Are You Protesting Today?

Advice from Hong Kong

Bring a burner phone instead of your regular phone. Yes, this means you’ll need to make an ink on paper list of contacts that you know you’ll absolutely NEED in case of emergency. I mean, do YOU remember anyone’s number anymore? Hell’s bells, off the top of my head I don’t even know my own.

IF you can’t get a burner, be sure you secure your phone. Read about how to here. More phone safety info, tips, and such here. 

Taking pics? Of course you are. Check out this site for the full skinny. 

Be Mindful of Other Protesters in Your Photos and Videos #

If you are taking photos or videos of people at the protest, be mindful of what you post. If you post photos online where protesters or bystanders’ faces are identifiable, law enforcement or vigilantes might track them down and arrest or harass them. Obscure the faces of anyone in the image. There are a handful of ways to do this:

• You can edit photos in the default Android or iOS photo editing apps. Be sure to block out or blur other identifying features such as tattoos or unique clothing (blurring can sometimes be reversed so blocking out is better if you have the option).
• If you're using Signal, the app has a blurring tool built into it. You can create a message conversation with yourself (the app refers to this as a "Note to Self") to easily save the image to your phone for sharing.
•  Image Scrubber is an online tool that can be used on either mobile or desktop devices to blur or block out a face.

Scrub Metadata on Photos #

Once you are ready to post your photos, it’s a good idea to scrub the metadata contained in the image files so you don't leak personally identifying information. Metadata on photos can include information such as the model of camera the photo was taken on, the exact time and location where the photo was taken, and even your name. You have a few approaches to handling this:

• Remove any original photo metadata by transferring the photo onto a desktop computer, taking a screenshot of the image, and posting the screenshot instead of the original photo.
• You can also take a screenshot of the photo on your mobile device to remove the metadata, but the image quality may not be as high. You can then post that screenshot instead of the original photo.
• Send yourself a copy of the photo in the Signal app (which strips metadata when sending images), then download the sent image for posting.

From the ACLU on picture taking and shooting video at protests:

Your rights

• When you are lawfully present in any public space, you have the right to photograph anything in plain view, including federal buildings and the police. (On private property, the owner may set rules about photography or video.)
• Police officers may not confiscate or demand to view your photographs or video without a warrant, nor may they delete data under any circumstances. However, they may order citizens to cease activities that are truly interfering with legitimate law enforcement operations.
• If you are videotaping, be aware that there is an important legal distinction between a visual photographic record (fully protected) and the audio portion of a videotape, which some states have tried to regulate under state wiretapping laws.

What to do if you are stopped or detained for taking photographs

• Always remain calm and never physically resist a police officer.
• Police cannot detain you without reasonable suspicion that you have or are about to commit a crime or are in the process of doing so.
• If you are stopped, ask the officer if you are free to leave. If the answer is yes, calmly walk away.
• If you are detained, ask the officer what crime you are suspected of committing, and remind the officer that taking photographs is your right under the First Amendment and does not constitute reasonable suspicion of criminal activity.

What to do if you believe your rights have been violated

• When you can, write down everything you remember, including the officers' badge and patrol car numbers and the agency they work for.
• Get contact information for witnesses.
• Take photographs of any injuries.
• Once you have all of this information, you can file a written complaint with the agency's internal affairs division or civilian complaint board.

Be aware. This ain't no party, this ain't no disco. This ain't no fooling around.

No Sense of Decency

Yesterday's gorgeous dawn

Here it is, a grey/blue cloudy Sunday morning—rain is on the set list for today—and I want nothing more than to escape the news.

The "right" wing has embraced fascism like it's the 1950s all over again.

Trump, the Republican frontrunner has spewed his way into Nazi-ville:

Trump told Yahoo News that he would consider requiring Muslim-Americans to register with a government database, or worse, mandating that they carry special identification cards that note their faith.

And then there's little-boy-asshole, Rubio:

In an interview with Megyn Kelly last night, Marco Rubio—who was ostensibly trying to shut down Trump’s call for a Fourth Reich—instead declared that, if we truly want to be safe, America needs to shut down pretty much everything.
~~~snip~~~
“It’s not about closing down mosques. It’s about closing down any place — whether it’s a cafe, a diner, an internet site — any place where radicals are being inspired. “

 A mosque in Houston was set ablaze. The arsonist didn’t succeed in burning it all down but the building where religious books were stored is gone. Former firefighter, Dustin Herron, posted on his Facebook page “let it burn…block the fire hydrant.” Thus proving, once again, that so called Christians are every bit as guilty of insanity and terrorism as any other supposedly religious group.

AND, if that’s not all bad enough, the FDA has OKed genetically engineered salmon. I’ve been trying to get fish out of my diet for awhile now. I suppose this was the final push that I needed.

Once the salmon reach stores, consumers may not know they are eating them. Because there are no material differences between an engineered and a normal salmon, the FDA says the law does not require the fish to be labeled as engineered. AquaBounty says that genetically modified salmon have the same flavor, texture, color and odor as the conventional fish.

Christ on free range cod, it’s time to suit up and go for a long head-clearing ride.

Oh yeah and, when the time comes VOTE! 
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised—Gil Scott Heron

Break Point

Amanda “Shinga” Bussell, a disabled vet, shared her anger and frustration over the monster hypocrites of the “right,” with their farcically mendacious attacks on Obama for wanting to bring Syrian refugees to the U.S.

“The same people who call me a lazy good-for-nothing, looking-for-handouts freeloader are the same ones saying we can’t accept refugees because we ‘need to take care of our veterans and homeless first,” Bussell wrote. “How is that supposed to happen, exactly…?”

“Don’t use me as your fucking excuse when a week ago you were happily voting away my benefits and healthcare…”

~~~
Cher Reynolds, a teaching assistant in Kentucky, eloquently and precisely shared her frustration with all the utter disingenuous bullshit.

