BLOG HAS MOVED

I have moved most of my blogs to WordPress and this one can be found at lynnsrants.com

If you were subscribed to this blog - you will need to re-subscribe [I think] after I set up all the plugins

Learning WordPress was not an easy task but enjoyed the exercise when I was not frustrated by all the possibilities and forgetting to click on a few thingies.

Laughing at Job Loss

It isn't just South Carolina and Minnesota that have Reps who keep us laughing - add Georgia to that fold.

That Gingrey finds it funny that 14,000 a day lose jobs [and health insurance] shows you exactly what these Republics think of anyone but themselves. See - it's the job loss that's funny and the FACT that your insurance goes along with your job is a secondary issue - not a main issue.

Why we ever tied insurance to jobs is a long story but it now needs to end - it's is a form of servitude.

Hate your job? Too bad! HA HA HA

Low wages but decent health insurance? We gotcha stuck here for life! HA HA HA

Got a health issue? Now you re really stuck because if you change jobs that's a pre-existing condition making you unrecoverable

Hey State of Georgia - you deserve better - fire this guy and find someone who doesn't laugh at your misfortunes.

Ted Kennedy; Boston and my political life

I moved to Boston in 1963 when Teddy Kennedy was a new Senator. Not having been very politically active in New York, I quickly jumped in the political frays of the '60s in large part due to my friend/professor Freda, who died in July. and the Kennedys who were my President and my Senator [although I remained a registered NYer for a while.] And I lived for years on Francis Street, near where Teddy's funeral mass was recently held.

Even after I left Massachusetts I continued to write to Ted Kennedy about political issues as I felt he truly represented ME! No other Senator or Representative since has come close to being "my" person in Congress and that is a sad commentary on the current crop of politicians. [But I have ranted about the state of being a DC insider elsewhere.]

So Teddy's funeral marked a weird kind of ending in my life. My political gurus and motivators both died this summer and I am left to wonder who will take their places for the up and coming generations ready and willing to jump into a fray.

Yes we have the ideologues ready to feed lies to a new generation and teach them to yell and scream louder than anyone else - but that's not a way to solve problems; only a way to create more. We have alleged liberals who sell their souls for corporate donations and vote for legislation that their Masters wish for.

Hopefully some energized people will come into politics and become the "new" progressives.

Guns, Guns and More Guns

After living in D.C. for a long time I grew to hate guns. They give their "owners" a sense of superiority in that they seem to think the gun in and of itself gives them power and makes what they say more "right" and what people like me say more "wrong." A gun does not have that power; but to hear the gun totters - might does make right - true in the sense that it's making the rabid right wingers more right [wing - not correct.]

Frank Rich has a great column today called The Guns of August. He says and quotes:

... the biggest contributor to this resurgence of radicalism remains panic in some precincts about a new era of cultural and demographic change. As the sociologist Daniel Bell put it, “What the right as a whole fears is the erosion of its own social position, the collapse of its power, the increasing incomprehensibility of a world — now overwhelmingly technical and complex — that has changed so drastically within a lifetime.”

Bell write that in 1962 - but the Republican party today is in more dire straits - it's become a white southern group of scared persons who do not value public or liberal arts education and who refuse to listen. All they know is how to cause fear and to out shout reason - and the ones who represent them in congress go along with this and give them credence.

Why I was not here

A few days after my last post a good friend [actually my best friend] had a leg amputated due to gangrene. She seemed to re doing fine by the weekend and then went downhill rapidly and died on July 20th.

I then helped, with several others, to call mutual friends and tell them about her death and 2 planned memorial services. It was hard as I was re-connecting with other old friends with whom I lost contact over my last 2 moves and we had long conversations about past present and future.

Why does it usually take a death to make people who like each other re-connect? And now I am planning a trip to visit these old friends.

Of course nothing is normal weather wise this year so we in Portland where 90 is a rare event had a 10 day stretch of a brutal heat wave and I get heat exhaustion...and during those days me, the dog, cat and computer were all laying low and being very still. I don't have AC - very few in the Pacific Northwest do. Hard for me to get my political brain working under the conditions of grief and heat...

Stay tuned - I will resume as there is so much to say!

MoveOn Energy Sticker

Want a free sticker to support clean energy? It's designed by Shepard Fairey, the acclaimed artist who created the iconic Obama 'HOPE' poster. And MoveOn's giving them away totally free--even the shipping's free.

I just got mine. Click this link to get your free sticker:

http://pol.moveon.org/energystickers/?id=-4096028-XO3oB6x&rc=paste.orig_email

Thanks!

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies

Note: I have posted this for the last few years and this year a different section is red because we have a new President. We need to remind President Obama and the persons in Congress about this year's red section.

I know this is not the Constitution but it is one of the founding documents upon which we all place so much reliance!

All are created equal [all colors, races, sexes and sexual preferences] and we all have rights: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

For me and many others - all means all - all does not mean some !! And those right? Life liberty and the pursuit of happiness ? By my accounting it includes the right to health and health care because without that - one does not have life or happiness - and it means a livable wage - again with out that one can not pursue happiness.

