mousemusings...multimedia, music, progressive politics, video, web design and general rants
Human beings will be happier - not when they cure cancer or get to Mars or eliminate racial prejudice or flush Lake Erie but when they find ways to inhabit primitive communities again. That's my utopia.
~Kurt Vonnegut
Saturday, January 31, 2004

Perfectly Legal

Nothing is Certain But Death
As Johnston knows, the real scandal of our federal tax system isn't so much what the rich didn't pay. It's what the rest of us now have to -- particularly the middle and upper middle classes, with incomes from $50,000 to $500,000. This is the group Bush is squeezing, to benefit what Johnston aptly calls the ''political donor class.'' This truly shocking story emerges later on in ''Perfectly Legal.''

...The I.R.S. is a police agency under extreme pressure to treat big perpetrators with kid gloves. This material is, all in all, perhaps the most shocking stuff, particularly when one notes names like Harken Energy and Halliburton among the defectors.

...What should be done?

...Sensibly, he leans toward a leaner, meaner income tax, with higher top rates, few deferrals, a broad definition of income and reform of the alternative minimum tax. Add a stiff estate and gift tax to recover from the largest fortunes at death, treat capital gains and dividends as ordinary income, then cut or offset the payroll tax and you would have the elements of a fairer system.

Interestingly, the progressive tax bill of 2003, introduced by Representatives Dennis J. Kucinich, Barbara Lee and Bernard Sanders, comes close to these goals. It would claw back $107 billion from Bush's cuts and provide $88 billion in relief to working Americans, mainly through an attractive simplified family credit. Happily a few leaders remain, in these venal days, who are prepared to think boldly about our tax problem. [ read the book review ]
[ read the first chapter ]
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Friday, January 30, 2004

Rollin' on Slow and Steady!

Audio Announcement from William Rivers Pitt
Dennis Kucinich new Press Secretary!

Arab-American political activists in the Detroit area have endorsed Dennis Kucinich

"It was not a strategy endorsement, it was an endorsement of principle," said Siblani, who also is editor-in-chief of The Arab-American News.

"The argument we had yesterday was should we stand by our principles or cast a vote based on electability," he said. "But this was a group that voted for (President) Bush in 2000 and were stung by the Bush administration."
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Acid Evangelist

So what was Ken Kesey?
Krassner relates how he and Kesey very nearly died by falling in the ocean in 1971: They climbed into a tunnel carved into a cliff during World War II (so lookouts could scan the ocean for enemy ships), found a "meek little mouse" in the tunnel, and blew hashish smoke into its face until the mouse reared up and squeaked in protest. "This display of mouse assertiveness startled us, and we almost fell off the cliff." What a perfect death! Better than John Lennon's near death during Sgt. Pepper, when he took a handful of aspirin that turned out to be acid and came within inches of walking off Abbey Road's rooftop, exclaiming, "Look at the stars!" Kesey looked at the people instead; he inhaled in order to exhale insurrectionary orders, rallying the suburban mice of the Earth to rise up and roar in rebellion. [ read the story ]
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Figuring out Other Voters

Mark wrote about his experience in his own information gathering attempt as an exit pollster in New Hampshire. The results are quite interesting. He did come away feeling that people geniuinely cared and do want to turn this country around. He asked questions pertaining to strategic voting and found quite a bit of it happening. I linked to one post and another with further information is just below.

I still hold fast to the idea that a primary is not the time to compromise. It is my one chance to vote for the candidate that represents the platform I would most like to see implemented. There will always be plenty of time for compromise later, even if my dream candidate happened to win. In "An Electable Candidate", the CS Monitor asks: But elections are diminished when voters don't choose a candidate who best represents them, putting pragmatism ahead of principles. If every voter simply tried to figure out what other voters want in a president, who would be the authentic voter?

Inside the Mind of the Primary Voter a great cartoon by Kevin Moore
I guess I hold tight to authenticity when I can see it.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Thursday, January 29, 2004

Where is the Apology?

by Paul Krugman:
"As far as I can tell, nobody in the Bush administration has ever paid a price for being wrong. Instead, people are severely punished for telling inconvenient truths. And administration officials have consistently sought to freeze out, undermine or intimidate anyone who might try to check up on their performance.

Let's look at three examples... read on
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Wait, Dean Has the Most Delegates?

In this race, he's beating Kerry by 19

delegate scorecard

One superdelegate who definitely won't be flipping, however, is Dennis Kucinich, who will be part of the Ohio delegation. According to the Columbus Dispatch, the former Cleveland mayor has already decided to support himself on the convention floor.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Dr W David Hager

Please. There is an email circulating again about the appointment of Dr Hager, urging people to stop the appointment. He was appointed over a year ago, in December 2002. If you'd like to know more about him I have collected links mostly concentrated here, but spread throughout October and November entries.
Here is an urban legends entry about him confirming the contents of the email, yet indicating that he has already been appointed.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Scott Ritter to Endorse Dennis Kucinich!