Earlier, I hit my breaking point with the “We need to help our veterans instead” posts that have flooded Facebook in response to the incoming refugees. It appears people are unaware of efforts made during Obama’s presidency that suffered ill fates due to the infuriating, counterproductive obstructionism existing in Congress these last seven years.

Below, I’ve listed six bills intended to help veterans in various ways that passed the House, but died in the Senate. Who on earth wouldn’t want to provide for these brave men and women? Instead of voting on these bills, the Republican Party proceeded to “rack up the highest number of filibusters in American history.” Yes. That’s right. They fought to block the passage of bills designed to aid veterans—among many, many other bills that would help other citizens.

Six bills that could have assisted veterans with employment, housing, and education needs that died in Congress:

H.R. 466—Wounded Veteran Job Security Act became H. R. 2875.
H.R. 1168—Veterans Retraining Act
H.R. 1172—Requiring List on VA Website of Organizations Providing Scholarships for Veterans
H.R. 1293—Disabled Veterans Home Improvement and Structural Alteration Grant Increase Act of 2009
H.R. 1803—Veterans Business Center Act
H.R. 2352—Job Creation Through Entrepreneurship Act

Not enough proof that obstructionism in Congress during Obama’s presidency has hurt our heroes?

EVERY SINGLE MEMBER of the Republican Party voted to filibuster the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act—which would provide health care for 9/11 first responders. While they're not necessarily military veterans, the firemen and police officers who risked their lives rescuing people from the Twin Towers inhaled smoke and toxic chemicals that contributed to many dying from cancer and other ailments over the last fourteen years. Introduced in February 2009, a trimmed down version of this act was finally signed into effect in January 2011—two long years later.

The reason for the hesitation? The Republican Party didn’t like how we would pay for it. Let us remember that the United States, during Obama’s presidency, has been responsible for roughly half of total global military spending. In the simplest of terms: we have the money to go to war, but somehow we don’t have the money to provide mental and physical health care for those who suffer while doing our dirty work. To add insult to injury, the Zadroga Act expired in October 2015, and there are disagreements about how to reauthorize it.

Finally, consider this: approximately one million veterans rely upon food stamps—a program that conservatives frequently express desires to cut or kill because it attracts “too many freeloaders.” Lowering food stamp benefits hurts veterans. These are just a handful of examples of the various ways the gridlock and petty party politics occurring in Congress in recent years have been damaging for our country’s heroes. We need to take care of these men and women; they certainly deserve more than our prayers.

Keep in mind that when you elect senators who say that they share your patriotic values but then repeatedly vote against these types of bills, without offering up viable compromises, some of the responsibility rests upon your shoulders. Repeatedly empowering politicians who do not address the issues you believe are important is not only bewilderingly wasteful, it is literally hurting and, in some cases, killing people we should be protecting given they have done so much to protect us.
~~~
By the by, have you heard about Zero:2016?

Zero: 2016 is a movement of communities working to end veteran homelessness by the close of 2015 and end chronic homelessness one year later.

This is an initiative the Obama’s began—both Michelle and Barack.

...as a result of the White House initiative, the state of Rhode Island is on track to end veteran homelessness by the end of 2016. Houston, New Orleans, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina have already succeeded in eradicating veteran homelessness. This highly-successful campaign is the most under-reported victory story of the federal government in the past decade.

~~~
“There is nothing in the record of the past two years when both Houses of Congress have been controlled by the Republican Party which can lead any person to believe that those promises will be fulfilled in the future. They follow the Hitler line - no matter how big the lie; repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as truth.”
~John F. Kennedy

This is Gonna Keep On Happening

In today's Globe there's an oped by retired federal judge and prof at Harvard Law Nancy Gertner.

She notes that:

 Although many are saying that the decision may have to do with race, it is more likely that Wilson is not facing charges because courts have decimated the law that holds officers accountable for excessive force, rulings that make incidents similar to Ferguson all the more likely. 
~~snip~~
The touchstone for evaluating police conduct was its “reasonableness,” a balance between a defendant’s rights and public safety. But “reasonableness” is notoriously imprecise. And courts can tip the balance: In Plumhoff, the Supreme Court gave special deference to the officer’s version of what happened, because officers make split second judgments, under tense circumstances. The message: Shoot first, think later, and you can count on being exonerated. 

This is a particularly troubling given the “stop and frisk” programs that target young African American men...

Let's see now....there's the 12 year old boy who, on Saturday, was shot and killed by a police officer:

A Cleveland officer was less than 10 feet away when he fatally shot a 12-year-old boy carrying a pellet gun near a playground, and video of the shooting is clear about what happened, police said Monday.

There's John Crawford III who picked up a toy gun in the store where it was being offered for sale and, well, that was all he needed to do to sign his death warrant.