Yes the Supreme Court has ruled corporations are persons - but no where does that give them more and more of our resources [including human resources] and the "right" to make obscene profits at the expense of the people! If they want to be considered as persons, they need to join in humanity and help the country - not just help their CEOS and shareholders!

Enough ranting - enjoy your day and go out and save the world [or just your little corner of it]

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies

In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

The signers of the Declaration represented the new states as follows:
New Hampshire
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts
John Hancock, Samual Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island
Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

More Beef Recalls due to E.coli

CHICAGO (Reuters) – A Colorado meat company is expanding a recall of beef due to possible contamination by E.coli O157:H7 bacteria after an investigation found 18 illnesses may be linked to the meat, the company and the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Sunday.

Greeley, Colorado-based JBS-Swift Beef Co is voluntarily expanding its June 24 recall to include about 380,000 lbs of assorted beef products, for a total recall of about 421,000 lbs, USDA and the company said.

Full article: http://bit.ly/Q35sr

Will we ever again have a period of time without some food being recalled for some contamination? I'm old enough to remember the days before big agra when you knew where your food came from and what was in it. Today? One takes ones chances when buying food.

I eat kosher meat as it is least likely to be "bad." I also try to buy as local as I can so as to help independent farms and the businesses that carry their foods. Here in Portland we are lucky that we have such places - coops, farmers markets and stores that carry locally produced food. We can also go directly to some growers to pick our own or buy directly.

Big agra does not want us to know what is in our food or where it comes from - because we would gag! It's not food anymore - it's engineered "stuff."

It's bad enough that we killed the soil and food is less nutritious than it ever was - but we contaminate it with fertilizer and who-know-what and it's literally killing us.

From Color of Change

Color of Change website: http://www.colorofchange.org

Dear Friends,

President Obama is trying to reform our broken health care system, which has left more than 45 million Americans uninsured^[1] and millions more with insurance that won't provide the treatment they need.^[2]

Some in Congress are with Obama. But the insurance industry, with help from Republicans^[3] and so-called centrist Democrats,^[4] is leading the charge to kill a key part of his plan -- a government-run insurance plan that would increase the number of Americans covered, called the "public option." Industry groups are spending millions -- $35 million in lobbying costs alone^[5] -- to convince people that they won't be able to choose their doctor, that government will be making their medical decisions, that they'd be forced to take the government's plan, and that the plan is part of some socialist plot -- all lies. In reality, the insurance industry is trying to protect its enormous profits on the backs of everyday people.

For Black folks, the stakes couldn't be higher: we are twice as likely as Whites to be uninsured, we have more than double the rate of infant mortality, we face more than twice the rate of diabetes-related deaths than Whites -- and the list goes on.^[6]

While the fight rages in Washington, our voices are simply not at the table. That's why I've joined ColorOfChange.org in telling Congress that every person in this country should have equal access to affordable health care, regardless of race, income, or any other factor. Will you join me? It only takes a moment:

http://www.colorofchange.org/health/?id=1649-602884

Americans understand the idea of the public option and overwhelmingly support it -- three out of four people want the federal government to offer insurance coverage.^[7,8] But powerful lobbying groups like America's Health Insurance Plans, Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America, and the American Medical Association -- representing the insurance industry, the drug industry, and doctors -- are doing everything in their power to maintain the status quo.^[9]

Several organizations have pushed back, including MoveOn.org -- a key partner of ours in this fight -- but it will take all of us standing up if we want to win.

A public option makes sense for the country as a whole, and it makes particularly good sense for Black folks. Many of us make too much to qualify for Medicaid but either aren't eligible for or aren't adequately covered by private, employer-based plans. Overall, 21% of Blacks are uninsured, compared to 12% of Whites.^[10]

We need a public insurance option, but that's not the only thing we should be fighting for. We need to push for equity in all aspects of our approach to health care. Every community deserves quality medical treatment, research and resources. That's not what we're getting now, and the numbers prove it:

• 22% of Black women say cost keeps them away from the doctor's office, compared to 15% of White women ^[11]
  
• Black women have the highest rates of new AIDS cases, cancer mortality, obesity and low-weight infants of any ethnic or racial group ^[12]
  
• There are 13.6 Black infant deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to 5.7 White infant deaths per 1,000 live births ^[13]
  
• There are 47 Black deaths from diabetes-related illness per 100,000 people, compared to 22.5 White deaths per 100,000 people ^[14]
  
• There are 60.1 new AIDS cases per 100,000 people among Blacks, compared to 6.7 new cases per 100,000 people among Whites ^[15]

Our opportunity to address the disparities that keep too many of us from enjoying long, healthy lives is now.

Please join me in telling our lawmakers that the first step toward improving our health care system is including a public plan that makes good health something everyone can afford:

http://www.colorofchange.org/health/?id=1649-602884

Thanks.

