Representative and Senators and tell them that you agree with Keith. The Congressional switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

(And why doesn't the President save his sarcasm for the Republicans?)

Said on the White House Contact Page - Taxes

Left on the White House Contact page, under policy issue - Taxes:

Extending the unfunded Bush tax cuts to the rich people who don't need it while talking about freezing middle class working people's wages is an OUTRAGE. We NEED the Middle Class. They did not cause the economic crisis.

Listen to Dr. Howard Dean -- hear what he said on Rachel Maddow Monday night. Listen to the POLLS. People don't want to extend tax cuts past the first $250,000 in income.

We need a strong White House who tells the truth and sticks up for WE the PEOPLE rather than seeking to please Republicans who only want to please the rich and powerful and make YOU a one term president. Please stand up for the other 98%. Be Franklin Delano Roosevelt. We need FDR and stimulus to the REST of us.

Ralph Nader: Corporate takeover of America. Pt. 1

Thom Hartmann has been doing some good stuff for RT. Here he interviews Ralph Nader. RT is also something to watch/follow. On YouTube.com subscribe to TheBigPictureRT but you can also stream it live. Good stuff, indeed! (And you can also read descriptions and catch up with The Big Picture.)

BBC Reading List: Wow!

With thanks to Kyra who blogged this BBC book list. It is a good reading to-do. BBC thinks most people have only read 6. (I've read or partly read 39.)

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë
4 Harry Potter series - J. K. Rowling 
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte 
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott 
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller 
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare 
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier 
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger 
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell 
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald 
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams  
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck 
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll 
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame 
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy  
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens 
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen 
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen 
36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres 
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne 
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown 
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez 
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert  
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons 
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen 
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley 
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez 
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov  
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold Lame
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas  
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac 
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville 
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens  
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker 
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett 
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce 
76 The Inferno - Dante  
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome 
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray 
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens 
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White 
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad 
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams  
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole 
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare 
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl 
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

DFA: The Deficit Commission Doesn't Speak for Me

Democracy for America has a petition up protesting The Deficit Commission a/k/a Cat Food Commission's initial findings on deficit reduction. Sign it. I did, and added these comments:

America is for all of us, not just the top-earning 1%. Social Security just needs to be tweaked - raise the cap - the money is there in government bonds. People deserve to retire in dignity. We need our America to have the good stuff the other countries have, including single payer healthcare and affordable education. Forget the wars and cut down on all those crazy military bases. Forget the empire. Re-establish the United States of America.

Reinstate Keith Olbermann

[FYI -- Griffin's voice mail is currently full BUT his number is 212-664-2456]

To Mr. Phil Griffin - phil.griffin@nbcuni.com

Dear Sir -- Keith Olbermann is a treasure who should be prized not absurdly disciplined.

As I forwarded via an NBC comment page --

I am outraged that Keith Olbermann has been suspended because of his exercising his freedom of speech by making several relatively small political contributions. After all, corporations can spend millions, including FOREIGN corporations, in our elections, thanks to Citizens United vs FEC. And Pat Buchanan has made a number of political donations. Yet Olbermann cannot??

I am outraged. NBC and MSNBC will be on my “list” if this holds.

Most sincerely,

Kate Anne ______

And as Randi Rhodes said on her show the NBC contract (and isn't Keithreally MSNBC?) says a clause that such contributions “may jeopardize his or her standing as an impartial journalist” should NOT apply to Keith as no one would likely call him an impartial journalist.

Again -- please reinstate Keith Olbermann or there will and must be consequences from those who love and respect him.

And for God's and our country's sake speak up against the outrageous political contributions made following the Citizens United vs the FEC disgusting Supreme Court decision.

Again, most sincerely,

Kate Anne

[Full name and my snail address, deleted here]

Everyone Loses (unless WE vote)

If we don't vote on November 2, everyone loses indeed. Watch the video and think about it. It we don't have our say in who wins than democracy loses. There is a lot of work that has to go on before and after the election. Having good people in there, or even reasonable people in there will make our lives a lot less difficult. Please vote on November 2nd and keep working for a better more peace-full compassionate country, a we society not a me society. Thanks!

One Nation

One Nation
Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

From the bus to DC

From the bus to DC
Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

Kate and Agatha

Agatha has been a friend and a joy in my life but will be leaving town soon to be closer to family in Florida. I had to commemorate her with some final pictures. My nose is slightly red for a few tears but Agatha looks great so no biggy. Hugs to Agatha. You are sent off with love but you will be missed by your All Saints' family. (Thank God and the US Post Office for snail mail.)