And then there are the Open Carry yahoos who seem to mostly rock a pretty pasty shade of pale. And, by the by, those aren't toy guns they're toting in those pics.

From Gun activists have a new craze — and it’s more dangerous than you think at Salon: 

Perhaps the most haunting and bizarre is a jittery (video) clip posted last year by Robert Pratt of Michigan. In the video, Pratt carries a shotgun while walking his dogs through suburban Plainwell. Two police cruisers intercept him at the curb, and four officers surround him for a long, tense conversation. One of the cops is James Pell, whom Pratt greets by name — Cassandra Pell, the officer’s daughter, was Pratt’s girlfriend. The officers try to reason with Pratt, asking him to go home and put his gun away, because it’s unnecessarily frightening his neighbors. Pratt says he is “just exercising rights as a U.S. citizen” and that he would continue to openly carry his gun in the neighborhood because “people need to be aware of laws.” He cites the specific state laws and city ordinances that allow him to carry his shotgun.

This June, Pratt used that same weapon to shoot and kill Cassandra Pell, and then to commit suicide.

 So, lemme see if I have this right — if you're black or brown in America you can't have so much as a peashooter on you without risking death by cop. But it's a toy, you say. Doesn't matter. If your skin tone is in the brown versus peach Crayola range, you're toast. If you're a white dude, well, the nice officers will have a civilized chat with you and send you home.

Gotcha.

The Declaration of Independence says that all men are created equal. Those pretty words are NOT followed by unless you're brown skinned. Ya know, thought I'd point that out in case anyone missed that.

No Justice

There is no justice in this country if you’re black or brown, particularly not if you’ve committed the most egregious of sins — to be poor or simply not wealthy while black or brown.

The grand jury in St Louis failed to return an indictment against Darren Wilson, the cop who shot unarmed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. If you’ve tuned in to Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or Tumblr this morning, you know this already.

The always eloquent Mister Charles Pierce had this to say, amongst other things (go read!):

There is something gone badly wrong in the way police are taught to look at civilians these days. This is the logic of an occupying power being employed on American citizens. Ever since 9/11, when we all began to be told that we were going to have to bend a little bit, and then a little bit more, to authority or else we'd all die, the police in this country have been militarized in their tactics and in their equipment, which is bad enough, but in their attitudes and their mentality, which is far, far worse. Suspicion has bled into weaponized paranoia, especially in the case of black and brown people, especially in the case of young men who are black or brown, but this is not About Race because nothing ever is About Race.

 Jim Wright of Stonekettle Station on his Facebook page:

The situation can be summed up thusly, the people currently on TV telling black America to shut up and accept the Ferguson decision are the same exact folks almost face for face demanding that Congress begin their 9th investigation into Benghazi.

How many more Mike Browns, Trayvon Martins, John Crawford IIIs and Eric Garners will there be this year? How many more times will I see all this needless horror, injustice and pain played out? How many more of our friends, brothers, sisters, fellow humans need die for no good fucking reason?

From ThinkProgress:

Today’s verdict was the result of a case built by St. Louis County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch. Many had called for the replacement of McCulloch in Brown’s case, citing his connections to the law enforcement community and a father who was killed by a black man with a gun.

Well then, I guess he got his paybacks, eh?

I’ve got nothing more to say about all this at least not right now. I’m just so damn angry. Not surprised but in a steaming rage all the same.

Testing One, Two, Three

 I saw another one of those dimbulbed, fact free, prejudice full, Fox “News”/Rush Limbaugh-esque memes on Facebook yesterday. I bet you’ve seen it too. It’s about how those horrible junkie welfare cheats ought to all be drug tested and denied the billions they’re stealing from us taxpayers.

It's right up there with the 1980s bullshit about welfare queens driving caddies and "young bucks" buying t-bones on the government dime.

Ummmm. How’s ‘bout we look at some facts. You know, reality.

The Florida chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union recently showed that drug testing actually cost the state money. The $30 spent per test ended up costing an aggregate of $45,000 more than the state saved in welfare payments.

In Florida, out of 4,086 drugs tests from July through October 2011, 108 welfare recipients tested positive. Florida spent $115,000 on the testing and was forced to reimburse welfare recipients who had lost their benefits $600,000.
~~snip~~
Supporters of drug testing insist that the measures are really about changing behaviors. “Benefit payments that have been wasted on drug abusers will be available for the truly needy,” says Oklahoma State Rep. Guy Liebmann, “and addicts will be incentivized to get treatment."

There is so much wrong with that sentence.

The only thing keeping some poor, down on her luck, young mother from getting assistance is that awful, nasty junkie? Really? Is he driving a big, luxury car while eating sirloin?

AND giving support to addicts is a waste? We should just leave them to die — maybe in the streets so captains of industry and other heroes of capitalism can point, mock and feel superior as they roll their sunny-side-of-the-street affluence into corner offices?

How is denying people with drug probs the money they need for groceries and rent gonna help them get off the smack, the meth? Yes, of those few who test positive, some of those welfare buckos are undoubtedly going to drugs but certainly not all of it.

Wouldn’t you, if the goal is to change behaviors, take those who test positive and get them into treatment programs? Maybe provide education assistance so they can get a better paying gig than Walmart greeter or McDonald’s drone?