More news forthcoming! But for now...
For Immediate Release
Contact: Leland Lehrman, +1.505.474.7998, leland@33o.com

What: Santa Fe, New Mexico Press Conference
When: Friday, January 30, 10:00 a.m.
Where: Capitol Rotunda, Santa Fe

What: Taos, New Mexico Talk: Seeking Peace in a Time of Frontier Justice
When: Friday, January 30, Taos, 7:00 p.m.
Where: Taos Community Auditorium, 145 Paseo del Pueblo Norte
Notes: Sponsored by the Action Coalition (Cliff Bain, 505-776-8486)

What: Santa Fe Talk: Seeking Peace in a Time of Frontier Justice
When: Sunday, February 1, 11:00 a.m.
Where: St. Francis auditorium, 107 W. Palace & Lincoln, Santa Fe
Notes: Free. Seating limited to 450. Book signing.


Former United States Marine and United Nations weapons inspector Scott Ritter, a leading critic of the Iraq war, will announce his endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich at a news conference Friday, January 30, at 10 a.m., in the rotunda of the State Capitol Building in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.

After the press conference, Ritter will travel to Taos, New Mexico to present his analysis of the Iraq war and its aftermath in a public lecture, "Seeking Peace in a Time of Frontier Justice," Friday evening at 7 p.m. in the Taos Community Auditorium, 145 Paseo del Pueblo Norte. On Sunday, February 1, he will repeat the talk for a Santa Fe audience at 11:00 a.m in the St. Francis Auditorium, at the New Mexico Museum of Fine Arts, 107 W. Palace Avenue, in Santa Fe. Admission is free. Ritter will be signing copies of his most recent book, Frontier Justice: Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Bushwhacking of America. The event is sponsored by the
New Mexico Department of Peace Initiative, a volunteer group working to create an Office of Peace within the New Mexico state government, based on a similar proposal for a national Department of Peace that is a key plank of the Kucinich campaign platform.

Kucinich, a fourth term Congressman from Ohio, is co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. He has led Congressional opposition to the Iraq War since the Bush administration first revealed plans for an invasion, and is the only one of the current presidential candidates to have voted against the Iraq War Resolution, which Congress passed in October of 2002. Kucinich currently proposes a ten-point plan to turn over nation building authority in Iraq to the United Nations and bring U.S. troops home within 90 days.*

Scott Ritter was a Marine intelligence officer during the 1980s and served as a ballistic missile expert under General Norman Schwarzkopf during the first Gulf War. He was stationed in Iraq from 1991 to 1998 as a senior member of the U.N. weapons inspection team (UNSCOM). He participated in 30 onsite inspections in Iraq, 14 of them as team leader, and is credited with initiating aggressive intelligence-collection measures that nearly got him expelled from Iraq by the Hussein regime. Ritter resigned from UNSCOM after inspectors were withdrawn from Iraq in 1998 prior to British and American bomb and missile strikes, which he called a "horrible mistake."

Since then, he has appeared frequently as an analyst and commentator on most of the major television news networks, arguing that U.N. inspectors had accomplished the destruction of 98% of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, and that the Bush administration was unjustified in going to war against Iraq on the premise that Iraq posed an imminent threat to its neighbors or the United States. He has recently revealed personal knowledge of a systematic campaign within British and American intelligence agencies to plant false information in major media outlets to justify war with Iraq.

Ritter has a local connection: his aunt, Shirley Ritter Minett, lives in
Santa Fe.
For those interested, here is the New Mexico Democratic Party Schedule of Events this week.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


The Blame Game, Who is responsible?

Gathering, Immediate, Urgent, Unique, Terrible, Mounting Threats
The buck stops at the White House. Simple.
Responsibility, is that no longer a moral value?
The Center for American Progress has it all.
Intelligence Warnings Ignored

  • CIA warnings ignored
  • DIA warnings ignored
  • DOE warning ignored
  • State Department Intelligence warnings ignored
  • Air Force Inrelligence warnings ignored
  • UN/IAEA warnings ignored

Just in case this page moves I've copied the content and placed it here.

Here is a compilation of links I pointed to last June in chronological order.

Neglecting Intelligence, Ignoring Warnings

In Their Own Words: Iraq's 'Imminent' Threat
a background of statements hyping the necessity to go to war.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan yesterday lashed out at reporters yesterday saying "some in the media have chosen to use the word 'imminent'. "Those were not words we used ." But almost exactly a year ago, it was McClellan who said the reason NATO should go along with the Administration's Iraq war plan was because this is about imminent threat ."