References:

1. http://www.kff.org/uninsured/7806.cfm
2. http://tinyurl.com/n2f3k7
3. http://tinyurl.com/l4ndwv
4. http://tinyurl.com/m5h8y7
5. http://tinyurl.com/m59ur5
6. http://www.kff.org/minorityhealth/upload/7633-02.pdf
7. http://tinyurl.com/mpo97j
8. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/19/opinion/polls/main5098517.shtml
9. http://tinyurl.com/lxpm3v
10. See #6
11. http://www.kff.org/minorityhealth/upload/7886ES.pdf
12. Ibid.
13. See #6
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.

Additional resources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/us/politics/14cong.html?_r=1
http://www.slate.com/id/2220534/pagenum/all/

Iran, USA and Twitter

In the past weeks much has happened on Twitter with and about the Iranian elections.

if Many of us greened our avatars in support of Iranians and we also commented on what might have happened if Twitter had existed in 2000 or 2004. Imagine the outpouring of tweets about the stolen election in Florida, the lack of backbones in democrats who refused to stand up to boss bush and his legal threat team in Florida.

If we had had more support and a way to communicate quickly - maybe the world would be very different right now [or maybe not] - we'll never know.

And 2004 - what if we had been able to tweet about Ohio all day - the election problems there - missing ballots, early closing, lack of machines when it was known they would be needed, long lines and hacked black boxes - with UberRepug Ken Blackwell in charge of the Ohio voting!

We would not have wanted interference from other countries - but we would have welcomed the emotional support and proxies had the bush admin shut down some ISPs or whatever it is the Iranian government is doing!

We could have take the the streets and still been in touch via our cell phones - limited as they were back then.

So why is Iran happening? I think the citizens there saw what happened here with 8 years of bush corruption, cronyism and lack of oversight of anything.

They saw the havoc that bush wrought with his additional 4 stolen years and they don't want 4 more years of Ahmadinejad...

The USA serves as an example of what happen you calmly accept fraudulent elections and allow corruption and illegality to go on unabated. Negative examples are as powerful learning tools as positive ones.

The world is still paying for our 8 years and Iranians look at us and do not wish to add to the mess in the world.

Comments?

Sen. Pat Leahy at UDC School of Law

Sen. Pat Leahy is giving this year's Joseph L Rauh, Jr. Lecture at the UDC School of Law.

The lecture is Tuesday June 16th at 9:30 AM [breakfast at 8:30 AM]

Window Room Building 38
4200 Connecticut Ave. NW

Metro Red Line

RSVP 202-274-7349

Or - you can register online until June 14th http://www.law.udc.edu/events/event_details.asp?id=63526

Traditional Marriage

History of traditional marriage:

[warning - don't drink coffee or anything while watching or protect your keyboard:D]

In D.C. On June 16th? You are invited!

Please Join us for the 17th Annual

Joseph L. Rauh, Jr. Lecture by

Sen. Pat Leahy

  

 Chair, U.S. Senate Judiciary

 Committee

Introduction by Wade Henderson, President,

Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and

Rauh Professor of Public Interest Law. 

 

Tuesday, June 16

8:30 am Breakfast; 9:30 am Program

Admission is free 

 UDC David A. Clarke School of Law

Window Room, Building 38, 2nd Floor

 4200 Connecticut Avenue, NW

 

Underground Parking off Van Ness St.

Metro Red Line: Van Ness/UDC

R.S.V.P. 202-274-7349 or at

http://www.law.udc.edu/event/RauhLecture2009

Home Grown Terrorism

During the 8 years of the bush/cheney fear mongering about Al Qaeda and Iraq - we took our eyes off the home grown terrorists. Why? Because they are of the same ilk as bush/cheney and so were not looked at as serious threats - besides the home grown terrorists had allies in the white house and congress.

Now that Obama is President - the American terrorists feel free to terrorize. They inhabit spaces like twitter and send out nasty comments on sites and blogs. They feel very free to spew their terror - which basically is to threaten to maim and kill anyone who disagrees with them. And yesterday one of these terrorists assassinated a physician in Kansas.

These terrorists need to be called terrorists because that's what they are. Yesterday and today they are cheering the fact that Tiller was assassinated - this from terrorists who call themselves "pro-life." What gall.

The terrorists who don't understand that we still have separation of church and state would have us all follow their version of religion - distorted as it is with ideas that killing is pro-life.

Sorry but you can not force your religious views on me or on any one else....You, of course, are entitled to your own religious views - but your freedom to follow as you choose stops where my freedom to chose my own views begins. We can differ and discuss - but only if you are willing to do so.

Assassinating people who disagree with you makes you a terrorist like the Taliban and Al Qaeda - who by the way, like you, use terror to force people to their religious and political points of view.

Lastly - In spite of your choice of words there is no such thing as an abortion doctor. There are health providers who perform abortions and they do so for medical reasons. And IT IS LEGAL!

Maybe you all ought to go to Guantanamo since you seem to think it's such a neat place to be.

Memorial Day

It's been too long since I have posted here but that does not mean the brain has shut down. In fact it's been busy on other writing projects and I have learned that I can't finish all at the same time...my brain just is not like that...and so politics took a back seat to psychology.