FW: Kate and Agatha
Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

MORE from Fighting Bob Fest

UPDATE -- Just found another YouTube site with more from Fighting Bob Fest. Check out more great stuff at PABAKER55's channel: www.youtube.com/user/pabaker55. Huzzah! (FYI, Fighting Bob Fest is named after Wisconsin's great progressive, Robert “Fighting Bob” La Follette.)

Thom Hartmann at Fighting Bob Fest

Author and radio/TV host Thom Hartmann was in Baraboo, WI, earlier this month for the 9th Annual Fighting Bob Fest. Couldn't be there in person but have been seeking a video and have found it, thanks to Karen, YouTube.com's user OnTheEarthProduction -- also with a website to bookmark: On the Earth Productions. (Good stuff!) Thom's talk dealt with corporate personhood, how it was based on a headnote that was NOT in the judges ruling (the 1886 Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific Railrood decision), and the importance of action to restore what's left of our democracy. We need to negate the effects of the recent outrageous extremist Citizens United decision. Tell our congress critters that we want them to add the word NATURAL before person in the 14th amendment of the constitution. (See MoveToAmend.org)

I just bought Thom's new book, Rebooting the American Dream. Listen, read Thom's stuff, and check out ThomHartmann.com (as well as other stuff from Karen).

Imagine

Imagine -- finally, Central Park
Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

It took my son and his friends being in town for the Porcupine Tree concert at Radio City Music Hall for me to finally get to see the Imagine mosaic at Strawberry Fields in Central Park. How New York of me! Had to play tourist with my visitors :) FYI -- it is close to the Dakota where John Lennon lived. Enter Central Park at 72nd and Central Park West. Veer a little to the left and follow the crowd. (Great Porcupine Tree concert btw.)

Deregulation

Senator Bernie Sanders astutely asks questions about deregulation of Jacob Lew, the president's nominee to head the White House Office of Management and Budget. Despite his questionable response to the deregulation question during the hearing of the Senate Budget Committee, the panel unanimously voted to confirm him. Go figure, but Lew, a former Citigroup executive, did serve under Clinton who ran a budget surplus. Whether this helps remains to be seen, but at least Bernie asked the hard questions.

My voting experience: Scanners Down!

Got to cast my primary vote, literally, at my new old site, Queen of Angels Center on Skillman in Sunnyside. Our lever machines are gone. We've got a scanning system, which worked, sort-of. There were lots of empty privacy booths when I voted. But when I collected my ballot, I was offered a privacy folder (for the actual casting into the scanner) only after I requested it. (I had watched the instruction video.) I walked to the scanners and found that they were BOTH down. Site supervisor Richard Drake said neither machine would boot up, whether plugged in or with the battery. Perhaps the batteries were upside down, he suggested, a rumor he had heard. The good news is I could deposit it in the emergency slot in the scanner where the ballots would be handcounted later, under watchful eyes: THE BEST MOST VERIABLE WAY.

The Majestic Plastic Bag - A Mockumentary

Hope you like me are mostly using re-useable bags instead of plastic bags. This beautifully done four minute video mockumentary tells a lot, providing much impetus for reducing, reusing, and recyling. Found it thanks to the Wondering Rose blog, where I had landed thanks to author Anne Rice and the saintly Sister Margaret McBride [more on them in another blog post, most likely].

Do you know how many plastic bags are used each year just in California? 19 billion. That’s Nineteen BILLION! Of which only about 5% are recycled. Most of the bags, like the plastic bottles (which I wrote about in my earth day post on April 22 2010) end up in the Great Pacific Garbage patch ~~ Roseanne Freed, Wondering Rose

Just looked at Rose / Roseanne's bottle post -- gotta redouble my effort on NOT using plastic bottles, too. Join us!

Target Ain't People

Thanks to the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, corporations are allowed to pour even more cash into our elections and they are not even having to identify themselves. In the case of Target, a Minnesota law forced them to 'fess up. Target is only one -- we must get off our rears and re-claim our democracy. It is We the PEOPLE and not We the corporations!!!! Check out the MoveOn.org sponsored boycott Target site, http://targetboycott.org.

Francis's Crowd Pleasing German Potato Salad

(When my dad gave this recipe to me years ago he neglected to put the amount of potatoes but he was making it for a family gathering so I think it was probably a five pound bag of potatoes, perhaps more, leave me a msg if you figure it out.)