As Americans we are responsible. We have a mess in office that we need to clean up.
Now Can We Talk of Impeachment?
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Wednesday, January 28, 2004

The Hidden State of the Union

by George Lakoff
We all heard what the President said in the State of the Union address on Tuesday night, but what did he mean? The speech, like most right-wing discourse these days, is in a kind of code, based on a moral system that not all Americans share. [ read it all ]
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Preemptive Potentials

Yesterday Craig mentioned a headline he had seen, Targeted Killings Pre-empt Suicide Bombings, Israeli Commander Says

The image it immediately brought to my mind was of elementary schools being bombed preemptively.
No proof,
no preventive intervention,
no conflict management,
shock and awe based on simple potential,
so, what's the difference?
What a noble precedent
the illegal deeds of awol pResidents
the US model of preemptive unilaterlism
our world is a kinder safer place
and it never snows in Michigan
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Monday, January 26, 2004

Must Read!

William Rivers Pitt
with
Dennis Kucinich and the Question
I like Dennis. I really like Dennis. I raise dogs, and he reminds me of a little fox terrier. He is the smallest candidate size-wise, just like the fox terrier is the smallest dog I own. My hounds are ten times bigger than that fox terrier, but my fox terrier walks around amongst them hounds, and he is the boss. It don?t matter how small he is, he would let them know that he was the boss. He makes them hounds back down. That?s Dennis.?
Dennis Kucinich reminds people why they are Democrats, why they are progressives, in the first place. He is the soul and the spirit of those beliefs personified, he is Franklin Delano Roosevelt returned, walking and talking and preaching in the 21st century. Anyone who doubts this has not seen the man in action, has not met the people who surround him and support him.

This run for the White House is about far more than winning that office. If you think the end of the primaries will spell the end of his run, think again. If the Democratic Party should win the White House in 2004, a powerful progressive network will have to be in place to push the new administration in the right direction, and against the tide that has been unleashed. This is what Dennis Kucinich is constructing, one brick at a time.

This tide has only just begun to rise. How much change are you ready for?
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Contempt for Science

Lost in Space
Indeed, one of the worst aspects of the Bush Administration is its contempt for science. Thanks to Bush, creationist tracts are being sold in national parks--did you know that the Grand Canyon is only a few thousand years old, like the rest of the world? And faith healers like David Hager, who thinks Jesus will cure your PMS, sit on FDA advisory panels. Bush policies disregard serious research--on the effectiveness of condoms to prevent HIV, on the ineffectiveness of abstinence-only sex education--and shun the promise of stem cell research, all in obedience to the crabbed sexual taboos of the right. [ read more ]

Ground Control To Mr. Bush Andy Rooney

Little pill creates a big fuss

'Personal responsibility'
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


"It's Just Wrong What We're Doing"

Vietnam War architect Robert McNamara breaks his silence on Iraq: The United States, he says, is making the same mistakes all over again
McNamara's 11 lessons
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Dry Drunk Confirmed?

by Katherine van Wormer
In Bush’s irrational patterns of thought lie the clues to his single-minded obsession with Iraq.
“He tried to kill my Dad,” the President once explained. But I believe there was more to this unnecessary war than that. I believe there was a method in Bush’s madness, a method that most likely had as little to do with oil as it did to terrorism. For the answer we need to look deeply in the psyche of the man (inferred from his biography). Earlier several other writers and I likened Bush’s personality characteristics to those of a person who, in AA parlance, is “dry” but whose thinking is not really sober. Grandiosity, rigidity, and intolerance of ambiguity, and a tendency to obsess about things are among the traits associated with the dry drunk. [ read it all ]
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Saturday, January 24, 2004

Take Back The Media

Town Hall Meeting, NH
a firsthand account from estimated prophet
It sounds like some of us still know how to live free despite the overwhelming influx of administration-appropriated media.
Scroll down for a great collection of 9-11 questions we should all be demanding answers to.

Dear New Hampshire; It's been years since I've written
I've become concerned by reports I've heard that you've been seen operating under the influence of massmedia. This distresses me greatly because it flies in the face of all you've been and done throughout your lifetime.

OREO video from True Majority
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Wednesday, January 21, 2004

Medical Marijuana Group Issues Final Report Card; Most Democratic Contenders Would Stop Raids on Patients

 
On The Medical Use of Marijuana written by Craig

Edwards Calls Cops on Peaceful Leafleters
...for the first time during the campaign, Edwards' staff had police expel GSMM leafleters from a public space. Members of the group were in the midst of distributing flyers that described Edwards' medical marijuana position to the crowd gathered inside Exeter Town Hall when several members of Edwards' staff stopped GSMM Campaign Coordinator Aaron Houston, surrounding him. One Edwards campaign worker attempted to grab the flyers out of Houston's hands, saying, "I need to take that from you." The campaign staffer also threatened to call the police department. An Exeter police officer arrived minutes later and directed Houston and another GSMM member to move outside the town hall.