What got my brain back to politics was a torrent of tears last night as I watched the Memorial Day concert from D.C. The story of the family whose son lost most of his brain got me and from that point to the end I sobbed.
When we lived in D.C., my son and I, along with friends, always went to the Memorial Day concert - ditto the 4th of July and Labor Day concerts. They were picnics on the lawn, kids climbing trees, music and good food.

We left D.C. in '96 and things have changed since then and last night's concert was certainly an example of that. It was more somber than any I have seen on tv since I left D.C. and also in that period of time I was a military mommy for 8 years.

I think all women and most men cry at the loss of a child - it happened in the 40's 50's 60's and 70's during WWII, Korea and Vietnam - and it still happens. I have been weeping for those lost in war and other conflicts since WWII when my dad was in the military. Both my dad and son were fine and were never in harms way - for which I was/am selfishly happy. But I had a stomach ache/ongoing worry for 8 years when my son was in and wondered on a daily basis if he'd be sent into war - especially after Sept 11, 2001. We, as parents, are never supposed to outlive our babies - it's not part of our psyches.

And so last night and still today - I weep for those mommies and daddies who have lost their children and for those children who have lost their mommies and daddies...and for those who lost husbands, wives and partners.

I hate that those who never served are so fast to send other people's children off to die in undeclared wars. This has been true since WWII - the last war that was actually declared by Congress. And not only did they never serve - death personified cheney got many deferrals - he really really actively did not want to go...but he's still making the media rounds with his war mongering.

To quote George McGovern: "I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in."

Do not spend the day celebrating war or conflict - spend it in sober reflection about those who died and those who are wounded....and hug your kids.

Two must watch videos: Obama and Sykes

These are from the 2009 White House Correspondents' Dinner via C-Span [thank you thank you]

PRESIDENT Barack Obama http://cli.gs/SR7A01

Comic Wanda Sykes http://cli.gs/HYZ6m2

Save the links - you'll want to listen to Sykes again and again

How nice to have a president with a real sense of humor - who can poke fun at himself, his staff and at Republics :D

And kudos to Wanda Sykes - who hits it out of the park with her edginess!

Mustard Lovers - Unite!

I can not believe the amount of nonsensical blabbering the wingnuts are dong about Obama's preference for Dijon mustard instead of ketchup.

My guess is that with Obama's ratings so high they need to invent faux news for their faux noise network in an attempt to keep a frenzy going among the wingnuts.

But seriously people - mustard ? ketchup? get a life....go do something useful.

These fundits support a group of white christian men who can only look backwards - so they latch on to any trivial excuse to knock Obama and his supporters. They remind me of the ugly American tourist who thinks that by screaming English at someone who does not understand the language is the way to make them understand the language. I once saw this in action in Mexico and I see it now with the wingnuts. They say the group is not conservative enough, the tax cuts for the wealthy were not big enough and that if they yell longer and louder for their principles - all American will come to understand what they are saying - mustard and all :D

Hey wingnuts - we had an election about those ideas you look back upon YOU LOST ! [and you'll lose the mustard war too]

Belated opining on non-dialogues

My last post was the day before "teabagger" day. I think the rhetoric I saw and read that day turned me off and made me ponder if there was any reason to post what was in my mind.

It usually doesn't take much for me to speak or write my mind but I was trying to give more serious thought about the non-dialogue between most Republicans and the rest of us. I am still conjuring and writing that essay on my computer and want to do more work on it before posting it here. I want to choose my words more carefully than do the teabag crowd...

To be continued...

Unfair and Unbalanced - Definitely

Saw this on DailyKos and decided it needed posting here - not just because it shows Faux Noise at their most feverish "hate President Obama" pitch - but in watching a few times - I've noticed the "looks" on the face of Beck...[and well the stupidity of Gingrich which he just keeps documenting]

Either he is auditioning to be the clown of Faux Noise and competing with Falafa Man for something - or he is having some mental issues - or maybe both?

It is worrisome that at least a portion of people still think this is "news" and that it is correct news.... they won't admit to the possibility that they are being lied to and used - more serious mental issues here?

[disclaimer - I am not a licensed professional and am only stating a personal opinion] :D

Faux Noise has Faux Outrage [over an IPod?]

I wish the unfair and unbalanced "whatever you call them" at Faux Noise did their own google checking like they suggested President Obama should have done - but faux noise are too full of faux to even do that amount of "work." After all - it's much easier to make it up and repeat it all day and get your followers to start yammering about it :D

PS - I'll give you a big hint about the ending [ the Queen asked for the ipod]

Colbert Takes on Beck

No additional commentary needed - sit back and enjoy

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The 10/31 Project
comedycentral.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

More from the group of NO

Same old; same old. All they really wanted to do was make the media swing away from PRESIDENT OBAMA [:-)] this morning.

The group of NO does it again! NO plan, NO anything -just some tired getting old white southern men who like to criticize because they have nothing to say that is worthwhile.

