Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in A.R.E.'s LiveJournal:

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Saturday, January 28th, 2006
9:59 pm	Report on Alito From Democrats.com: WE CAN STOP ALITO THIS WEEKEND http://www.democrats.com/we-can-stop-alito The last two days have been amazing. Early Thursday afternoon, we broke the news that Senator John Kerry would lead a filibuster against Judge Sam Alito if he could get 41 Senators to sustain the filibuster. Three hours later, CNN confirmed our story. Naturally, the White House freaked out and told Senator Bill Frist to schedule a cloture vote as quickly as possible - Monday at 4:30 p.m. - to prevent Democrats from uniting behind Kerry. Then the White House called its media whores at the NY Times (David Kirkpatrick), AP (Jesse Holland), Pentagon Post (Charles Babington), CNN (Miles O'Brien), and MSNBC (Chris Matthews) and told them to trash John Kerry for daring to challenge the will of Emperor Bush, and to repeat over and over that Democrats did not have enough votes to stop Alito. But even as Karl Rove was doing his dirty work, progressive activists like you were calling your Senators urging them to support John Kerry's filibuster. And one by one, Democratic Senators began to turn around. http://democrats.com/alito-48 At the start of the day, only Dick Durbin and Debbie Stabenow supported Kerry and Kennedy. Just before noon, Hillary Clinton's office called to say she supported us. Then Harry Reid came on board, along with Barbara Boxer, Russ Feingold, Ron Wyden, Chris Dodd, and (I think) Chuck Schumer. Most importantly, we even picked up Dianne Feinstein, who just yesterday said she opposed a filibuster. That's 12 votes for a filibuster - and exactly 12 more votes than we had two days ago! I believe we really can stop Alito by Monday at 4:30 p.m. - but here's what we must do. 1. Ignore the media whores. Karl Rove is feeding them lies as he always does, and they are swallowing those lies as they always do. The only media that matters is the media we are creating right here by calling each Senator and getting a YES or NO statement from them. 2. Keep calling the Senators who are undecided or opposed to a filibuster. You can call their DC office all weekend and leave polite but firm voicemails urging the Senators to support Kerry's filibuster. When offices open on Monday 9 a.m. ET, make another round of calls. Let's shut down the Capitol switchboard on Monday! http://democrats.com/alito-48 3. Call the DNC (202-863-8000) and the DSCC (202-224-2447) and tell them your 2006 contributions will depend on the success of the Alito filibuster. Tell them they need to get every Democratic Senator on board. 4. Wake up the sleeping bloggers. Where are the biggest blogs, including DailyKos.com, TalkingPointsMemo.com, CrooksandLiars.com, and AmericaBlog.com? (Complaining about how Democrats played last week won't cut it -we're in the Super Bowl and we can win this damn game if we get Democrats to play their best game on Monday - and hopefully the rest of this coming week.) Thanks to Agonist, BobGeiger, BradBlog, BuzzFlash, CultureKitchen, The Democratic Daily, DemocraticUnderground, Eschaton, Firedoglake, Mahablog, MakeThemAccountable, Mark Crispin Miller, NewsDissector, PoliticalWire, RudePundit, Vichy Democrats and everyone else who's plugging this. 5. Lend a hand to real-world groups like NOW, People for the American Way, Feminist Majority, Backbone Campaign, Moveon, Planned Parenthood, Progressive Democrats of America, and Working Assets Long Distance, which have worked tirelessly for two months to Stop Alito. 6. Call talk shows like Air America, C-SPAN, etc. and talk about what we're doing on this blog and how we're killing ourselves to stop Alito - and how we can win if everyone who cares about the future of our Democracy joins us. 7. Keep hope alive - because American Democracy is worth it!!! http://democrats.com/alito-48 Bob Fertik It looks like Alito's confirmation might not be the "done deal" Bushco wants us to think it is. There is obviously opposition to it. For the original, complete with links: http://by101fd.bay101.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/getmsg?msg=E98B255F-EA84-46A1-A981-0C513CCD0E65&start=0&len=24112&imgsafe=n&curmbox=00000000%2d0000%2d0000%2d0000%2d000000000001&a=90b0288d1379da7e9c805e1976ca2ebfa7d71ecc4d4b965815316ed3c1124310 Current Mood: hopeful (Comment on this)
Thursday, December 8th, 2005
9:45 pm	Danger, Will Robinson! A virus is on the prowl. It's called Sober X, and it's nasty. It actually tries to initimidate you into opening its attachments, by posing as an e-mail from the FBI or CIA. Here's a sample: Dear Sir/Madam, we have logged your IP-address on more than 20 illegal Websites. Important: Please answer our questions! The list of questions are attached. Yours faithfully, Steven Allison ++++ Central Intelligence Agency -CIA- ++++ Office of Public Affairs ++++ Washington, D.C. 20505 ++++ phone: (703) 442-6488 ++++ 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., US Eastern time The "list of questions" actually contains a worm. Check these sites for more info: http://www.scambusters.org/fbi.html http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/soberx.asp Jackal from GAFF also had the following pertinent comments about CIA.'s standard operating procedures: Law enforcement agencies of any stripe do not send out emails as a means of primary contact unless you've emailed them with a question first. Any "heads up" online crime alert from officer X is therefore 100% bogus. If a law enforcement agency wishes to discuss something with you, they will *call* you. Bottomline: By now, everybody should know not to open attachments coming from strangers. Unless you're expecting an e-mail from somebody in the government, the best thing to do with e-mail allegedly from the CIA or the FBI is to delete it without opening it. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, September 23rd, 2005