Your Guide to the Candidates View on Medical Marijuana
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


State of the Union Reaction

You Talk Too Much
Joe Jones

-Words and music by Joe Jones and Reginald Hall

You talk too much
you worry me to death,
You talk too much,
you even worry my pet

You just talk,
talk too much

You talk about people
that you don't know,
You talk about people
wherever you go

You just talk,
talk too much

You talk about people
that you've never seen,
You talk about people,
you can make me scream

You just talk,
you talk too much
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Tuesday, January 20, 2004

Not Insignificant Nor Disengaged

Here is a jumble of random thoughts that have been running through my head, a little disorderly, but somehow fitting together with a smidget of hope.
Iowa will gather some interest. Shake-ups do that. I'm not sure how to find out exactly how much Kucinich contributed to Edwards second place showing but I'm guessing it was not insignificant. this was a wow! article The voter turnout was exciting. Go Iowa!

I watched some of the entrance poll numbers and found it interesting that although over 60% of the voters were strongly against the Iraq war, they voted for Kerry in surprising numbers. This says to me that people want to put the war behind, it was a losing battle on all fronts. People want to evolve, re-engage themselves and find the best solution for the mess we inflicted. We all know the war was wrong, but no-one wants that thrown in their face. Maybe the info will go in the memory bank for the next time. I can only hope.
We still need to find a way to clean up the presidents mess and we need to do it as outlined by Dennis Kucinich. We need to bring our troops home. We have to give up ambitions for Iraqi oil, no contracts, no privatization, no US control of the Iraqi government. We need to help rebuild Iraq, re-engage with the world community, embrace and support the UN, and provide for the people who lost their lives, the innocent people, and we must provide help for UN peacekeepers. It's the right thing to do.

Progress. I do see it. Dennis has a great voice and it is being heard. His mantra UN In US Out (video) is the best solution. We can see that the UN is not the insignificant entity that some would like us to believe, although we travelled a long unnecessary and devastating road to figure that out. Need I point out Hat in Hand, Bush Seeks U.N. Help ?

Disengagement. I think it's important to continue to point out the Bush Administration's disengagement. Disengagement with the world community, disengagement and misunderstanding of different culture in this country and abroad, disengagment from the problems of the everyday citizen. We need a leader who is engaged, not one who takes more vacation days than any other president in history, not one who is concerned with increasing the wealth for the already wealthy, not one who want to compete with China in a space race to arms.

Now is the time to move forward. Now is the time for Dennis Kucinich to powerfully present his health care plan. Economically and morally, it is the best plan available. The entrance polls last night put health care as the top issue for the voters. We're ready. 18,000 deaths a year is too high a price for the richest nation to pay due to our shoddy health care system. The inefficient costs per ER visit for those without health insurance is inexcusable when a simple preventative care visit might have been enough, but was financially out of reach for the 43 million without coverage.

I'm hyped! I watched the PBS special Citizen King last night. I needed to see that.
While I may not go quite as far as to echo this headline, Kucinich Sounds Like MLK, Dennis Kucinich clearly carries the same non-violent sentiment, has clearly learned from Martin Luther King, and is fearless with his convictions. Yes, there is hope.


posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Monday, January 19, 2004

Edwards, Kucinich agree to share support in Iowa caucuses

Democratic presidential candidates John Edwards and Dennis Kucinich have struck a deal to support each other should one candidate fail to draw the minimum support needed to compete in Monday night's Iowa caucuses, Edwards campaign sources said.
Edwards?! Why Edwards?
posted by Andy | link |   | |

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Sunday, January 18, 2004

CBS not running ads on "controversial issues of public importance."

Recently, CBS cited this official policy to deny airing an advertisement sponsored by the advocacy organization MoveOn.org, which criticized President Bush's $1 trillion deficit.

If CBS is to be consistent, then they must also adhere to this policy when it comes to the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Partnership for a Drug Free America ads.

NORML has created a pre-written letter that you can send to CBS executives demanding they apply their policy consistently and reject the ONDCP/PDFA anti-marijuana ads.

Read The Demonized Seed.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Saturday, January 17, 2004

Snippets

"I say to you today that if our nation can spend $35 billion a year to fight an unjust evil war in Viet Nam and $20 billion to put a man on the moon, it can spend billions of dollars to put God's children on their own two feet right here on earth."
-Martin Luther King Jr.

"In order to be president of the United States one must remember who was on this land first,"
Dennis Kucinich visited Farmington New Mexico today to accept the endorsement of the Dine Bidziil Navajo Strength Coalition, which is made up of 24 grass-roots Navajo organizations.

"Navajos have the highest percentage of any ethnic group in the military," Brown said. "We want our sons and daughters and fathers and mothers to come home. We support our Navajo warriors but it's difficult for any of us to support the war."

The Green Party's candidate for governor in 2002, David Bacon of Santa Fe, said earlier this year that he planned to switch to the Democratic Party so he could vote for Kucinich.
"In this area, progressive Democrats and Greens are united on several issues," said Bacon, an alternative energy activist.
"A lot of Greens across the country are registering Democrat to vote for Kucinich," he said.



There's a Wall Between Us
Rupert Murdoch and My Sister

How powerful and controlling is the propaganda that rains upon the American people? Do even the words of a loved one make a difference when they conflict with a perceived reality that has been constructed by Fox News and the rest of the big media?