Substance Abuse Trends among Welfare Recipients
 Harold A. Pollack, Ph.D., University of Michigan
Psychiatric disorders, especially major depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, are more prevalent than illicit drug dependence among welfare recipients. States should screen, assess, and refer to treatment those welfare applicants and recipients who have a broad range of mental health and substance abuse problems that hinder the transition from welfare to work.

Gosh, wouldn’t that be a MUCH better use of taxpayer funds AND actually work towards solving the root prob? Apparently, for today’s shortsighted, microscopically souled, wealth-for-the-wealthy only Republican/Tea party, that's just not a good investment.

From the Washington Post:
House Republicans want drug tests for food-stamp recipients. There’s no good reason for that. 

The drug testing of SNAP recipients is yet another ideological sideshow that disfigures substance-abuse policy. It falsely implies that substance use disorders are a widespread cause of welfare dependence. It also implies, again falsely, that these disorders are highly concentrated among recipients of public aid.

The myth of welfare recipients spending their benefits on drugs is just that—a myth. And indeed, in Utah, only 12 people out of 466—or 2.5 percent—showed evidence of drug use after a mandatory screening. The total cost to the state was $25,000, or far more than the cost of providing benefits to a dozen people. The only thing “gained” from mandatory drug testing is the humiliation of desperate people.

The most colossal failure of this policy was in Arizona, which passed a drug-testing law in 2009. In 2012, an evaluation of the program had startling results: After three years and 87,000 screenings, only one person had failed the drug test, with huge costs for the state, which saved a few hundred dollars by denying benefits, compared to the hundreds of thousands spent to conduct the tests.

 Drug use and addiction isn’t something that happens only to the very poor. No really! Just look at  New York Assemblyman Steve Katz, Idaho Senator Mike Crapo, Arlington Texas Councilan Mel LeBlanc, Mayors Denny Spark and Marion Barry and let's not forget our ex-prez George Bush..

And if you wanna get really real  — let’s look at some of the blindingly wealthy corporations who are sucking long and large on the taxpayers tit. Boeing with $13.18 Billion in tax breaks. Alco with $5.64 Billions worth of subsidies or those poor Koch boys who took an $88 million government handout.

How’s ‘bout, if we’re gonna drug test, we start with these bastids and their pet congress critters.

That Facebook “friend” who showed just how “christian” and truly ignorant she is by posting such a stupid, truth-free meme? Yeah...unfollowed.

Three Years On

Earlier today I reposted Jenny Jones' beautiful, sensible, smart, poetic observations and contemplations on the border crossers, the refugees, the so called “illegals.” The original post is from November of 2011.

Here are her observations today.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 I got to thinking about all that has happened in the last three years, surrounding this issue.

Unfortunately, not enough. I, personally, have learned a lot more about how US foreign policy and drug laws are the direct cause of much of the poverty and violence that exists in South American countries today.

 I have learned the difference between "undocumented" and "illegal". It is not illegal to be human and want safety and security for your family.

In Arizona, SB 1070, the "Papers, Please" law has been enacted and parts of it struck down.

 I have participated in rallies, and met good and brave people, fighting for "legal" status in a country they have known as home since they can remember. Local activists (documented and undocumented), like the Puente Human Rights Movement, have put their lives and their families at risk, to stand up for good people who are forced to live in the shadows, and are demonized by far right politicians as leaches and criminals.

Check out Network Nuns on the bus!

The Dream Act has given temporary refuge to undocumented youth, who know nothing other than life in the US, and want nothing more than to be allowed to live, work, and raise their families in this great country. Yet, we continue to tear families apart and deport good, hard working people. President Obama's promises of immigration reform have evaporated, as he steps up the deportation process and politicians on both sides use the issue to pander to the voters.

Individuals, like Dennis Gilman give of their time and talent, to document the injustices perpetrated by our society and tell their stories. Churches, like the University Presbyterian Church in Tempe, and other people of faith, are standing up to the moral injustice of our broken immigration system, and providing sanctuary to families who are threatened to be torn apart.

 As Donna says, this issue is as relevant today as it was three years ago. I would say that it is even more so today.

Pa a northern city
I went to work
I left my life
Between Ceuta and Gibraltar
I am a line in the sea
Ghost in the city
My life is prohibited  

 ~Manu Chao, Clandestino

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jenny Jones is a wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, full time job working citizen and a fabulous friend. I'm fortunate to count her as one of my closest amici.

Don Berwick for Gov!

My friend David Holzman wrote me yesterday and has given me the greenlight to share his email.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I first encountered Don Berwick when I was assigned to write a brief profile of him for the Harvard Med School Dean's report. I was immensely impressed with his brains and integrity. I've been further impressed seeing him speak as he runs for governor. I'm enclosing a note my neighbor sent out which expresses my reasons for supporting Don Berwick for governor. If you're not a Massachusetts voter, please forward to any Mass voters you know.

Thanks.
David

Dear Neighbors,

I am voting for Don Berwick for governor in the Democratic Primary because I think he could be a transformational leader for Massachusetts. Don has a well-articulated progressive vision for the Commonwealth. Instituting single payer health care (Medicare for all) is a cornerstone of his vision. As the former national director of Medicare, he is amply qualified to oversee the transition to single payer health care. He was denied a longer term after his recess appointment because of Republican opposition.