Cook potatoes with skins in salted cold water. Cool-peel-cube.

1 quart of water
6 T cornstarch
1 C vinegar
6 t sugar or to pleasant sweetness

Onion larger than a golf ball, chopped very fine
Salt & pepper to taste

3/4 # of bacon chopped 1/2 " across, sauteed to pleasing brown, stirring occasionally till done. Remove bacon and set aside. To bacon fat add water mixed with corn starch, vinegar, etc. Heat for thickening. Add onions to cubed potatoes. Then add thickened sauce to potato mixture and stir lightly till well mixed. Heat slightly before serving. Add bacon and serve.

My dad would make the above and place it in a yellow insulated covered serving container and take it to family picnics and get raves. I no longer eat meat and I miss this salad. The memories, though, I still have. I give the recipe as promised to my bacon eating kids and friends.

Zucchini with Cilantro and Garlic: yum!

A fellow CSA friend told me she made a zucchini and cilantro soup -- don't have her recipe (yet) but got great results taking her idea and adding a handful of cilantro to my microwaved sliced organic zucchini (with a little water, butter, and dash of sea salt)-- this last time I added garlic: yummy. I imagine I could have pureed it and gotten a great soup because you certainly want to enjoy the buttery zucchini water. Maybe next time. In the meantime, my share partner gave me the lion's share of our box: 11 pounds of vegetables and fruit. Hey, neighbor, ya wanna zucchini, heh heh! [Is this a throwback to PRETZELS, a musical review by Jane Curtin and Fred Grande that I was in way back when? -- It may be.]

Chris Hayes: Strategic Mortgage Defaults - contracts are for...

Great reporting from The Nation's Chris L. Hayes and reason for follow-up: Wealthy people strategically walk away from underwater mortgages [when a homeowner owes more than the place is worth] but big banks want to force the rest of us to sink or swim in deep water and pay up so they can make money on OUR backs. "Contracts are for 'little people'." (When Chris is there, I don't miss Rachel Maddow quite so much. He does great stuff!)

The Hospital

The Hospital
Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

Multimedia Message

I leave my sick MacBook Pro in good hands and go into withdrawal. 5 to 7 days!

BP Slick: CREEKKEEPER appears on Olbermann

John L. Wathen and his videos of the ravaged Gulf, including affected wildlife, brought me to tears as I watched the podcast of Keith Olbermann's Countdown. Heavy stuff that must be seen and acted upon. PLEASE check out: BP Slick: CREEKKEEPER appears on Olberman. The BP Gulf Disaster must be followed up on closely. I'm calling my Congress critter again today and repeating that BP must stop using the dispersants which only add to the poison and the coverup.

We must face what our love of oil has wrought and do much-needed activist penance. Pray God that we can get this oil gusher stopped soon. Much work to be done. Please do what YOU can. Call. Donate. Write letters to editors. Blog. Talk to others. Act!

"Cries From The Gulf" by Lea Morris

Anyone who has ever chanted "Drill Baby Drill" should watch this five minute video, a heart-breaking open letter written and narrated by Gulf Coast native Lea Morris, who poignantly discusses the millions impacted by the Deepwater Horizon disaster. (Produced by ROF Productions who really care about our future.)

Swimming Into Summer

Swimming Into Summer
Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

Multimedia Message

Pooltime in CT, after a couple of days in Maine with Friendship Tours.

Prescott Park NH

Prescott Park NH
Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

Multimedia Message

Breezing through Postsmouth after lunching with UNH history teacher Jess, we found this.

GRITtv: Melissa Harris Lacewell: Progressive Identity Politics

Melissa Harris Lacewell speaks up about the whitewash of school curricula by rightist Americans. These rightists are attempting to curtail the strong trend of youth to be more open to diversity.

Tina and Chandi - Britain's Got Talent 2010 - Semi-final 2

LOVE this dog and owner dancing act -- JOYOUS and worth under three minutes of your time. With all the political / environmental happenings one NEEDS something like this. Heart-hugging!

(Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZNtiqK2wPM)

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow - Prof. Riki Ott: the health threat to Gulf Oil...

The health concerns mount for people in the areas where the oil from the Gulf Oil Gusher a/k/a oil spill (too slight of a word). This interview of Professor Riki Ott by Rachel Maddow is one which people must note and act upon. Legislators and President Obama must be contacted to move on more protection for workers and residents alike. BP cannot be allowed to trivialize this.

Drill, Baby, Drill! vs Jail, Baby, Jail!