A quick guide to Presidential candidates on the issues. Give it to your sister!
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Flash Movie

Honor the Memory of Martin Luther King
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Immigration Policy and the Military

This was one of my immediate thoughts when hearing the proposed immigration policy. Come to America, serve in our military and see Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia! You will be the first in line!
PHOENIX - Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who gained notoriety for putting inmates on chain gangs and issuing them striped uniforms and pink underwear, has now ordered all undocumented immigrants currently in jail to register for the draft.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Alternatives

We know why Alternative News is Gaining Influence especially when it comes to political information.
Bill Moyers had a segment about it last night and has a web page with further resources including the highlighted FactCheck.org.
Alternet has a new section, Election 2004 that looks promising.
The Progress Report is another daily resource from the Center for American Progress . I have the daily report emailed, but I don't always get to it. Does that sound familiar?

Yes, I'm feeling the effects of information overload. Everything around me seems cluttered including this page. I'm considering changes. A nap sounds better.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Friday, January 16, 2004

Sampling the Candidates

Gloria R. LaLumia, BuzzFlash Columnist, checks out the candidates as they visit Las Cruses, New Mexico
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Get this message across!

...one of the things that Bush has been doing is betraying the trust that Americans have placed in him. He's lying to them. He's saying one thing and doing another. That harms people. There's a great deal of betrayal of trust there, and the liberals have to come out and get that message across. It's a hard message to get across because people don't want to think that the head of their family or the head of their nation is betraying their trust.

... When other countries see that we have a foreign policy that is only about our national interest, or our national interest is defined only in terms of money and power and nothing else, then they say: "The U.S. doesn’t get it. The U.S. is really an enemy of world peace. The U.S. is trying to dominate everybody else for its own interests." That is not a way to build trust. It’s not a way to get cooperation. And it’s definitely a way to have lots of people thinking that the U.S. is an enemy.

...People vote on their morality and their identity. Occasionally they vote on their self-interest when it’s important, but mostly they vote for what they believe in and who they are. That’s something that Democrats don’t understand. And they haven’t been attentive enough to ideas and to understanding how the mind works. They focus instead on self-interest and issues, issue by issue. As long as they go issue by issue, they’re going to lose.
[more from the Buzzflash interview with George Lakoff ]
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Michael Moore Smears Kucinich

Moore is in fact shamelessly playing the Republicans' game by trying to paint this decision by Kucinich as a waffle on the war.
Michael Moore has sent out a misleading email that has many people asking if Dennis voted for the war on Iraq. He did not. He led the effort that organized 126 Democrats in the House of Representatives to go against their own party leader and vote against the war. And Dennis voted against the war. What Moore has in mind is a later, symbolic vote taken during the war on support for the President and the troops. Dennis supported the troops but not the President, so he voted "Present." That this was the closest thing Moore could find to a reason not to support Dennis says a lot."
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Dean and Kucinich

Two candidates who are fighting for something more than the nomination
Like many progressives, I've felt torn between Howard Dean's and Dennis Kucinich's respective strengths. I've resolved this conflict so far by embracing my indecision and giving money to both. Kucinich has spoken out, eloquently and thoughtfully, taking stands that challenge the conventional wisdom of our time, and point toward powerful long-term alternatives. [...]

[...] This leaves me with Dean or Kucinich. If Kucinich's role is to raise the best possible issues, even if he'll never get nominated, I can see arguments for helping him stay in the fray, particularly in states where delegates are allocated proportionately

He can always consider Two Waves of Change; Dean AND Kucinich Encouraging.



Via Working for Change a publication of Working Assets where you'll always find good progressive articles and a painless way to further help progressive causes.

Working Assets has been my long distance carrier for over 12 years. It's about time I plugged them because every bit of help is needed to counter the destruction around us.
I find it very simple to tell any telemarketer for any another long distance carrier that I'm very happy with Working Assets and I have no problem throwing away the $80 check bribes attempting to make me switch.

1% of your phone charges are donated to these groups at no charge to you. Since 1985, Working Assets members have generated more than $38 million in donations for progressive causes.

The rates are highly competitive; 7 cents a minute with a $3.95 monthly service charge and they throw in a sweet Ben and Jerry's deal for becoming a new customer along with 180 free minutes. Do it now before you make another long distance phone call.
Always Vocal

One more unrelated but not irrelevent link:
Institute of Medicine calls for universal health insurance
“Public opinion polls now are showing that up to 80 percent of Americans are ready for fundamental health care reform that achieves universal coverage,” he said. “The cause is attracting attention, and support is growing and it will continue to grow.”

I was down in Savannah, eatin' cream and bananas
When the heat just made me faint
I began to get cross-eyed, I thought I was lost, I'd
Begun to see things as they ain't
As the relatives gathered to see what's the matter
The doctor came to see was I dyin'
But the doctor said, "Give him jug band music
It seems to make him feel just fine"
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


How the Republicans Keep the Democrats on the Defensive.