10:10 pm	Busy Weekend for Progressives Here are some more organizations helping hurricane victims: The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children-- These people have been trying to reunite families split asunder by Katrina (and Rita?). They have been working with CNN for awhile in this endeavor, which is why CNN has been displaying names and pictures of missing children. www.missingkids.com Animal Planet's website includes a list of organizations helping domestic and even wild animals stranded by Katrina. Most shelters will not accept animals-- so many people who owned animals were forced to leave their pets behind when they fled. http://animal.discovery.com/features/katrina/links/links.html Veterans for Peace has put together a relief effort to help hurricane survivors. Their relief effort's web page includes addresses to send donations to, and lists of what they do and don not need. There is also a message board. Veterans for PeaceHurricane Katrina Relief Effort -- http:/www.vfproadtrips.org/home.htm I'm sure people have heard about the National March in Washington, D.C. on 9/24, which is protesting the war in Iraq and other Bush policies. Information about the March can be found on http://www.unitedforpeace.org, MoveOn.org, and http://www.troopsoutnow.org I've heard that Cindy Sheehan will give a speech. I'll be at the March myself. The Green Festival will be running in Washington all weekend. This Festival is devoted to the sustainability movement, which seeks environmentally friendly ways of living. It includes Fair Trade, climate change, organic farming, etc. http://www.greenfestivals.com/green_vol_update.php (Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 13th, 2005
8:49 am	Helping People Help Themselves Here's an article about Katrina evacuees helping themselves by forming groups to put pressure on FEMA and Red Cross: http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/09/president-of-louisiana-naacp-calls-for.html Here's a site dedicated to helping Katrina survivors locate each other. Some families were separated during the evacuation. I remember reading about one family which had 10 children, for instance-- and the first rescue heliocopter that came could take only 5 of them. In a situation like that, you need a way to help people locate each other: http://www.techforall.org/KatrinaSupport.html (Comment on this)
Monday, September 12th, 2005
10:22 pm	Don't Forget about the Roberts Confirmation On September 5, President Bush nominated John Roberts to succeed the late Rehnquist as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The confirmation hearings began today. People for the American Way strongly opposes Roberts' nomination, and has a website devoted to that opposition: http://www.savethecourt.org/site/c.mwK0JbNTJrF/b.995801/k.DC63/iRoberts.htm?auid=1077980 Their site includes a fact sheet about Roberts' stand on various issues: http://www.savethecourt.org/site/c.mwK0JbNTJrF/b.901293/k.F00B/Fact_Sheet.htm There's also a section devoted to a petition and other forms of activism. The confirmation hearings are important, as a Supreme Court Justice often has a career spanning decades. Roberts is in his 50's, so he's still relatively young. that gives him plenty of time to take the Court further to the right. (Comment on this)
Saturday, September 3rd, 2005
8:58 pm	Hold Bush Accountable for Katrina Response http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cfm?itemid=19560 This is a letter and petition to Congress calling for an investigation into Katrina. Now, why should Bush be held accountable? 1) The FEMA's funding was cut. The Federal Emergency Management Agency are, at least hypothetically, the go-to people for disaster relief. They're the ones who handle evacuations and the like. For a disaster on the scope of Katrina, they need a lot of people and a lot of equipment-- both of which cost money. But money that could and should have gone to FEMA went to Iraq instead. 2) The levees that were supposed to protect New Orleans from massive flooding didn't. Engineers knew they needed to be upgraded-- but they don't have the money to do so, because of budget cuts. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4200/is_20050606/ai_n14657367 (Comment on this)
Saturday, July 3rd, 2004
7:04 pm	Some Ways to Celebrate Independence Day Independence Day is of course a day for celebrating freedom and patriotism. It's a day for barbecues, parades, and fireworks. But while we celebrate our freedom, we also need to safeguard it. http://www.freepress.net/rules/ In June 2, 2003, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) voted 3-2 to loosen its rules regarding media ownership. For example, the old rules forbid any one broadcast company from owning stations that can reach more than 35% of the national audience; the new rules increased the limit to 45%. (Good news for Fox and CBS networks, which have stations that reach about 40% of the national audience. The new rules mean they don't have to sell any stations....) The old rules forbid companies from owning both print and broadcast organizations in the same market. That means if your company runs a newspaper in chicago, it can't have a T.V. channel, there, too. The new rules say companies now can, assuming there are at least nine T.V. stations in the area. Go to this site for descriptions of the FFC's rulings: http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=56&aid=36005. The problem is that the new rules make it easier for for one or two media companies to own most of the media in any given community. In other words, these companies could easily become monopolies, squelching both competition and both diversity of thought. After all, if the same company owns the T.V.stations, cable channels, newspapers, etc. in your community, then all these media will be saying more or less the same things. A federal appeal court decided that it did not want this to happen and threw out the new rules last June. The FCC will now have to rewrite said rules. Enter http://www.freepress.net, which is circulating a petition demanding public FCC hearings about the proposed changes. If the petition gets 500, 000 signatures, the