Don truly believes that money saved by single payer health care will provide funds to grow the economy, fix our roads and bridges, etc. and, most importantly, provide the poor with the resources they need. Don is the only candidate opposed to allowing casinos in the Commonwealth.

What also sets Don apart from the other candidates is the strength and passion with which he puts forth his vision. That was nowhere more evident than in his speech at the Democratic Convention, acknowledged to be the best delivered by any candidate,

For me, in addition to his potential for dynamic leadership, I cannot forget the moment in the Cary Hall forum last January (for the five Democratic gubernatorial candidates) when Martha Coakley said that she was in favor of better mental health care because her brother was a victim of suicide. Don was the only candidate to tell her that he was sorry for her loss. That kind of caring is built into Don's whole career and his hopes for Massachusetts.

Please consider casting your vote for Don Berwick in the Democratic Primary on September ninth.

Sincerely,

Anne Grady

We have a pledge yet to keep — the pledge we made again this morning. We said ‘...with liberty and justice for all.’
‘All’ means ‘all.’
~ Don Berwick

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Need more reasons to cast your vote for Don Berwick? Check out Blue Mass Group's Top Ten Reasons to Vote for Don Berwick On September Ninth post.

Here's the bare bones.

Reason 10:  If you like Elizabeth Warren, you will LOVE Don Berwick!
Reason 9:  You’re smart.  He’s smart. We need smart!
Reason 8: Don may have saved the life of someone you know.
Reason 7: President Obama picked him to be in his Administration. Now we can pick him at the Primary on Tuesday, September 9th!
Reason 6: The healthcare system is broken and Don can fix it.
Reason 5: He’s a Knight!
Reason 4:  A casino to solve our financial problems, really?
Reason 3: Don Berwick can beat Charlie Baker in the fall.
Reason 2: Education, education, education.
REASON 1: He’s doing it for all the right reasons!

Get outta the boat and go read the rest!

Will You Feel Safer if Massachusetts Anti-Coal Activists are Imprisoned?

From The Green Miles
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bristol County District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter wants to put two anti-coal activists in prison for the crime of trying to stop climate change, reports the AP's Philip Marcelo:

Environmental activists Ken Ward and Jonathan ‘‘Jay’’ O’Hara say they don’t intend to dispute many of the facts of the case during their jury trial, which opens Sept. 8 in Fall River District Court. Instead, they want to prove that global warming is real and that bold action is needed to stabilize the planet, according to their website, LobsterBoatBlockade.org.

The two are charged with disturbing the peace, conspiracy, failure to act to avoid a collision, and negligent operation of a motor vessel for the May 2013 incident at the Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset. [...]

The defendants say they face months, if not years, in prison if convicted. A spokesman for the Bristol district attorney’s office declined to comment.

The protest delayed one shipment of coal for one day. That's worth "years" in prison?

From start to finish, the Brayton Point protest has been met with embarrassing overreaction and wastes of taxpayer money from local government. The police chief in sleepy Somerset spent $30,000 on riot gear specifically for the peaceful protest and had his officers pose for media looking ready for war while brandishing billy clubs.

How is the public's safety enhanced by trying to imprison these activists? Was Big Coal in danger of scratching its anchor? The only message being sent here is that DISSENT WILL NOT BE TOLERATED, even if the status quo is steering us towards catastrophe.

Bristol County DA Samuel Sutter should drop these charges.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
crossposted at The Green Miles

Nostalgia Lies

I’m getting pretty damned tired of these Facebook memes. Mind you, many are sweet and/or funny. Some are uplifting while others are simplistic and trite. They’re not all as ire inspiring as this:

God Bless the old America
I sure miss her

Which old America do these folks miss?

Is it the one where, if you had brown skin, you couldn't go to the same schools or use the same drinking fountain? Where you could be refused service at a restaurant because of the color of your skin? The America where you had to sit at back of the bus if you’re not white? Do they long for the country where it was OK to refuse citizens the vote based on their race, color or gender? Do they long for the  time when it was OK to use color coordinated racial slurs, even in supposedly polite company?

How about the America where you had to hide who you loved? Where it was great sport for gangs of ‘tough’ guys to beat the snot out of you or even kill with impunity all because of who you loved? Is it the America where life partners of 50 years could be barred from seeing each other when one was in hospital because ‘they’re not family?’ Thank Bast the Mittser wasn’t elected!

Is it the America where women routinely get blamed for their brutalization by husband, father, co-worker, acquaintance or complete stranger?  Where women make 77 cents to every dollar that a man makes for doing exactly the same job? Where a woman isn't trusted to make decisions about her own health care?

In Georgia the state House has just passed HB 954, which would make it illegal for a woman to have an abortion after 20 weeks of gestation, even if she’s carrying a fetus that will ultimately be stillborn. And why not? Pigs do it all the time, says Rep. Terry England.
No, seriously, “why not” is because pigs do it all the time.

Life gives us many experiences. It gives us experience–or, I’ve had the experience of delivering calves, dead and alive. Delivering pigs, dead and alive. And I want to tell you, Representative McCall, Representative Roberts, all of us–Representative Anderson–that have done that–Representative Black–that have done that, it breaks our hearts to see those animals not make it.

Because women are, of course, livestock, and when we see that 20-week ultrasound that shows that the fetus we’ve been doting over has anomalies incompatible with life and thus our much-wanted pregnancy will result in heartbreak, we let out a plaintive moo and then immediately begin wondering whether we’ll get alfalfa or timothy hay for dinner.