A BuzzFlash Interview with "Framing" Expert, UC Berkeley Professor George Lakoff :

BuzzFlash: The phrase "tax relief" is two words. The right wing and the Bush propaganda machine seem very good at two- or three-word mantras that they then echo chamber through Fox News and the New York Post and CNN. What you’ve just said is a mouthful. How can that compete against two words?
[ read his replies ]
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Wednesday, January 14, 2004

Voting from the heart

 
Why candidacies of 'minor' candidates like Dennis Kucinich are important even if the candidate has no chance to win
Kucinich is saying things his party leaders don't dare, and he is willing to rock the boat and challenge our country's status quo in a way party insiders never, ever will.

... If we had a vote in my state -- we don't -- there's a good chance I'd vote for him. I don't agree with all of his ideas, but that's why I would choose him. He has clear ideas, and as such I don't need to like 'em all -- just more of them than anyone else running.
The success of Howard Dean's candidacy would not be possible without Kucinich and Sharpton at his shoulder, providing the more 'extreme' cover that gives his statements context. Their continued presence in the race ensures that ideas like getting U.S. troops out of Iraq, or prioritizing racial justice, aren't forgotten by candidates otherwise reluctant to go there. There are plenty of reasons to support Dennis Kucinich
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


You Know Dick

Richard Corliss on on the fantastic life and astounding afterlife of SF writer Philip K. Dick
He had the imagination to predict a man on the moon, for example, but not that the moon walks would last little more than three years, from July 20, 1969, to December 14,1972. The SF writer was an optimist about science and a pessimist about humans. His stories were dreams of technological Utopias in which nightmares of personal and political dystopia were played out.

...He also foresaw that “an alien virus, brought back by an interplanetary ship, will decimate the population of Earth,” and that in 2010 the Soviet Union ... but who had the prognostic chops to see that the U.S.S.R. would disappear in 1989? The predictions were lighthearted, non-binding, irrelevant to his reputation. Dick knew that his job was not to handicap the future. It was to explain the present.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


1.5 billion relatively inexpensive?

Tax money grows on trees apparently. Lest Bush forget he's opened up the forests so there are less trees. Now he wants to use 1.5 billion leaves to pander to the fundamentalists. Of course! It's "relatively inexpensive but politically potent". (and a good way to get the taxpayer to pay for his re-election agenda)
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Tuesday, January 13, 2004

Cedar Rapids Students Hold Mock Caucus

When the dust cleared Ohio Congressman Dennis Kuchinich snapped up 60 percent of the "mock" delegates. Former Vermont Governor and Massachusetts Senator John Kerry ran second and third in the "mock" tallies.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Bush Blames Clinton!

Asked specifically whether O'Neill was correct in saying that planning for the war had begun far ahead of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Bush said that when he had become president he had inherited a policy of "regime change" from former President Clinton and had decided to adopt it as his own.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Monday, January 12, 2004

Where IS our Leadership?

I received this from my Senator today. I asked her to support Bob Graham's bill S.1980. Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2003
(Introduced in Senate) To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require a voter-verified permanent record or hardcopy under title III of such Act, and for other purposes.
She, nor her staff appear to be aware of the bill as is implied by her reply to me. Boy do I feel like I'm beating my head against a brick wall. I did send a rather testy reply back, but it probably won't make much difference. You can send a letter from here and see if you get a better, more informed response.
Thank you . . .

. . for contacting me regarding your support for requiring the voting system to produce a voter-verified paper record. I appreciate you taking the time to share your views with me.

I share your concerns about voting machines that only produce electronic results. Voters should have the security of a paper trail to make sure their vote has been counted and can be recounted if necessary. As you may know, Representative Rush Holt introduced the Voter Confidence and Increased Accessibility Act of 2003 (H.R.2239) on May 22, 2003 in the House of Representatives. This bill would amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require a voter-verified permanent record, as well as requiring a study to develop best practices to enhance accessibility and voter-verification mechanisms for disabled voters. At this time, there is no related legislation before the Senate. If related legislation does come before the Senate, you can rest assured that I will keep your strong support in mind.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me. Please continue to keep me informed about issues of concern to you and your family.

Sincerely,
Debbie Stabenow
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Apes of war... is it in our genes? (registration required)

Research into the aggressive behaviour of male chimpanzees, our closest biological ally, suggests that the urge to go to war is in our DNA and that only women can stop it, says Sanjida O'Connell
Anthropologists have always thought that war was uniquely human and sought explanations in horticulture, high population densities, or the development of tools as weapons. But chimps show behaviour equivalent
to primitive human warfare, which indicates that you don't need to grow vegetables or fashion a spear in order to kill.