FCC will have to hold public hearings. http://action.apolloalliance.org/petition/ The Apollo Alliance is an organization dedicated to developping policies that encourage energy independence and economic development. They plan to create three million new jobs and to wean the U.S. off foreign oil within ten years. Why 10 years? The Apollo Alliances take their name from President Kennedy's Apollo Project which had put a man on the moon in under 10 years. They have a very good FAQ section explaining their philosophy and plans: http://www.apolloalliance.org/about_the_alliance/faqs.cfm. The snippet below comes from that section: What's the connection between foreign oil and national security? Saudi oil money finances the Al Qaeda terrorist network and likely helped pay for the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Because oil can be controlled by a small handful of powerful individuals, including large oil companies, America will remain vulnerable to political instability in the Middle East for as long as we remain dependent on its oil. The Apollo Alliance hopes to cut our Persian Gulf oil imports nearly in half. They want to develop mass transit and encourage the use of hybrid cars, which can get up to three times the gas mileage of a conventional car. A Toyota Prius can get up to 60 mpg; that is not a joke or a typo. Compare that to the pitiful 10-12 miles of an SUV. More hybrids and fewer SUV's on the road means less oil we have to import. For more information, visit their website, http://www.apolloalliance.org/ Happy Independence Day! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, June 26th, 2004
9:43 pm	From http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/06/20040625-2.html Interview of the President by Radio and Television Ireland The Library June 24, 2004 4:08 P.M. EDT Q: Mr. President, you're going to arrive in Ireland in about 24 hours' time, and no doubt you will be welcomed by our political leaders. Unfortunately, the majority of our public do not welcome your visit because they're angry over Iraq, they're angry over Abu Ghraib. Are you bothered by what Irish people think? THE PRESIDENT: Listen, I hope the Irish people understand the great values of our country. And if they think that a few soldiers represents the entirety of America, they don't really understand America then. There have been great ties between Ireland and America, and we've got a lot of Irish Americans here that are very proud of their heritage and their country. But, you know, they must not understand if they're angry over Abu Ghraib -- if they say, this is what America represents, they don't understand our country, because we don't represent that. We are a compassionate country. We're a strong country, and we'll defend ourselves -- but we help people. And we've helped the Irish and we'll continue to do so. We've got a good relationship with Ireland. Q: And they're angry over Iraq, as well, and particularly the continuing death toll there. THE PRESIDENT: Well, I can understand that. People don't like war. But what they should be angry about is the fact that there was a brutal dictator there that had destroyed lives and put them in mass graves and had torture rooms. Listen, I wish they could have seen the seven men that came to see me in the Oval Office -- they had their right hands cut off by Saddam Hussein because the currency had devalued when he was the leader. And guess what happened? An American saw the fact that they had had their hands cut off and crosses -- or Xs carved in their forehead. And he flew them to America. And they came to my office with a new hand, grateful for the generosity of America, and with Saddam Hussein's brutality in their mind. Look, Saddam Hussein had used weapons of mass destruction against his own people, against the neighborhood. He was a brutal dictator who posed a threat -- such a threat that the United Nations voted unanimously to say, Mr. Saddam Hussein -- Q: Indeed, Mr. President, but you didn't find the weapons of mass destruction. THE PRESIDENT: Let me finish. Let me finish. May I finish? He said -- the United Nations said, disarm or face serious consequences. That's what the United Nations said. And guess what? He didn't disarm. He didn't disclose his arms. And, therefore, he faced serious consequences. But we have found a capacity for him to make a weapon. See, he had the capacity to make weapons. He was dangerous. And no one can argue that the world is better off with Saddam -- if Saddam Hussein were in power. Q: But, Mr. President, the world is a more dangerous place today. I don't know whether you can see that or not. THE PRESIDENT: Why do you say that? Q: There are terrorist bombings every single day. It's now a daily event. It wasn't like that two years ago. THE PRESIDENT: What was it like September the 11th, 2001? It was a -- there was a relative calm, we -- Q: But it's your response to Iraq that's considered -- THE PRESIDENT: Let me finish. Let me finish, please. Please. You ask the questions and I'll answer them, if you don't mind. On September the 11th, 2001, we were attacked in an unprovoked fashion. Everybody thought the world was calm. And then there have been bombings since then -- not because of my response to Iraq. There were bombings in Madrid. There were bombings in Istanbul. There were bombings in Bali. There were killings in Pakistan. Q: Indeed, Mr. President, and I think Irish people understand that. But I think there is a feeling that the world has become a more dangerous place because you have taken the focus off al Qaeda and diverted into Iraq. Do you not see that the world is a more dangerous place? I saw four of your soldiers lying dead on the television the other day, a picture of four soldiers just lying there without their flight jackets. THE PRESIDENT: Listen, nobody cares more about the death than I do -- Q: Is there a point or place -- THE PRESIDENT: Let me finish, please. Please. Let me finish, and then you can follow up, if you don't mind. Nobody cares more about the deaths than I do. I care about it a lot. But I do believe the world