M. Bachmann - No Commentary Needed

Just watch - especially the faces of those being questioned :D - how they kept from giggling I do not know

[ht Kos/Time

More on D's and R's and Thinking

Continuing with the discussion of R and D language and thinking styles.... an email to my Twitter pal David Sonnen

Yes Dems are more likely to aggregate - and that is why twitter is so popular among those who quickly get past the what are you doing nonsense. One thought can cross country and political barriers in a mini whatever - [a nanosecond? ] and get reflected and returned. I am learning so much on Twitter - chatted with a guy in Chicago and we discussed WWII and rivers. At the same time I was helping another friend with an attorney referral and making jokes with yet another. Some I know are Dems - some I guess are Dems and the others? It doesn't matter - we communicate well and that's important to me.

The R's are also on Twitter but they still mostly post their bumper sticker thoughts on need only to go to #tcot and laugh.

McCain posted re his 10 worst pork projects and most treated it as a joke. There was an outrage about AIG bonuses and it gathered thoughtful steam on Twitter and on FB solely because we understand aggregation and two-way communicating that is not just shouting at each other - it's real people having real feelings and real thoughts and being able to express them succinctly - a mark in my opinion of intelligence [says she who wrote a very short thesis]

There are R's who "follow me" on Twitter and I ask why. Most then unfollow - but one said she felt we had much in common and we could learn from each other. At least she posts other than bumper sticker thoughts so we have communicated about no -political matters.

Now we have the group of NO telling Obama he ought to stay in DC and tend to the economy instead of going around talking to real US Citizens and I find that funny. The group of NO still has zero idea that D's can walk and chew gum so to speak or multitask and delegate - and then trust those to whom ones delegates...

The group of NO is used to doling out tasks to cronies who are not competent - how odd this new fangled thing called competence must seem to them. But when oyu bow down and worship a drug addict or a dry drunk - your thinking is hampered.

And that's again why Dems can aggregate and R's do sound bites.

The Group of NO

This group used to be the GOP - Grand Old Party - now they are just old - they are not grand and they are not a party. They are mostly white, mostly southern and mostly addicted to Rush and to the word NO.

Every time President Obama [I'll never get tired of writing those words] has an idea - the group of NO goes on the air and yammers about nothing.

They lack ideas and when you lack ideas you are like the ugly American tourist who feels that yelling loudly in English will get you somewhere when you do not fathom the native language.

The current group of NO is is now saying President Obama should focus on the economy and not stem cell research. Huh? Like they can not be related? Why does one preclude the other?

Only the group of NO can come up with illogical conclusions - maybe that's due to their having lived for so many years under a pResident who could not hang two thoughts together at any one time let alone act on two at the same time.

Lest anyone forgets: democrats believe in education, research, science, citizens, rights, and the ability to think independent thoughts.

The group of NO can only say NO and so we will hear this again and again from the white male southerners in congress who have the letter r by their names.

But Dems are the party of YES - YES WE CAN and YES WE DID and YES WE WILL

Who Controls the R's? A Fun Fight

Michael Steele, aka the head of the Republican National Committee said that Rush L... was an entertainer..and that he, Steele was the head of the Republican Party.

Ah - but Mr L. called him out on that claim and said he was not - he was only head of the Committee....not the party.

Guess who hung the white I give up flag first? yEs - Mr. Steel called Mr L and apologized...

Now we know definitively that Rush IS the head of the Republican Party and that his dittoheads will continue to make sure that we all know who is in charge !

Talk about internal fighting - the alleged media is not that interested in this - they only pay attention when D's have internal strife...

But I?- I plan on laughing at how they will all kowtow to Rush who will now be calling the shots for the next election cycles....[using that 22% of the population to scream loudly that they represent the American public :D:D:D]


Update with videos: you can't make this stuff up : -)
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19517.html

Guest Post: About communication

I started a conversation on Twitter with David Sonnen - but as you might know, Twitter only allows 140 characters - so we continued the conversation in emails.

I had asked him, as I have asked you here, why R's behave as they do and continue to advocate their same failed policies to the 22% who still follow them...and ignore the rest of the country.

Comment away readers....

His reply:

Communicating has gotten complicated: Internet, blogs, Twitter, social nets, email, cell phone, eArticles, eJournals, and the occasional face2face... We've just started to fathom the impacts on culture, social structure and cognition. Can we make sense of all this new stuff? Maybe a little.

History, I think, is instructive. Every time folks invent a significant new way to communicate or a significant new way to perceive, human culture changes significantly. Examples. Communications: written language, paper, movable type, telegraph, telephone, radio, television, Internet. Perception: telescope, microscope, chronometer, oscilloscope, x-ray, various tomographies, radar, sonar, genome processing, and a much, much longer list.

Each time one of these new phenomena comes along, a new class of experts arises (E.g.: Scribes for written language and paper). Then, if the invention proves broadly useful, it eventually blends into the invisible cultural infrastructure. Experts become less relevant or change roles. The new exciting/threatening invention becomes "normal". We adapt our common myths and rituals to the new normal, and go on.