... Prof Wrangham suggests that since we cannot escape our violent heritage, we should harness both male and female strengths to address global conflicts. "I fantasise about a world in which countries have two legislative houses, one of men, one of women, and sanctioning war only if approved by both houses. It would take us one useful step away from ape biology and the mayhem men cause."
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Confessions of a White House Insider

"These people are nasty and they have a long memory," he tells Suskind. But he also believes that by speaking out even in the face of inevitable White House wrath, he can demonstrate loyalty to something he prizes: the truth. "Loyalty to a person and whatever they say or do, that's the opposite of real loyalty, which is loyalty based on inquiry, and telling someone what you really think and feel—your best estimation of the truth instead of what they want to hear." That goal is worth the price of retribution, O'Neill says. Plus, as he told Suskind, "I'm an old guy, and I'm rich. And there's nothing they can do to hurt me."
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Sunday, January 11, 2004

Take your Daily Walk Down The American Street

A collaboration of American bloggers from coast-to-coast living individual versions of the American Dream. Stop by and say hello to some familiar friends. Sharing of opinions is encouraged, kind of like a participatory democracy. Remember what that was like?
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


WTF is it Now???

Maru passes along this eyeopener:
From the Whitehouse Daily Briefing February 27, 2001
Q: Ari, according to India Globe, the Taliban in Afghanistan, they have offered that they are ready to hand over Osama bin Laden to Saudi Arabia if the United States would drop its sanctions, and they have a kind of deal that they want to make with the United States. Do you have any comments?

MR. FLEISCHER: Let me take that and get back to you on that.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |




The government and private businesses spend about $1.6 trillion on healthcare. That's enough to fund a universal, single?payer national health insurance system.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Michigan Ballots

I submitted my applytovote form via web on Jan 1st and still have nothing in the mail. I read that 8000 were mailed out this past Wednesday. I feel slighted. Am I the only one?
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Saturday, January 10, 2004

Not my Space Dream

I love the space program. The sense of wonder and possibility is the basis for the ultimate dream. The dream I have of exploring the cosmos is surely much different than the dream of GWB. His dream is neither morally nor fiscally responsible. In his dream he would leave the lowly citizens of the earth behind continuing to cut back on life necessities to further an elite colonization and space weapons program. If he hadn't proven his intentions and spent the money on his planet destroying war I would be elated. As it stands I can only think there is something more sinister involved in his proposal than simply an election enhancing stunt.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Friday, January 09, 2004

Beyond Imagination

I suppose that once an educated estimate has been placed on the limits of your personal lifeline, there are bound to be the condescending soul-savers attempting to convert you to born-again status. It makes it even more difficult when the insisting force comes from a family member. You can't comfortably shut the door in their face and discussion is draining simply because it's been beaten repeatedly over the years. It doesn't seem to matter whether you have agreed to disagree in the past. All the proselytizer cares about is salvation, going as far as to intimate that if you were born-again an anti-anxiety medication wouldn't be necessary. I wonder if she treats her patients with such condescension?

What will you do when you are faced with this dilemma?
Craig has written A Poem for a Proselytizer
Peace
Perhaps that's all that's needed.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Diversions

Bush LIED About Medicare
...the resident did not just break his promise to sign a bill that prevents seniors from losing their existing drug coverage. He actually acted to reward companies who cut off their retirees with a lavish new tax break

Two new Eric Blumrich Flash videos one for Dennis Kucinich. Intense!
AND
Thanks for the Memories

Which Democratic Candidate are You....in Bed???
via American Samizdat

Support Ellen Mariani's 9-11 Lawsuit Against Bush sign the petition

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Calls Bush 'A Blind Man in a Room Full of Deaf People'

Robert Scheer:
Divine or not, Robertson heard some voices. And the explanation for why God might have chosen to speak up in favor of a president who has made such a hash of our economy and foreign policy came to me in a dream.
Lord Knows What Robertson Wants
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Campaigns find Meetups attract growing groups of volunteers

Michigan is the first industrial swing state to hold its presidential caucuses, giving it a pivotal role in helping determine which of the Democrats will be the party's nominee.

...Malek Towghi, a former Michigan State University humanities assistant professor who moved to East Lansing from Iran more than 25 years ago, went to two Meetups this past week: Dean's and Kucinich's, also at the Hannah Community Center.

Towghi said he'd wrestled with his decision over whether to back Kucinich or Dean, and ended up voting for Kucinich, despite concerns about the congressman's low showing in the polls.

"Morally, I thought I'd be guilty if I didn't vote for the best person," said Towghi, 69. He added that he could live with Dean getting the nomination, but isn't interested in the seven others in the race.
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Thursday, January 08, 2004

MP3 of Willie Nelson's What Ever Happened to Peace on Earth

Lots of searches for an mp3 file, so I converted the rm file and shortened it a bit. Because of Willie Nelson's passion for Dennis Kucinich and no other recorded versions yet, I'm assuming he will want this song heard.

Musicians for Dennis Kucinich
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Buzzflash Interview with Dennis Kucinich

So why is BuzzFlash interviewing Dennis Kucinich?