is a safer place and becoming a safer place. I know that a free Iraq is going to be a necessary part of changing the world. Listen, people join terrorist organizations because there's no hope and there's no chance to raise their families in a peaceful world where there is not freedom. And so the idea is to promote freedom, and at the same time protect our security. And I do believe the world is becoming a better place, absolutely. Q: Mr. President, you are a man who has a great faith in God. I've heard you say many times that you strive to serve somebody greater than yourself. THE PRESIDENT: Right. Q: Do you believe that the hand of God is guiding you in this war on terror? THE PRESIDENT: Listen, I think that God -- that my relationship with God is a very personal relationship. And I turn to the good Lord for strength. And I turn to the good Lord for guidance. I turn to the good Lord for forgiveness. But the God I know is not one that -- the God I know is one that promotes peace and freedom. But I get great sustenance from my personal relationship. That doesn't make me think I'm a better person than you are, by the way. Because one of the great admonitions in the Good Book is, don't try to take a speck out of your eye if I've got a log in my own. Q: You're going to meet Bertie Ahern when you arrive in Shannon Airport tomorrow. I guess he went out on a limb for you, presumably because of the great friendship between our two countries. Can you look him in the eye when you get there and say, it will be worth it, it will work out? THE PRESIDENT: Absolutely. I wouldn't be doing this, I wouldn't have made the decisions I did if I didn't think the world would be better. Of course. I'm not going to put people in harm's way, our young, if I didn't think the world would be better. And -- Q: Why is it that others -- THE PRESIDENT: Let me finish. And so, yes, I can turn to my friend, Bertie Ahern, and say, thank you, thanks for helping, and I appreciate it very much. And there will be other challenges, by the way. Q: Why is it that others don't understand what you're about? THE PRESIDENT: I don't know. History will judge what I'm about. But I'm the kind of person, I don't really try to chase popular polls, or popularity polls. My job is to do my job and make the decisions that I think are important for our country and for the world. And I argue strongly that the world is better off because of the decisions I have made -- along with others. America is not in this alone. One of our greatest allies of -- in the world is your neighbor, Great Britain. Tony Blair has been a strong advocate for not only battling terrorists, but promoting freedom, for which I am grateful. Let me say one other thing about America that your viewers must know -- is that not only are we working hard to promote security and peace, we're also working to eradicate famine and disease. There is no more generous country on the face of the earth than the United States of America, when it comes to fighting HIV/AIDS. As a matter of fact, it was my initiative -- Q: Indeed, that's understood -- THE PRESIDENT: -- my initiative, that asked Congress to spend $15 billion over five years to battle this pandemic. And we're following through on it. And no other country in the world feeds more of the hungry than the United States. We're a compassionate nation. Q: Mr. President, I know your time is tight, can I move you on to Europe? Are you satisfied that you are getting enough help in Iraq from European countries? You have come together, you are more friendly now -- but they're not really stepping up to the plate with help, are they? THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think, first of all, most of Europe supported the decision in Iraq. And, really, what you're talking about is France, isn't it? And they didn't agree with my decision. They did vote for the U.N. Security Council resolution that said, disclose, disarm or face serious consequences. We just had a difference of opinion about when you say something, do you mean it. But, nevertheless, there's no doubt in my mind President Chirac would like to see a free and democratic and whole Iraq emerge. And same in Afghanistan. They've been very helpful in Afghanistan. They're willing to forgive debt in Iraq. But most European countries are very supportive and are participating in the reconstruction of Iraq. Q: And how do you see the handover going? The next few weeks are going to be crucial. Can democracy really flourish with the violence that's going on? A hundred Iraqis dead today, Mr. President. THE PRESIDENT: I don't like death, either. I mean, you keep emphasizing the death and I don't blame you -- but all that goes to show is the nature of the enemy. These people are willing to kill innocent people. They're willing to slaughter innocent people to stop the advance of freedom. And so the free world has to make a choice: Do we cower in the face of terror, or do we lead in the face of terror? And I'm going to lead in the face of terror. We will not let these terrorists dash the hopes and ambitions of the people of Iraq. There's some kind of attitude that says, oh, gosh, the terrorists attacked, let's let the Iraqis suffer more. We're not going to let them suffer more. We're going to work with them. And I'm most proud of this fellow, Prime Minister Allawi. He's strong and he's tough. He says to me, Mr. President, don't leave our country, help us secure our country so we can be free. Q: Indeed, Mr. President, just to get back to that. Can I just turn to the Middle East -- THE PRESIDENT: Sure. Q: -- and you will be discussing at the EU summit and the idea of bringing democracy to the broader Middle East. THE PRESIDENT: Right. Q: Is that something that really should start, though, with the solving of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis? THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think, first of all, you've got a democracy in Turkey. And you've got a democracy emerging in Afghanistan. You've got a democracy in Pakistan. In other words -- Q: But shouldn't that be on the top of