Oh whoops, we still live in that old America.

You simply MUST read this follow up post by Caperton over at Feministe. Really -- it’s TREMENDOUS!

Maybe I'm interpreting this meme post wrong -- maybe the sign writer is wistful for an America where politics was a way to govern not a big game death sport. Not a 24/7 propaganda fest. An America where the two big parties could sit down and occasionally reach real, honest-to-god compromises. Where one of the two big political parties *cough* republican/tea party *cough* wasn't spewing lies and misinformation on it's bought and paid for 'news station’ *cough* Fox *cough.* An America where acting like a meth fueled, rabid pit bull in response to those who disagree with you was frowned upon and, possibly, your buds might chastise not cheer you for your immature bullying behavior.

Beware wistful nostalgia -- it lies.

The 'right' has always sowed discord amongst those not as opulently moneyed. The game has always been 'get the middle class to resent and hate the poor.' Essentially, get the peasants to fight amongst themselves so they don’t notice that they’re being robbed blind.

This a big part of what made MLK so dangerous to them. He was waking the middle classes to the fact that it was and is the wealthy-beyond-comprehension class, the big corporations who are the actual takers, waking up to the fact that we were being manipulated like low rent carnival marks.

Conveniently, Reverend King was silenced.

Today is the 49th anniversary of Bloody Sunday when 600 peaceful civil rights demonstrators were attacked by police while marching from Selma, AL to Montgomery, AL.

21st Century Deaf and the Prez

I am happy as all hell (and, as we know, hell is just dead jubilant!) to have lost my hearing in a time of closed captioning and text messaging -- this is a day and age when I can find a transcript of President Barack Obama's speech at Nelson Mandela memorial service on the very day he spoke. No waiting! No need to go to the some fluorescent lit, low ceilinged, musty, claustrophobia inspiring basement microfiche reading room.

Nope, I can sit at my home desk, in my tatty robe, surrounded by my herd of cat (with their constant needs for pats, play and tuna), just begun paintings and The Amazing Bob (and his need for me to STOP fussing over him for just one minute, K?) and just fire up the intertubes.

Yes, I’ve bitched that I can’t find closed captioned versions of every last little movie, of not being able to find transcripts of Jon Stewart’s shows or Letterman’s Top Tens. I’ve kvetched about the surreality of the Youtube auto closed caption function (like auto correct on your iPhone only not so funny). But, BUT, things are getting better, the tech is ever evolving.

Last night, Jen asked if I’d read Obama’s speech from Mandela’s memorial service. She said that it was brilliant (of course it was!) and brought to mind Michael Horan’s Sunday post.

In the warmth of home, I found and read our president’s fabulous, eloquent words.

An excerpt:

The struggles that follow the victory of formal equality and universal franchise may not be as filled with drama and moral clarity as those that came before, but they are no less important. For around the world today, we still see children suffering from hunger, and disease; run-down schools, and few prospects for the future. Around the world today, men and women are still imprisoned for their political beliefs; and are still persecuted for what they look like, or how they worship, or who they love.

We, too, must act on behalf of justice. We, too, must act on behalf of peace. There are too many of us who happily embrace Madiba’s legacy of racial reconciliation, but passionately resist even modest reforms that would challenge chronic poverty and growing inequality. There are too many leaders who claim solidarity with Madiba’s struggle for freedom, but do not tolerate dissent from their own people. And there are too many of us who stand on the sidelines, comfortable in complacency or cynicism when our voices must be heard.

The questions we face today - how to promote equality and justice; to uphold freedom and human rights; to end conflict and sectarian war - do not have easy answers. But there were no easy answers in front of that child in Qunu. Nelson Mandela reminds us that it always seems impossible until it is done. South Africa shows us that is true. South Africa shows us we can change. We can choose to live in a world defined not by our differences, but by our common hopes. We can choose a world defined not by conflict, but by peace and justice and opportunity.

"Don't mourn, organize!" -- Joe Hill

President Barack Obama!

I am greatly, fabulously relieved to wake up in an America where reality, truth and compassion not lies, prejudice and soulless manipulation have prevailed.

Snippets from our most awesome President’s victory speech (read the rest here)

I want to thank my friend and partner of the last four years, America's happy warrior, the best vice president anybody could ever hope for, Joe Biden.

And I wouldn't be the man I am today without the woman who agreed to marry me 20 years ago.

Let me say this publicly: Michelle, I have never loved you more. I have never been prouder to watch the rest of America fall in love with you, too, as our nation's first lady.

Sasha and Malia, before our very eyes you're growing up to become two strong, smart beautiful young women, just like your mom.

And I'm so proud of you guys. But I will say that for now one dog's probably enough.

To the best campaign team and volunteers in the history of politics...

The best. The best ever.
.......................................................................
I know that political campaigns can sometimes seem small, even silly. And that provides plenty of fodder for the cynics that tell us that politics is nothing more than a contest of egos or the domain of special interests. But if you ever get the chance to talk to folks who turned out at our rallies and crowded along a rope line in a high school gym, or saw folks working late in a campaign office in some tiny county far away from home, you'll discover something else.

You'll hear the determination in the voice of a young field organizer who's working his way through college and wants to make sure every child has that same opportunity.