Good 2:34 second parody. Now I would like Patsy Monteleone to do a followup based on Shannyn Moore's latest mantra, "Jail, Baby, Jail".

Papantonio: BP - The Manslaughter Felon

Mike Papantonio of Ring of Fire Radio discusses the history of BP and Halliburton, including their past as convicted felons. These two felons are responsible for the oil spill that is dumping millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, and we're supposed to expect them to tell us the truth about what happened? Given their histories, that seems highly unlikely.

Can we also talk eco-terrorism here? When are we going to properly penalize for corporate crimes? To be sure, folks are in US jails for a long time for a lot less. I'm happy to add my voice to Shannyn Moore's chorus, "Jail, Baby, Jail!"

Oil Spill Begins To Wash Ashore

This video attests to the oil slick moving ashore AND to disbursement chemicals being used and "hiding" the oil. (How much remains broken up so as to be less visual, but present in tiny molecules?) So the people, fish, and birds have to contend with both oil and chemicals -- what are these chemicals? What is the short term and long term effects and what will BP do about it going forwards as it privatizes its profits and socializes most of their cleanup costs -- $750 million will not go very far, especially with oil still gushing. Is this America's Chernobyl?

Gaia Speaks

Gaia Speaks
Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

Synchronicity. 40 Years of Earth Day and a giant oil spill.

toniD's Quote of the Day

From toniD on the BlueRootsRadio blog, her

Quote of the Day

“We had two recent tea party demonstrations in Washington, one a week before the health care vote – drew about 1,000 people. The tax day rally, by the organizers own estimate was 1,500 people. If I organized a rally for stronger laws to protect puppies, I would get 100,000 people to Washington. So, I think the media has blown the tea party themselves out of proportion.”

– Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D), in an interview on Meet the Press

(And I think of all the peace and justice rallies with so many people more that the corporate media didn't cover, or hardly covered....)

Maddow: Koch Ind. tries pre-emptive denial, busted for Tea Party instigation

Happy Tax Day Night! Take a look at this information about the not-so grass rootsy Tea Bagger errr Tea Party Tax Day events -- funded by corporations. MSNBC's Rachel Maddow gives some interesting insight in just over 5 minutes. Worth a gander. (Thank you, FireDogLake, for sharing this clip.)

On Cindy Sheehan and a Cold-hearted Cop

Cindy Sheehan was arrested this past weekend at the ANSWER march in Washington, DC. [Not well attended but ANSWER is more anti-war than pro-peace and their events do not feed my spirit -- but that is something to blog about at PeaceHugs.com one of these days.] She wrote eloquently of her experience of Civil Disobedience by the White House but her UPDATE, particularly affected me:

UPDATE: Three of us went to pick up our property this morning at the Park Police station and as we were being jacked around, an officer named Thomas (Badge number 628) told me that if I “stopped getting arrested” I wouldn’t have to go through all of this.

I said: “when the wars stop, I will stop.” He actually then told me: “The wars will stop when we nuke them and take their oil.”

I wonder why they are called “pigs.”

An upset Cindy put it differently than I would, but certainly Thomas of Badge number 628 is a disgrace and should be dismissed from the force. He dishonors the Men and Women in Blue, most of whom I want/need to believe are NOT pigs. And actually, come to think of it, PIGS are sweet and intelligent critters -- not like the disgraceful Thomas of Badge number 628.

(Read more about Cindy here.)

Wilbur Cat

Wilbur Cat
Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

Wilbur Cat is one of my furry guardian angels who brightens this gray day. Handsome, yes?

In scarf with knitter aunt

In scarf with knitter aunt
Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

Kate Anne and Aunt Betty brave Erie weather, off to meet with family in Fairview.

Nice niece and aunt

Nice niece and aunt
Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

In Erie for family birthday celebrations, Kate Anne and Aunt Betty Murphy.

Bridget and Fergus watch the 2009 St. Patrick's Day Parade

A blast from the past! While selecting some photos for printing I found this brief snippet of the 2009 New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade as viewed with my friend Bridget and her brother Fergus from Dublin. (Bridget is in the green and white woolen scarf and Fergus in his cap, seen right after the East 77th Street sign.) We had a lot of fun, as did many a folk that day. [See earlier 03-17-09 blog post for a photo.]

Countdown - Rep. Dennis Kucinich an adamant no-vote on current Senate health care bill

Rep. Dennis Kucinich makes so much sense in this video (under five minutes) -- we need a better health care bill. That said, with Senator Bernie Sanders supporting it, I hope SOMETHING is passed. But Dennis is right, we really do need a robust public option which is the compromise for not getting Single Payer (Improved expanded Medicare for ALL). We need to join the rest of the industrial world in getting healthcare as a RIGHT. A profit motive in healthcare is OBSCENE.