the list -- THE PRESIDENT: Please. Please. Please, for a minute, okay. It'll be better if you let me finish my answers, and then you can follow up, if you don't mind. What I'm telling you is democracy can emerge at the same time that a democracy can emerge in the Palestinian state. I'm the first American President to have called for the establishment of a Palestinian state, the first one to do so. Because I believe it is in the Palestinian people's interest; I believe it's in Israel's interest. And, yes, we're working. But we can do more than, you know, one thing at a time. And we are working on the road map with the Quartet, to advance the process down the road. Like Iraq, the Palestinian and the Israeli issue is going to require good security measures. And -- Q: And a bit more even-handedness from America? THE PRESIDENT: -- and we're working on security measures. And America -- I'm the first President to ever have called for a Palestinian state. That's, to me, sounds like a reasonable, balanced approach. But I will not allow terrorists to determine the fate -- as best I can, determine the fate of people who want to be free. Q Mr. President, thank you very much for talking to us. THE PRESIDENT: You're welcome. END 4:19 P.M. EDT Laura Coleman, an Irish reporter, interviewed President Bush-- and the White House is supposedly not happy with the results. They have denied her access to Laura Bush. she somehow managed to get Bush alone, without his advisors and handlers, and she asked some serious questions. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2004
10:19 pm	World Press Review Online World Press Review Online is an online news magazine that collects articles from magazines and newspapers around the world. It includes articles from such sources as England's Guardian, Russia's Pravda, The Australian and Qatar's Aljazeera.net. The papers quoted can be liberal, conservative, government-owned, independent, centrist, etc. World Press prides itself on presenting a variety of viewpoints. The ad from the now-defunct paper magazine used to run, "192 Countries, 6,800 languages, Thousands of Publications: See the World Through Their Eyes." True to its promise, World Press both covers events in other countries and includes commentary about the United States. Inevitably, there are articles about the Iraq war and the upcoming Presidential election, just as there are in American publications. But World Press also includes articles about British sailors being held in Iran, Egypt's "security role" in Palestine, and an interview with Sheikh Khodor Nour Eddin of the Hezbollah--items that might not have made it into an American publication. Even those articles about topics familiar to Americans provide a different perspective. One article about the Iraq war explores its impact on European politics, while an article about the late Ronald Reagan quotes publications from all over the world. The website is easy to navigate. The home page starts with "World Headlines." Below these articles are articles grouped by region: Africa", "Americas", "Europe", etc. The sidebars include an area called the "Reading Rooms" which provide scores of links to various publications and NGO websites. http://www.worldpress.org/ (Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 15th, 2004
7:41 pm	Ad for Arab television Got this from P@L's "The Sign of the Unhinged Mind". It was posted by Songster. One way to let people know that some Americans do not support torture and deeply regret what has been done in our name: http://www.faithfulamerica.org/adclip.htm If you agree, consider endorsing the ad; it would be nice to have the ending say "millions", rather than "thousands of Americans". (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 8th, 2004
9:27 pm	Verify Your Vote! From TomPaine.com: It's not enough just to get citizens registered to vote—we must ensure that each vote is counted and leaves an accurate, verifiable paper trail for recounts. But some states are planning to use machines that don't allow voters to verify their choice. And the head of a major voting-machine manufacturer—also a big Bush contributor—has promised to deliver Ohio's votes to Bush. Speak up! Join Howard Dean's Democracy For America organization and tell Congress to require a paper trail in November! SIGN THE PETITION Here's the petiton's addy: http://petition.democracyforamerica.com/page/p/verify And here's Howard Dean's orgnaization: http://www.democracyforamerica.com/ (Comment on this)
Monday, May 24th, 2004
7:43 pm	Working Assets Working Assets is a communications company that offers long distance service, wireless telephone service, internet service and credit cards. It was founded in 1985. It donates a portion of its profits to a variety of progressive causes, including world peace, civil rights, and environmental protection. It also sells a number of books about progressive causes. Among these have been State of the World 2004 by the Worldwatch Institute (www.worldwatch.org) and Forbidden Truth: U.S.-Taliban Secret Oil Diplomacy and the Failed Hunt for Osama bin Laden by Jean Charle Brisard. Working Assets sends a bill every month. Along with the bill comes an offer for four or five books that they are selling, and two Citizen Action letters. These letters are sent to various legislators and can concern almost any progressive cause. This month's pair of Citizen Action letters concern proposed changes in the USDA's definition of "organic farming" and a demand to for Rumsfeld's removal from the Cabinet. Working Assets supports 50 nonprofits in the following categories: Peace and International Freedom, Education and Freedom of Expression, Environment, Civil Rights, and Economic and Social Justice. Find their list here: http://www.workingassets.com/recipients.cfm. You can even suggest other progressive groups you'd like to see Working Assets support. The website, http://www.workingassets.com/index.cfm, is very large and takes some getting used to. It has the usual links you'd expect to see on a business site, like "Jobs," but it also has links to "Activism" and "New and Opinions." The last includes articles and editorials by people like Ellen Goodman, Molly Ivins, and Jim Hightower. There is also an on-line shop, where you can buy yet more books. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, May 17th, 2004