Digital communication/ Internet is maturing to the point it's blending into our normal infrastructure. So, we use it to do things that are just normal -- chat, exchange ideas, form communities, gossip, explore each other. (Note: these are all very much 2-way communications.)

We can do these normal, 2-way things with just about anyone, anywhere, any time at velocities close to the speed of light. And, we can use information generated by all manner of extended perceptions. Example: Check out the video at http://www.deepastronomy.com/hubble-deep-field.html .

I think that the next generation will probably have a pretty good handle on all this, but right now, I feel like I'm the other side of Alice's looking glass. (It is quite an interesting and exciting place, but weird.)

This ramble might bring us to the R's situation. Seems to me, that the R's mastered the use of 1-way broadcast media to polarize groups of people around perceived issues. They were quite successful at a simple technique: Stay on message, Ignore problems, Crush dissent. While the technique is ancient, the R's refined the use of broadcast media to appeal to a large mix of people with their simple message -- Regulation is bad, Tax cuts are good, Individuals are better than government at everything, People with other values are evil. They were successful at creating a perceived reality for a long while.

Folks like Rush and Ann Coulter have mastered the R technique and all of its deep cultural appeal. The R message has proven to represent a failed philosophy to about 75% of the people, but that doesn't matter to folks like Rush and Ann. They still have 22% or so who are true believers. And that's one of the R's big problems: 22% is a huge number of customers.

Rush, Ann and associates can whip their 22% into a frenzy over just about anything they want with what you've titled, "vile commentary". Those folks will rant, demonstrate, and contribute to the R cause. They will also listen to the ads on Rush and Ann's programs and buy stuff. Rush and Ann make literally millions selling ads and the R's get an audience that affirms their (failed) philosophy. Everybody is happy and homogeneously on message.

Except, of course, the 75% or so of the public that thinks the Rs and their friends are, at best, irrelevant and at worst, dangerous nut cases.

Now, the D's are starting to understand the powerful difference between 1-way and 2-way digital communications. Also, an important minority of the 75% majority are getting really involved in digital, 2-way politics, quite independently of the D's or the Government. One result, so far, seems to be that the diverse, off-message majority is marginalizing the R gang. Another result is that a bunch of smart folks have risen from apathy to activism.

Bob Dylan sums it up nicely: here
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Your thoughts readers? Post a comment

Portland Oregon Readers - Watch POTUS w Friends

If you enjoyed Inauguration morning - join together again for watching Obama's Speech tomorrow

The President's speech to the joint session of Congress starts tomorrow (Tuesday) at 6:00 PM
(Doesn't it feel good to say "The President" these days?)

Join with other Democrats 5 PM to 9 PM to watch the speech at Krakow Cafe, 3990 N. Interstate Ave, 503-954-2200 www.myspace.krakowkoffee.com

Party-goers can fortify themselves from the televised Republican response, by playing State of the Union "Bingo." After Obama's speech, revelers will get bingo cards to mark any time the GOP speaker refers to "health care," "education," "environment," "HIV-AIDS," or Haliburton."

First ones to scream "Bingo" win prizes.

War on Greed

From BraveNew Films:

What would you do with an extra $18,000 in your pocket?

That's the amount of extra cash each and every Burger King employee in America would have received last year if Goldman Sachs (one of the fast-food chain's largest owners) had shared its bailout billions with rank-and-file workers. Instead, Goldman Sachs squandered 6.5 billion of our taxpayer dollars on bonuses for their financial staff. These were some of the highest bonuses on Wall Street! Meanwhile, Burger King workers earn wages averaging just $14,000 a year -- well below the federal poverty line for a family of three.

Goldman Sachs has been having it their way with Burger King workers for too long. It's high time you had it your way with Goldman Sachs. Tell the Wall Street giant how they could have used the $6.5 billion blown on bonuses. We're looking for the most creative, constructive, or comical ideas to curb corporate greed and help fix the financial crisis. We will send all ideas to Goldman Sachs as a reprimand for their wastefulness. The winner of the Have It Your Way with Goldman Sachs contest will have their idea featured in our next video. The contest ends March 3.

Portland Area Persons

Top reasons to go to the Celsi Dinner

7. Suspense: Will John Vandermosten shave his sesquicentennial beard (Oregon's sesquicentennial, his beard) before the Celsi award?

6. Opportunity: Last chance to heckle John Kroger before he gets all Attorney Generally (C'mon bloggers, you know it's more fun the old fashioned way.)

5. Thrills: A chance to hook bump with Steve Novick.

4. Amazement: KC Hanson in a pink boa. (Ok, that one's a maybe.)

3. Fun: There’s plenty of time to be serious the rest of the year.

2. Power: 2% of the entire US Senate. What more do you want???

1. But seriously, here's the top reason: We can't take for granted our successes in the election just past. “Community organizing” doesn't cost a lot of money, but it costs some. We (and by we I mean you) can be the best hub for volunteer political action in the county (maybe the state?). This fundraiser and our monthly donors will make that possible.

The ticket deadline looms. Please buy your tickets by Monday night, or place a frantic call to Susan Silodor Tuesday morning.