A little personal note

Usually Friday is movie night but an overdue un-renewable book took me to the New York Public Library where there was great energy to feed my spirit after a hectic work week Yes, I found a good book to add to my pile at home, but I had a meaningful encounter at the checkout desk when Alex gave me friendly personal assistance you just don't get from the auto-check out. He noted that there were two more books to be picked up -- I had forgotten to check the reserve room AND when I couldn't find one of 'em, he found it amidst the new arrivals. But he was just was so darn pleasant.

Then I ran across the street to HSBC and while withdrawing some money from the ATM related to another human being there fixing one of the machines: Willie from Diebold. Those machines cost $45,000! No wonder there are bank transaction fees. But they don't have to pay them benefits and at least repairing them gives Willie a job and reason to smile.

Alex and Willie, two special New Yorkers -- thanks for touching my life.

Ever met a Republican not Owned by the Insurance Industry?

Kudos to Congressmember Anthony Weiner for telling it like it us about the Republican toadies of the Insurance companies. This five minute video points out their obstructionism in the healthcare bill. Thank you, Anthony Weiner for telling it like it is and standing up for the American middle class/working folk.

No-chicken Healing Soup

No-chicken Soup
Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

With a flu bug taking grip, despite flu shot, Val from Atlanta answered my request for vegetarian chicken soup: "Take a basic veggie stock and add cayenne pepper, basil, ginger root, lemon peel, sauteed garlic (or roasted), let it steep until all things are 'married.' Top with organic apple cider vinegar.Drink a cup of this warm broth every two hours." Had to settle for ginger powder [my ginger root looking like a voodoo head], and a little cilantro called to me. But it has truly helped. So will time.

GRITtv: Lisa Graves: Put Corporations in Their Place

Take two minutes to understand better the impact of the five conservatives on the Supreme Court with their Citizens United v. FEC decision.

Lisa Graves of SourceWatch explains the dangers of the Supreme Court's recent Citizens United decision.
GRITtv with Laura Flanders brings participatory democracy onto your computer screen and into your living room, bridging the gap between audience and advocates. Watch any show, at any time: http://grittv.org

Contact your Congress members on this. Thanks.

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow - Dr. Howard Dean: the filibuster, and Democrat's weakness

Hey, Dems -- FireDogLake.com posted this Rachel Maddow clip where she and Dr. Howard Dean agree that Democrats need to move past the obstructionist Republicans and get something done. -- just under 8 minutes and it makes so much sense. Can Democrats be sensible, please?!!!

February Blizzard

February Blizzard
Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

First there was a snowy commute into Manhattan and then home again to snowy Sunnyside Gardens. Pretty to look at. Much to be shoveled. There are some other photos from the day on Flickr.

FreeSpeechforPeople.org Launch Video

The Constitution reads We the People NOT We the Corporations -- please speak out for a Constitutional amendment to end corporate personhood before corporations end democracy in the United States of America.

Papantonio: The Supreme Court's Five Circus Midgets

IMPORTANT: If NBC stands to make oodles of $$$ why should they speak out against this terrible threat to our democracy. Obama and McCain agree with Pap and me -- 4 minutes of truth: Please watch this on the devastating effect of Citizens United vs FEC then speak out while you can.

Murray Hill Incorporated is Running for Congress

"Murray Hill Inc. plans on filing to run in the Republican primary in Maryland’s 8th Congressional District. Campaign Manager William Klein promises an aggressive, historic campaign that “puts people second” or even third." A quick 1-1/4 minute WOW -- Both Thom Hartmann and Nicole Sandler featured this on their shows. Murray Hill Incorporated communicates their values well -- through well done mockery of Citizens United v. FEC. (1709 views as I post this but it deserves to go viral.)

RIP Howard Zinn -- 1922-2010

My friend Thomas Gallagher said it well, with a brief statement and a quote from Howard:

Thomas Gallagher: I will miss your voice Howard. We will all have to speak up that much more to break the silence...