11:34 pm	Pelosi's Frustration and the Memory Hole This is from April 10th's Baltimore Sun's Op-Ed section. The writer, Jules Witcover, is a noted columnist. ( Read more... ) So, what does this all mean? It means we can't expect Bush to be impeached. If the Democrats don't have the wherewithal to have him investigated, they are certainly not going to be able to get him impeached. Therefore we can't expect Congress to investigate Bush. It also means that the war is going to be a vital issue in the election. The abuses in Abu Ghraib should hurt Bush badly. These abuses have cost us whatever moral high ground we might have had, and show the perils of claiming such a high ground. If a country claims moral superiority, then it must act in a fashion befitting those claims. Ignoring international law and torturing prisoners are not the acts of a moral society. Even though Congress can't investigate Bush, we can, by using sites like this one: http://www.memoryhole.org Its motto is "rescuing knowledge, freeing information." It was created by Russ Kick, who collects articles, pictures, and information that The Powers That Be try to censor. It includes the Abu Ghraib pictures and the military coffin pictures. There is also a section devoted to 9/11, and a record of requests made to various federal agencies under the Freedom of information Act. (Comment on this)
Sunday, April 25th, 2004
11:19 pm	March for Women's Lives Dollars to doughnuts, many newspapers won't give this the coverage it deserves.... http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040426/ap_on_re_us/women_s_march&cid=519&ncid=716 It is big news. Here's what NOW has to say about it. That's the group that organized it. http://march.now.org/ (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 4th, 2004
11:11 pm	What Do You Believe In? Here's a meme I swiped from gehayi: ( Read more... ) Current Mood: contemplative (Comment on this)
Sunday, February 1st, 2004
4:34 pm	Selectsmart.com http://www.selectsmart.com is a website that helps people make decisions, in almost any area imagineable. Pick a good, service, or even philosophy, and it will be there. There is even a "Religious Belief Selector"-- and, no, I'm not kidding. The set-up is simple: selectsmart.com asks you some questions and also asks how much importance you attach to the answer (high, medium, or low.) For example, if you're looking for a new Internet service, select.com will ask questions like "Do you download MP3's?" or "Do you run an internet-dependent business?" Your choice of answers willbe Yes, No, or No Preference, followed by "What priority do you place on your selection above?" After you enter your answers, select.com then lists the internet services, beginning with the one most compatible with your needs down to the least compatible. Lately, they've included a "Presidential Candidate Selector," http://www.selectsmart.com/president. The format is the same: selectsmart.com asks some questions, you answer them, and they list the candidates starting with the one who seems to be in the most agreement with you. www.selectsmart.com provides the option of including third party candidates in the list. Beside each candidate's name is a link taking you to a blurb about the candidate and a list of more links. The questions are extremely general, and might not make much sense if you don't know what the League of Conservation or its position is. Too many of the questions simply ask you if you agree with Planned Parenthood or the Right to Life Committee, for instance, which isn't helpful if you're not familiar with either organization. Still, to be fair, there are links to the organizations provided along with the questions, so you can readily look them up. In sum, this is a helpful site for learning about the candidates and some of their positions. It's not particularly detailed, but it can provide a starting point in selecting candidates. Current Mood: thoughtful (Comment on this)
Saturday, January 17th, 2004
6:00 pm	Science Fiction Booklist Here's proof that I'm a geek: I nicked this booklist from megpie71's LJ. It turns out that I've read about a quarter of these and have heard of many of the others. Quite a few of these are considered classics, and Frankenstein is considered one of the earliest, if not the earliest, science fiction book written. Some, like Alice in Wonderland and </i>Dragonflight</i>, should probably be more properly classed as fantasy, as they don't involve much in the way of science. ( Read more... ) The ones in bold are the ones I've read; I'll have to start reading the others. And here's a very small milestone for the new year: this is the first time I've tried out the LJ-cut feature. Current Mood: geeky (Comment on this)
Monday, January 12th, 2004
9:33 pm	Council for A Livable World The Council for A Livable World is an organization dedicated to controlling the proliferation of weapons. In their own words: The Council for a Livable World is among the nation's preeminent arms control organizations and focuses on halting the spread of weapons of mass destruction, opposing a national missile defense system, cutting Pentagon waste and reducing excessive arms exports. The Council is also a political lobby which endorses political candidates. They have opposed the war in Iraq because 1) it was waged under false pretenses, i.e. Bush claimed that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and ties to Al-Qaeda, 2) the occupation of Iraq is proving more difficult than had been predicted, and 3) the war was waged unilaterally, over the objections of our allies. I have always had mixed feelings about the war: on the one hand, I approve of removing despots like Saddam from power, but on the other hand I believe that if Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, we'd have found them by now, and that converting