You'll hear the pride in the voice of a volunteer who's going door to door because her brother was finally hired when the local auto plant added another shift.

You'll hear the deep patriotism in the voice of a military spouse whose working the phones late at night to make sure that no one who fights for this country ever has to fight for a job or a roof over their head when they come home.

But despite all our differences, most of us share certain hopes for America's future. We want our kids to grow up in a country where they have access to the best schools and the best teachers.

A country that lives up to its legacy as the global leader in technology and discovery and innovation, with all the good jobs and new businesses that follow.

We want our children to live in an America that isn't burdened by debt, that isn't weakened by inequality, that isn't threatened by the destructive power of a warming planet.
.......................................................................
But that doesn't mean your work is done. The role of citizens in our Democracy does not end with your vote. America's never been about what can be done for us. It's about what can be done by us together through the hard and frustrating, but necessary work of self-government. That's the principle we were founded on.
.......................................................................
And I saw just the other day, in Mentor, Ohio, where a father told the story of his 8-year-old daughter, whose long battle with leukemia nearly cost their family everything had it not been for health care reform passing just a few months before the insurance company was about to stop paying for her care.

VOTE!

On the drive from the Pittsburgh airport to the small town where my father lives, we (awesome niece Helen e la famiglia and I) passed a billboard that said ‘Fire Obama -- take back the American dream.’

What astoundingly, brain deadedly, dimwitted, manipulative, bullshit twaddle!

Here’s a little graphic which neatly shows who the fuck stole the dream and who’s bringing it back. To my Republican friends -- PLEASE, STOP BELIEVING THE LIES! YOU’RE BEING CONNED!

50 more reasons to vote for Obama (from Washington Monthly -- go read the full text there)
1. Passed Health Care Reform
2. Passed the Stimulus: Weeks after stimulus went into effect, unemployment claims began to subside. Twelve months later, the private sector began producing more jobs than it was losing, and it has continued to do so for twenty-three straight months, creating a total of nearly 3.7 million new private-sector jobs.
3. Passed Wall Street Reform
4. Ended the War in Iraq
5. Began Drawdown of War in Afghanistan
6. Eliminated Osama bin laden
7. Turned Around U.S. Auto Industry
8. Recapitalized Banks
9. Repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
10. Toppled Moammar Gaddafilost.
11. Told Mubarak to Go
12. Reversed Bush Torture Policies
13. Improved America’s Image Abroad
14. Kicked Banks Out of Federal Student Loan Program, Expanded Pell Grant Spending
15. Created Race to the Top: With funds from stimulus, started $4.35 billion program of competitive grants to encourage and reward states for education reform.
16. Boosted Fuel Efficiency Standards
iciency standards in 2011 that will nearly double the fuel economy for cars and trucks by 2025.
17. Coordinated International Response to Financial Crisis
18. Passed Mini Stimuli
19. Began Asia “Pivot”
20. Increased Support for Veterans
21. Tightened Sanctions on Iran
22. Created Conditions to Begin Closing Dirtiest Power Plants
23. Passed Credit Card Reforms
24. Eliminated Catch-22 in Pay Equality Laws: Signed Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009, giving women who are paid less than men for the same work the right to sue their employers after they find out about the discrimination, even if that discrimination happened years ago. Under previous law, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the statute of limitations on such suits ran out 180 days after the alleged discrimination occurred, even if the victims never knew about it.
25. Protected Two Liberal Seats on the U.S. Supreme Court
26. Improved Food Safety System
27. Achieved New START Treaty
28. Expanded National Service
29. Expanded Wilderness and Watershed Protection
30. Gave the FDA Power to Regulate Tobacco
31. Pushed Federal Agencies to Be Green Leaders
32. Passed Fair Sentencing Act
33. Trimmed and Reoriented Missile Defense: Cut the Reagan-era “Star Wars” missile defense budget, saving $1.4 billion in 2010.
34. Began Post-Post-9/11 Military Builddown
35. Let Space Shuttle Die and Killed Planned Moon Mission
37. Crafting Next-Generation School Tests
38. Cracked Down on Bad For-Profit Colleges
39. Improved School Nutrition40. Expanded Hate Crimes Protections
41. Avoided Scandal
42. Brokered Agreement for Speedy Compensation to Victims of Gulf Oil Spill
43. Created Recovery.gov: Web site run by independent board of inspectors general looking for fraud and abuse in stimulus spending, provides public with detailed information on every contract funded by $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Thanks partly to this transparency, board has uncovered very little fraud, and Web site has become national model: “The stimulus has done more to promote transparency at almost all levels of government than any piece of legislation in recent memory,” reports Governing magazine.
44. Pushed Broadband Coverage
45. Expanded Health Coverage for Children
46. Recognized the Dangers of Carbon Dioxide
47. Expanded Stem Cell Research
48. Provided Payment to Wronged Minority Farmers: In 2009, signed Claims Resolution Act, which provided $4.6 billion in funding for a legal settlement with black and Native American farmers who the government cheated out of loans and natural resource royalties in years past.
49. Helped South Sudan Declare Independence
50. Killed the F-22: In 2009, ended further purchases of Lockheed Martin single-seat, twin-engine, fighter aircraft, which cost $358 million apiece. Though the military had 187 built, the plane has never flown a single combat mission. Eliminating it saved $4 billion.

