Ban Fracking NOW, Gov. Cuomo

Ban Fracking NOW, Gov. Cuomo
Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

A hundred people protested in sleety weather in front of Governor Andrew Cuomo's NYC office: Ban Fracking NOW! This was our activist lunch hour, Fri., Feb. 8, 2013. For more info, see Food and Water Watch.

Homemade Cocoa

Homemade cocoa goes down way too fast -- and I even doubled my recipe and moved from my usual small 8 oz mug: for that a heaping teaspoon of cocoa to a Tablespoon of sugar, dash of salt and mix together; add a T of milk and mix more, add a 1/4 t of real vanilla and 6 oz or so of milk. Heat in microwave a minute or so: delicious! Comforting.

The Soul of America

In America today, we have the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on earth, and more inequality than at any time period since 1928. The top 1 percent owns 42 percent of the financial wealth of the nation, while, incredibly, the bottom 60 percent own only 2.3 percent. One family, the Walton family of Wal-Mart, owns more wealth than the bottom 40 percent of Americans. In terms of income distribution in 2010, the last study done on this issue, the top 1 percent earned 93 percent of all new income while the bottom 99 percent shared the remaining 7 percent.
~ Senator Bernie Sanders

Bernie wants things to be more fair. So do I. Lets all talk to our Congressmembers and say this is NOT the American dream. We need an economy that works for all or at least most of us. Speak up. Please.
(For the whole article, see The Soul of America on CommonDreams.org.)

A must see: Les Misérables. My brother David said the Broadway musical pushed all the right buttons and certainly this film clip does too, with the haunting "I Dreamed a Dream" [sung by Anne Hathaway] and those great cinema angles.

Open Letter to Hallmark Cards

Dear Hallmark --

What has happened to your Made in America / Made in the U.S.A. box cards? I find very few available for purchase at my neighborhood Hallmark Gold Crown store and that is one of the major reasons I choose to buy more expensive Hallmark cards. I want my purchases to benefit American workers not merely investors. I am ready to start sending holiday letters and/or handmade cards in lieu of Made in China cards. Why don't you make at least some American-made box cards for people who believe in America and American workers and want their Hallmark Cards to say Made in the USA?

Thank you.

Respectfully, Kate Anne <--blogging this and also posting this on Facebook Message left at http://hallmark.custhelp.com/app/ask
Write yourself, and/or call 1-800-HALLMARK (1-800-425-5627)

Did Anonymous stop Karl Rove from Stealing Ohio again?

Thom Hartmann speaks about the Voter Integrity people's concern with Ohio where they anticipated voter theft would happen (again) in 2012. Did Anonymous prevent it? Thom references both an article in Wonkette and a report in Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman's FreePress.org site entitled Why Rove failed to deliver Ohio on Election Day: What happened in Ohio – this time around. Curiouser and curiouser.

Shirley Horn: But Beautiful

Via Paganmaestro (check out his other music videos on YouTube), a beautiful rendition of But Beautiful sung with beautiful phrasing by Shirley Horn:

Veterans Day Quotation on War

War is a racket, possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. ~ Major General Smedley Butler 1935

John Fugelsang posted the above today, the expanded "War is a racket" quotation -- for Veterans Day and true EVERY DAY. Remember it: War is a racket.

Organizing for America 11-04-12

Organizing for America 11-04-12
Originally uploaded by Kate Anne

I was happy to join with other volunteers to make calls to Ohio in support of President Obama and Senator Sherrod Brown. Tony Smolenski (seen here with me) was one of the energetic organizers. I was so impressed with Tony and his great team. I truly enjoyed calling and spoke with some great folks. The photo here is from my Sunday stint at the Long Island City, NY, office but I worked about 8.5 hours (following voting in Sunnyside, which took over 70 minutes -- a record!) on Election Day. See Election Day Flickr photos.

Stay Away From Social Security

President Barack Obama needs to echo strongly this winning message given so aptly by Vermont (and America's) Senator Bernie Sanders on Eliot Spitzer's show. Tax breaks to the wealthy don't help the American economy nor the American people. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid: these help We the People who need help. Let's be a WE Society, not a ME Society.