a dictatorship into a democracy is not as easy as we want to think. Getting rid of Saddam is the easy part, after all; replacing him with a government worthy of the name is proving much more difficult. Bush and company seem to have grossly underestimated this difficulty. The Council's website has several articles about the war on their homepage. Find it here: http://www.clw.org. The Council also several articles about the upcoming Presidential election and the various candidates. One of the articles includes questions about national security and responses from six of the candidates, including Dean and Clark. The Council strongly opposes Bush and have even established a website dedicated to his removal: http://www.AnyoneButGeorgeBush. It's still under construction, but it will be used to raise funds to support whichever Democratic candidate wins the nomination. The money will be given to the candidate after their nomination and the expensive primaries. (Comment on this)
Friday, December 12th, 2003
9:39 pm	100 Things You May Not Know About Me 100 things you may or may not know about me. Instructions: 1. Copy this whole list into your journal. 2. Bold the things that you have in common with me. 3. Whatever you don't bold, replace with things about you. (stolen from gehayi) 01. When I was younger I made some bad decisions. Doesn't everyone? 02. My favorite cartoon as a girl was Bugs Bunny. 03. I still like cartoons and comic books. 04. I like rock music. My favorite bands include Metallica, Pink Floyd, and Rush. 05. If I had a super power, it'd be telepathy. 06. I seem to be far less emotional than most people. 07. I hate that FFnet doesn't enforce their own rules. There would be a lot less crap there if they did. 08. I also hate people who TypE LyKe D1s. 09. I once nearly broke my foot while studying Tae Kwon Do. 10. I have one biological brother, three step-brothers, and a step-sister, all of whom are younger than I. 11. I have lived through at least one hurricane. Agnes flooded our basement when I was a child. To my parents' horror, I wanted to swim in the results. 12. I am working towards my Master's in Biology. 13. I have a love/hate relationship with computers. 14. I like living alone. I can come and go as I please, eat breakfast in my pj's, leave the place a pigsty, etc. 15. I am both a packrat and a miser. 16. I sleep in loose nightgowns most of the time. 17. I tend to put off doing things that frighten me. 18. I have a lot to learn. 19. I have never wanted pierced ears or contact lenses. They just don't appeal to me. 20. One day, I would love to travel to Hawaii and/or Australia. 21. I am on my way to having salt and pepper hair, to the amusement of my brother-- who is three years younger than I and likes to rub it in from time to time. 22. Little kids are never adorable, especially when they are screaming. 23. My father lives in Florida year-round. My mother goes there for the winter. 24. I don't care for pierced noses, lips, tongues or navels. To me, it looks VERY unattractive. 25. I never learned to blow bubbles with chewing gum as a kid. 26. I like going to school and am a "professional student." 27. I prefer listening to music when I know the words. 28. I am very introverted. Iprefer being alone to being with people. 29. The biggest reason that I don't want kids is because I don't want the responsibility. 30. I am the besotted owner of two adorable cats, Bagheera and Grizabella. 31. I can't imagine not having a cat. 32. I've been lucky in that I've always had a neighbor who has cats. We take turns babysitting each other's felines while somebody is away. 33. Walking is my favorite exercise. 34. I wanna learn how to make a kick-ass web page. 35. If I ruled the world, I'd put the environment and human rights ahead of business concerns. 36. Clutter doesn't bother me, but as soon as food starts getting left places, it bothers me immensely. 37. I have an abnormally high pain threshold-- coupled with high pain tolerance. When I was a child, my parents had to warn schools, camps, etc. of this fact. 38. I snore. Loudly. 39. My favourite color is blue, and my least favorite color is pastel pink. 40. Coke is my favorite drink. 41. I really enjoy thoughtful gifts, even if they cost nothing. 42. I love Subway sandwiches. 43. I wouldn't call myself a philosopher, but I am capable of a thought-provoking idea now and then. 44. Sometimes, the previews are the best part of the movie. 45. I hate winter. I hate staying indoors all the time, and I don't always like winter clothing. 46. When I was a kid, my brother and I would have swordfights-- with our parents' shish-kebab skewers, to their horror. 47. Shopping is best when you're in search of a specific item--unless you are in a bookstore. 48. Shopping for clothes is a pain in the ass. 49. I am addicted to the GAFF message board. 50. To our mother's chagrin, my brother and I are far less neat than she is. 51. Music and noise while I'm working bothers me. 52. I've been overseas. 53. I have four nephews and three nieces. The oldest, Margaret, is 8, and the youngest, David, is three months old. 54. I find writing essays and the like much easier than writing fiction. 55. I like taking pictures when on trips. 56. I loathe housework. 57. I adore garlic. 58. I only eat out when I'm with somebody else. 59. I like when my friends write me letters and emails--even if I don't know what to say in response. 60. There are many kinds of love. Friendship and romantic love are not the same thing. 61. Romance is grossly overrated. 62. I'm indifferent to most of the music on commercial radio. 63. I tend to keep my emotions bottled up. 64. I don't know how much I weigh, nor do I care. 65. I hardly ever remember my dreams-- unless they're nightmares. 66. I do not consider myself to be particulalrly creative. 67. Sometimes I sit at the computer at night, too lazy to get ready for bed. 68. I do not enjoy parties, especially large ones. 69. I hate going to bars, because they are too noisy. 70. When I was a kid, I used to have a recurring nightmare about being eaten alive by rats. 71. Jaws is the only movie that has ever given me nightmares. 