What?
Multnomah Democrats' Annual Celsi Dinner. Celsi Award. McCoy Award. Attorney General John (The Hammer) Kroger. Steve (The Hook) Novick. KPOJ's Carl Wolfson. Blue Oregon's Karol Collymore. Fabulous Silent and Live Auction items. Lots of beautiful (and charming!) Democrats. And...

TWO United States Senators from Oregon!! Senior and Junior. Both. All.

When?
Friday, February 20, 2009 (Day 32 of the Post Bush Era), 6:00 PM

Where?

Melody Ballroom, 615 SE Alder Street, Portland

How do I get tickets?

Click here: https://secure.dpo.org/cgi-bin/d6.pl/multdems/celsi09.html
Or contact Vice Chair Susan Silodor at Celsi@multdems.org

See you there!

What is a job? Reality v. Steele

Michael Steele, the new head of the repugs, has no idea of what he speaks - it's what we call gobbledegook



It's work? not a job? Huh? I'll bet he has a contract that has some end date. And working for the government is not a job? I have friends who work for the government and they think they have jobs.

And as for jobs created by businesses - they aren't doing so well are they?

Here's a new chart on job losses....note the steepness of the current line

So far it is a youch year!

and that is not good.....

Salmonella in peanut butter and peanut related products brought to you by a plant that did not care to whom the tainted stuff was sold. And they knew it was tainted....Murder charges please....

Schools looking to close the door because they are facing huge financial crunches. Thank you mr trickle down the toilet shrub.

More unemployed in January than ever before - and more to come as the year goes on. See the chart below for historical comparisons. But we really need to preserve tax cuts for the wealthy as it was such a good idea seeing what great prosperity it led to..


And the wingnuts yammering all over the "tubes" which their fearless leaders don't understand [note - how will they hear you since they don't know how to use the net?] And their problem? They are filled with so much hatred they can not see that 8 years of failed policy led to where we are - they want more failure - in their brain I guess if you hate so much you can't add. Failure plus more failure does not equal success...it adds up to greater failure.

I learned a long time ago that hatred is an emotion that eats away at the one doing the hating in very destructive ways. And if you add that to the wingnut projection syndrome - we will have some very vile commentary coming from the right for the next 4 years.....

I guess when one is so removed from reality it's too long a road back to even try?

For Portland, Or Area Readers

This week, many of the shelves at Community Warehouse are almost empty!

We are nearly out of the following items:

Pots and Pans
Baking Dishes
Toasters
Dishes
Cooking Utensils
BlanketsTowels
Can you help?

65 low-income households in need of essential items and furniture will visit us this week for assistance. Your donations are needed and appreciated! There's no need to buy new. We accept used items as long as they are in good condition.

We are open every day 10-4 to receive donations. If you need to schedule our truck to pick up furniture, please call (503) 235-8786.

Community Warehouse
2267 N. Interstate Avenue
Portland, OR 97227
(503) 274-4750
www.communitywarehouse.org

Community Warehouse is a local non-profit organization that receives donated basic household items and furniture from individuals and businesses, and gives them to low-income people recovering from crisis such as homeless or domestic violence. Over 65 households are served each week.

Nice to have a father who cares about others kids

President Obama wants to be sure his kids have safe peanut butter to eat. He does not want to worry. Neither do most of us. The last administration chose to not staff the FDA food inspectors, instead choosing to reduce the number of inspectors.

That's why it is so nice to have a caring parent in the White House - one who sees his own children as reflective of all nations' children - deserving and needing untainted food.

Here is the FDA update list - just for the peanut-related recall - it's very long! http://cli.gs/ZjeYTe

Molly Ivins died 2 years ago today

We still miss your voice :(

From 1/11/07 - her last column

We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we're for them and trying to get them out of there. Hit the streets to protest Bush's proposed surge. If you can, go to the peace march in Washington on January 27. We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, "Stop it, now!"

From an earlier column

Keep fightin' for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't you forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin' ass and celebratin' the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was.

Molly - we heard you loud and clear and did just that; we kicked ass and I'm telling you and all who listen - it sure was fun! We rasied hell, we took action, we spent all year on this and Iraq will end because we have a new President - he's not from Texas - you warned us about that. And we were out banging pots and pasns on Nov 4th of 2008 and again on January 20th 2009.

We sure miss you but your words remain...

Republican Mindset: Explanation Sorely Needed

In the last few days, weeks, years, and decades I have really tried hard to understand the Republican point of view or mentality and frankly I am at a loss.

For 6 of the last 8 years they controlled the White House, The Senate and the House of Representatives. for more years than that we had to endure a trickle-down theory of economics that kept promising and promoting huge tax cuts for the wealthy and zero regulation of our trade and monetary systems.

From my point of view, the only thing that trickled down was poverty, higher taxes for the middle class, higher gas, medical and food costs, and a growing sense of depression - country wide...

That is precisely why Barack Obama was elected. The citizens of this country wanted change – and they wanted it to start January 20th at 12:01 P.M. EST.