Christ almighty on a tostada, I can’t wait for this to be over.

Occupy My Blog: Occupy Phoenix Part III

The last installment of this series but def not the last of Jenny Jones' stories!

And so we continued our Occupy march for 2 more stops, chanting and waving our signs. Someone spoke at each stop, and we parroted the speech. We were the “human mic”. At each stop, we were greeted by the “Men in Black” with their pepper spray and face masks, and riot gear. The “Peace Officers”. Reminding us that we were miscreants, to be feared by mainstream Phoenicians.

We stopped at the Chase Bank building. I had been in this building many times. Not as a Chase Bank employee, but an employee of a much smaller, regional bank. I worked for Valley National Bank, in the mid eighties to mid nineties. During my tenure at Valley National Bank, they were one of the largest employers in the state of AZ. When I left, they had been bought out by Bank One, who was later bought out by Chase. The processing centers, credit card centers, and call centers that had once provided jobs for Phoenix workers had been shipped to the Philippines and other countries, where they did not have to pay such high wages or provide benefits for their employees.

My husband and I were not able to stay with the group for the walk back to the park. I had a meeting I needed to attend. Grudgingly, we rushed back to our car, in the rain, to continue on with our lives. But I did come away from this experience with a new perspective. I, the 53 year old woman, whose heart pounds, and whose hands tremble when I get pulled over for a traffic ticket, had suddenly become a threat to society. This mild mannered Customer Service Representative, had dared to speak out against, and call attention to, the injustices that are being perpetrated against the middle class.

There is nothing wrong with Capitalism. But there is something very wrong with the unfettered corporate greed and power, that has been allowed to permeate American society over the last 20 years. There is something very wrong when our legislators are allowed to be bought and paid for by corporations who are interested in nothing but the acquisition of more money and more power. There is something very wrong when a sector becomes so strong and so powerful, that they can become even stronger and more powerful at the expense of the masses.

So, the next time you turn on your TV and see the “terrorist hippie” Occupy protestors, chanting and waving signs, and getting arrested and pepper sprayed, look very hard. You might see me. Or a neighbor, or a co-worker. Or a friend you have lost touch with. I am “they”. And remember that I am doing this, not because I am jealous or envious of what you have. Not because I want to “milk the system” and be supported by my friends and neighbors and co-workers. I do this for all of us.

Finally, at the ripe young age of 53, I have awakened to the realization that the lifestyle I have taken for granted until recently, is in jeopardy of disappearing, for myself and my children and grand children. And you and yours. I have finally realized that there is something out there worth protesting for. This may have been my first march, but it won’t be my last.

Jenny Jones is a wife, mother, grandmother, full time job working citizen, fighter for human rights and a fabulous friend.

Occupy My Blog -- Occupy Phoenix Part II

The Second Chapter of Jenny Jones' Occupy Phoenix Experience

It was a cool, rainy day, as my husband and I made our way down to Cesar Chavez Plaza, in downtown Phoenix. The Reverend Jesse Jackson, who was in town for another event that day, came down and led a March for Economic Justice, through a several block area of downtown Phoenix. Armed with our signs, and chanting slogans, we embarked on our journey through the streets of downtown Phoenix. We chanted. “WHO’S street?. . . OUR street!”

The first stop was Wells Fargo Bank. Even though I had been prepared to expect a police presence, it really did not sink in, until I saw the police lined across the front of the building in their riot gear. Standing stoically, in their black uniforms with riot shields and full face masks, they appeared across the front of the building like so many Darth Vaders. I wondered if they were thankful for all the overtime they are getting to defend the targeted businesses and Phoenix from these horrible people with signs. These “terrorists”, chanting slogans as they walk the streets. Chanting “terrorists “ -- “Banks got Bailed Out. . . We got Sold Out”!

I also wondered whatever happened to my friend, Suzanna. Suzanna worked for the predecessor to Wells Fargo, First Interstate Bank, which was gobbled up by Wells Fargo, many years ago. Does she still work in their IT department in Phoenix (do they still have an IT department in Phoenix)? Is she sitting in her office, wondering who these crazy people are, holding signs and chanting outside of her building? Or has she moved back to Mexico City, where she was born and raised? Did she ever become a full fledged American citizen, or was she forced back to Mexico after 9-11?

Chanting “WE are the 99% . . . YOU are the 99%”, we traveled on to our next stop. A local news station. Again, we stood outside chanting, as the Darth Vaders guarded the entrance to the building. Ready to pepper spray and/or arrest anyone who stepped out of line.

Again, I wondered if another friend, who works for this same local TV station was inside thinking “Why are these silly people creating havoc at my workplace?” Is she thinking “They should take a bath and get a job, and work for a living?” Does she know that most of these people have jobs and take baths, and work for a living? And the ones who don’t are fighting for a chance to do just that? Does she know that we are fighting for the future of the middle class? Does she realize or care that we are fighting for her future, and her children’s and grandchildren’s future? Or does she believe the right wing media and politicians, who demonize the Occupy protestors as dirty hippies who don’t want to work for a living? Does she know that we are not “jealous” of her for what she has? That we just want future generations to have the same chance we had at the American Dream and economic justice for all?

Time to move.

Jenny Jones is a wife, mother, grandmother, full time job working citizen and a fabulous friend.