72. I had a tonsillectomey when I was 20. I was in pain for at least week afterwards. 73. I've never done any drugs. 74. E.T. was the last movie to make me cry. I saw it when I was 19. 75. I have never been able to sing. I can't carry a tune 76. I very rarely cry. I cry so seldom, that I can remember specific events that made me cry. 77. I love to read. Books have been my best friends since I was young. 78. I look-- and sometimes act-- younger than I really am. 79. I can obsess about things. 80. Unless I'm in the car, I don't listen to the radio at all. 81. My biggest fear is of rats. 82. I feel very uncomfortable in crowds. 83. I used to play hockey as a kid. 84. Between hockey and martial arts, I've damaged my teeth somewhat. I've had veneers and crowns since my mid-30's. 85. I despise fundamentalists of any stripe. Their ignorance and fanatacism strikes me as dangerous. 86. I daydream a lot. 87. I put my faith in science and reason, not religion. 88. I want to travel more, but funds are tight right now. 89. If I hate my job, it's usually because of the people. 90. Protecting the environment is important to me. 91. I despise people who yak on the phone while driving. 92. I love pasta and pizza. 93. I like working outdoors when weather permits. 94. I enjoy Christmas. I love having a Christmas tree. 95. Kissing is not the psychedelic pleasure that romance novels paint it. 96. An ideal job is one that is useful, not one that just makes you or somebody else rich. 97. I enjoy doing volunteer work for environmental organizations. 98. I am rarely as confident as I sound. 99. I rarely get sick, but when I do, it's a doozy. 100. I am an atheist and consider religion to be a two-edged sword: it can comfort and inspire people, but it can also lead them to commit hideous atrocities in their god's name. Current Mood: content (Comment on this)
Friday, November 7th, 2003
4:04 pm	On Abortion Hey, check it. I wrote an article for "Elites TV", a website devoted to "reality shows", and they ACCEPTED it! Here it is: http://www.elitestv.com/NewsPub/2003/Nov/ETV3faa9a927ac68.html Unfortunately, I didn't get paid. But it's quite cool to have somebody publish your stuff. It's an ego boost, if nothing else. ******************************** I suppose everybody has heard by now that President Bush has signed that wretched piece of "pro-life" legislation into law. The good news is that some judges are NOT taking that lying down: they're saying the law is unconstitutional. Here's an article about it: http://www.msnbc.com/news/989539.asp?0ct=-30h I happen to be fervently pro-choice. I firmly believe that it is NOT the government's business if somebody wants an abortion. That decision should be left with the woman, and the ONLY other people who should have ANY input at all are her husband and her doctor, as these are the people who either have to live with the result of her decision or help her take care of the baby, if there is one. The decision to have an abortion is a PERSONAL one. Women have abortions either because there is something physically wrong with them or the baby, or they can't take cake care of a child or simply don't want one. If a pregnancy for some reason is hazardous to a woman's health, she should be allowed to end her pregnancy. After all, she might be able to try again later on, or at least adopt. She won't be able to do either if she dies or ruins her health during a pregnancy. And a child will presumably do better with a healthy mother. I have news for anti-abortionists: some birth defects are so severe that they are INCOMPATIBLE WITH LIFE. That means that a child with such a defect has NO chance of living. Examples of these included anencephaly (congenital absence of part of the brain)and Tay-Sachs Syndrome. The latter is a metabolic disorder that gradually damages the brain and central nervous system, killing its victims within three or four years. As yet, there is NO CURE. What, might I ask, is the POINT of bringing a child into the world, KNOWING that it will die miserably within a few years? Such a scenario is hard on everybody within the family. And even conditions that aren't lethal can be hard to deal with. I have a cousin whose second daughter is both mentally retarded and has cerebral palsy. The last I'd heard, she had not learned to talk-- and she is around 12 years old. Fortunately, she belongs to a family with the financial means and emotional strength to care for her. I hate to say it, but not all families are willing or able to care for a disabled child. If a family knows that they can care for such a child, then more power to them. They deserve all the support, financial and moral, that they can get. But a family that realizes that they don't have the means to care for a disabled child ALSO deserves some credit for acknowledging their limitations. Here's the kicker: the government CAN'T know a family's or a womman's capabilities. Only the family or the woman can know their capapbilities, which is why they're the ONLY ones who are QUALIFIED to decide whether to terminate a pregnancy if the child has a birth defect. Most dilation and extraction procedures ("partial birth abortions", to the medically illiterate) are performed because of health problems in the mother or the fetus. But, sometimes a woman might abort a healthy baby. To me, this suggests there is probably something going on in the woman's life that makes having a child a very bad idea. For instance, she or her husband could have lost their job or suffered some other financial setback. Babies are expensive-- you don't weant to have one if the family is ALREADY financially strapped. The woman's husband or significant other could have walked out on her-- and raising a child by oneself is difficult, at best. The "woman" could be a young girl who is far from ready to be a mother. Again, these are matters a government bureaucrat CANNOT know personally. Only the woman and, perhaps, her husband or doctor can know if having a child at this time and under these circumstances is right. (Comment on this)