"The challenge remains. On the other side are formidable forces: money, political power, the major media. On our side are the people of the world and a power greater than money or weapons: the truth. Truth has a power of its own. Art has a power of its own. That age-old lesson – that everything we do matters – is the meaning of the people’s struggle here in the United States and everywhere. A poem can inspire a movement. A pamphlet can spark a revolution. Civil disobedience can arouse people and provoke us to think, when we organize with one another, when we get involved, when we stand up and speak out together, we can create a power no government can suppress. We live in a beautiful country. But people who have no respect for human life, freedom, or justice have taken it over. It is now up to all of us to take it back." - Howard Zinn

I count myself blessed to have heard Howard in person. I pledge to join Thomas and our friends in speaking up more.

Open Message To President Barack Hoover Obama

The following message was left at the WhiteHouse.gov contact page for President Barack H. Obama -- and I am sad to say that the H is for Hoover, as in Barack Hoover Obama:

Have you become a Hoover Republican? The budget freeze is an absolute mistake which will make the registered Republicans and the Blue Dogs very happy and will do awful things to your legacy. I am supposed to be your base and you have totally deserted the issues I care about: true peace, economic justice, restoration of our democracy (cancelling the unpatriotic PATRIOT Act, ending torture, getting rid of Bush league government lawyers), and last but not least: REAL healthcare for all -- single payer (or at least a public option).

Enough. When are you going to give us the Change we can BELIEVE in -- and NOT this awful Bill-Clinton-like middle-ground mess? They call you a socialist anyway, give them (and me) THAT vision. Some socialistic problems that help everyone, not just the wealthy elite. THEN, I will thank you.

I've asked for a response. Let's see if I get one.

Healthcare Bill Indefensible?

I am conflicted about whether or not the Democrats should continue to try and pass the so-called Healthcare Bill BUT:

"It is probably more damaging to the Democratic Party to defend an indefensible law than to defend a bill that never became law that's indefensible," says Norman Solomon in this week's CounterSpin (at FAIR.org). You can hear him AND Glenn Greenwald (talking about anonymous news sources) in this week's AWESOME segment:

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4002

(I podcast CounterSpin through iTunes, fyi, and would recommend it, but you can hear the episodes you want at FAIR.org's archives whose list you can dig to there or go directly viahttp://tinyurl.com/e7twv )

"A lifelong liberal: I want to be a conservative"

This appeared in the blog at SamSederShow.com posted by MMRules:

Subject: A lifelong liberal: I want to be a conservative

Submitted by MMRules on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 2:10pm.

I want to be a conservative. I want to be free from learning things.
I want to be able to hate people without understanding them.
I want to be free from social obligation.

I want to be told what to do by a drug-addled egomaniac.
I want to believe that everything positive I accomplished was done by myself alone
and my failures are the result of women, minorities, immigrants, and "Big Government."

I want to re-write American/world history to justify my behavior.
But most importantly, I want to be a raving arrogant lunatic throughout it all..

--Steven in Texas

www.bartcop.com

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

Corporate Personhood - The Floodgates were Opened Today

IMPORTANT. The Citizens United v. FEC decision impacts worse than Dred Scott. Listen to Thom Hartmann's explanation. (The corporate media isn't saying much of course.) Corporations can truly buy our politicians, even foreign-controlled corporations. When are we taking to the streets?

Medea Benjamin: Obama Needs to Re-Energize the Base!

Code Pink's Medea Benjamin speaks from in front of the White House with the WitnessAgainstTorture.org folks. Leave your note for President Obama at www.losing-hope.org (3 minute video).

Haiti YouTube clip

This brief clip from Haiti was uploaded by @troylivesay who is a missionary there with his family. Follow him on Twitter. Also google Molly Hightower -- a Univ. of Portland grad working with orphans in Haiti who has passed at age 22. AND text OXFAM to 25383 to donate $10 to help Haiti now. (CARE and Habitat to that number donates to them.) Great cause but Holy cell phone bill!

Luke Kelly Rocky Road To Dublin (1976)

Sherlock Holmes movie fans will recognize Luke Kelly, Ronnie Drew and the Dubliners singing Rocky Road to Dublin from the fight scene and closing credits. This is a favorite and NOT easy to sing.

Freedom For Gaza: Why We're Marching

Have you heard about the Gaza Freedom March? It is important to spread the news to address and heal this terrible injustice. Fellowship of Reconciliation's Executive Director Mark Johnson is part of the March. Check out Mark's blog at http://forpeace.net/ for updates.

Latin Quarter - Phil Ochs

Found this exquisite song via a mention by the director of the upcoming (when?) Phil Ochs' film. It deserves more play and the band more follow-up. Good stuff. (And yes there is no opening info on the PhilOchsthemovie.com site so we must live in suspense and follow @philochsfilm on Twitter.)

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Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

View from back window in not so Sunnyside Gardens.