The answer is simple: we sent out invitations for interviews to several of the candidates and Kucinich was the only one who responded -- and his staff was tenacious in ensuring that this interview took place. Hey, we like that kind of treatment!
[ read the interview ]
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Wednesday, January 07, 2004

Ohio may prove to be key in contest

Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich added more grass to his grass-roots support network this weekend when the "U.S. Marijuana Party" declared its support for the Cleveland congressman.

Its president, Loretta Nall of Alabama, told Kucinich at a Texas news conference that her group's members in 27 states are "behind you 100 percent and all our people will be campaigning for you."

Asked for his "message to the American cannabis community," Kucinich told Nall he supports decriminalizing marijuana and rehabilitating drug users instead of jailing them. [ more ]
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

About Herbs Botanicals and Other Products
alphabetical listing of herbs. See maitake.

Proposed Common Cause and Cure for All Forms of Cancer

Dietary Supplement Powders

Forget the War on Drugs Already
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Tuesday, January 06, 2004

Ball Busting and the Blue Collar Blues

Blinders, Bibles, and Bush-Buddies Big Bucks

I've been holding onto a few links over the holidays in an attempt to put them together in some coherent form relating to a frequently pondered question I'm still pondering. Why do people become so ingrained in their voting patterns that they continue to hold onto something that directly hurts them personally? Yes, I've read Lakoff's Moral Politics and am still trying to frame my internal questions with care. I also wanted a place to put some excellent articles where I could find them easily, regardless of whether others have run across them numerous times.

Consider the moral/practical dichotomy. I tend to think that the southern blue-collar voter does tend to see an either/or when it comes to moral or practical and when Pat Robertson says God tells me it's Bush in a blowout some of them listen without any further thought. It's easy and they are busy. I wonder if they will reconsider when Pat Robertson Launches the "Vote No on Jesus" Campaign. Is liberal/conservative another false dichotomy? Does Rush and Rove's Phallic Fixation speak to their manhood and encompassing identity? What about economic inequities that will affect their children?
Why is class warfare viewed so grudgingly? It certainly isn't dying as The Death of Horatio Alger illustrates.
When Our experiment in self-governance is under attack will they stand up to the king to preserve their cherished way of life or let it wither for lack of patriotism? Will they be able to see through Bush's Ownership Scam or will it be viewed as a responsibility that the average person has control over even though he begins at a severe disadvantage?
The Real Danger Lies Within Will people begin to see this in time?
Some other blogs discussing questions such as these are:
An Old Soul
Benedict@Large
Digby
Seeing the Forest
You'll notice I'm working on a blogroll of Ann Arbor bloggers if you glance at the right sidebar. I found the Pat Robertson "Vote No on Jesus" link making its way through several of the Ann Arbor blogs. Check 'em out!
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Monday, January 05, 2004

Denying college aid over drugs faces fight (chicago Trib register)

...opponents are gearing up to jettison the provision when the Higher Education Act comes up for renewal this year, arguing that education should not be used as a weapon in the war on drugs. The policy disproportionately hurts lower-income families who are least able to afford college tuition...

Of the nine Democratic hopefuls, only Ohio's Dennis Kucinich has called for scrapping the provision
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


What Ever Happened to Peace On Earth

Real Player audio file of Willie Nelson's new song, debuted in Austin Texas at the fundraiser for Dennis Kucinich Saturday January 3, 2004
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Finalists of Bush in 30 Seconds Ad Contest

View the 15 finalist ads!
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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Friday, January 02, 2004

Like a Lion

This isn't the way I wanted to begin the new year. On New Years Eve Craig got the results of his biopsy. They only offer chemo. His timeline is layed out in months, not years. Right now, to look at him you'd never guess. He's tall, a little thin, hair returning from his last bout of chemo, his voice fully returned with energy for his music.
The past three years have been the most precious years of my life. Someone on the esophageal cancer mailing list recently wrote about cancer being a gift. Perhaps.
I know we've been less inclined to take things for granted. We've shared with an intensity that might not have otherwise have been. We've had time to let it penetrate, yet never fully accepted it. Now it hits hard and I want to be strong. The tears come at strange times and I feel as if I'm walking in a muddy swamp.

Footprints
squishing fingers through a
boggling mud bath of
implied clarity
dredging the
should, would, could
mirrored in cryonic memory
tracing the timeline of
bending spoons
while childish hands craft
our castles of sand

of clouds and rain
one more refain
lone whisper, no pain
board the passenger train
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


Michigan Democratic Party

Apply To Vote By Mail Or By Internet In Michigan's 2004 Democratic Presidential Caucus
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |


NORML and Unconventional

Kucinich: fervently unconventional

NORML: Presidential Candidate Says Federal Law Should Treat Pot Like Alcohol

Willie Nelson, Taking Bush to Task

Lyrics to Willie Nelson's song What Ever Happened To Peace On Earth
posted by Cyndy | link |   | |

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