So what do we hear from Republicans? The ones who brought shame and failure to most American institutions? The ones who brought you the mess in Iraq? The ones who brought you the “rich get richer and the poor get poorer” status we now have? What do they bring to the table in Washington, D.C.? And bring in the name of being bi-partisan?

You got it: MORE OF THE SAME. More of the stuff that failed to work for the last 8 years and more - when you add in back to when Reagan started us down this path. It’s clear to me we are on a terribly wrong path. So why are they insisting on doing it their way? What as I missing in this? What have I been missing for all those years?

Are they so blinded by their own “whatever” that they can not see it did not work? Or do they not care at all for anyone but themselves? [And their wealthier friends and corporations?]

In my life as a psychology expert I have had to diagnose people and work with all kinds of issues. To this day – I have to admit – it is the Republican mindset that I still have trouble with. I’ve had Republican friends – who were able to think for themselves and had empathy for others. They would not be going along with this crowd of white rich southern men who are trying to tell the rest of us how to live our lives. If they were still alive I’d bet they would be switching their party ID.

So please – if you are a conservative republican reader here – leave a comment that explains you and your mindset.

Would You Like a UDC Law Student to Work [no cost] for You This Summer?

Caveats: If you work for a non-profit, a government agency, or in the judicial system,

and would like a UDC-DCSL student to work for you full-time this summer at no cost to you - please join us for our Summer Public Interest Job Fair on Tuesday, February 10, 2009: 12:15 pm – 1:45 pm UDC David A. Clarke School of Law Room 205, Building 39, (Second Floor) 4200 Connecticut Ave NW Washington DC 20008 Red Line: Van Ness/UDC; Parking under campus off Van Ness St.)

Group representatives set up tables, meet with law students, and have lunch!

Last summer, a record 50 UDC-DCSL students provided over twenty thousand hours of service.

TO RESERVE A TABLE: Please reply to Tiffany Hagwood at thagwood@udc.edu. Be SURE to include the name of the person attending, your organization, street/mailing address, phone, fax and email, and your organization's web site. Please also attach your written internship description if you have one. If you would like to be placed on the guest parking pass list for the school garage, at a cost to you of $3.50 rather than $8.00, please let Ms. Hagwood know by COB February 3. There is no cost to attend.

And - whether or not you can attend, we have a brand new way to post jobs! Please use our new job/internship site at http://www.law.udc.edu/networking/submit.asp

This year, the following groups have already signed up to attend the Fair:

AARP/Legal Counsel for the Elderly
AFGE Local 12
AYUDA
Catholic Charities, Immigration Legal Services
Children and the Law
Columbia Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE)
DC Appleseed Center for Law and Justice
DC Attorney General's Office
DC Office of Administrative Hearings
Equal Justice Works
Housing and Community Justice Project
Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center
Human Rights First
Just Neighbors
Legal Services of Northern Virginia
National Center for Refugee & Immigrant Children
Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia
Our Place, DC
Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP)
State of Maryland-Office of the Public Defender
The DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence
The Institute on Religion and Public Policy
The Justice Project
U.S. Coast Guard, Direct Commission Lawyer Program
USDOJ Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management

Facts About the UDC-DCSL Summer Fellowship Program

1) Qualifying organizations include non-profit groups that serve public interest purposes, local and federal government agencies and judges and judicial organizations. The organizations can be in the District of Columbia or elsewhere in the United States . International placements may qualify. Individuals or others seeking legal assistance, private law firms and for-profit organizations do not qualify. If you are unsure whether you qualify, please check with Ms. Bauman, the career services director at DBauman@udc.edu.

2) If your organization has not previously participated, you will need to provide additional information for consideration. Contact Ms. Bauman.

3) Positions must be legal in nature and the student must be directly supervised by an attorney.

4) All first-year law students are eligible for the stipend. If funds are available, upper class students may be eligible.

5) Students must provide a minimum of 400 hours work, to be completed by the end of the summer. They are paid a stipend of up to $3000 by the DC School of Law Foundation (donations to which can be made at www.dcslf.org). Supervising attorneys provide a mid-term and final evaluation of the student, as well as certify student time records.

4) There is no cost to participating host organizations, but if it chooses, the host organization may supplement the stipend with its own funds.

The Fellowship Fair

Group representatives set up tables, meet with law students, and have lunch! There is no cost to attend.

TO RESERVE A TABLE

Please contact Tiffany Hagwood at thagwood@udc.edu. Please be SURE to include the name of the person attending, your organization, street/mailing address, phone, fax and email, and your organization's web site. Please also attach your written internship description if you have one. If you would like to be placed on the guest parking pass list for the school garage, at a cost to you of $3.50 rather than $8.00, please let Ms. Hagwood know by COB February 3.

And - whether or not you can attend, we have a brand new way to post jobs! Please use our new job/internship site at http://www.law.udc.edu/networking/submit.asp

Again, please feel free to forward this announcement to your colleagues!

Thank you!

Joe

Joe Libertelli, Director of Alumni Relations

UDC David A. Clarke School of Law
4200 Connecticut Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20008
(202) 274-7338