Wednesday, December 31, 2008

A Yule Blessing





As the earth grows colder,
the winds blow faster,
the fire dwindles smaller,
and the rains fall harder,
let the light of the sun
find its way home.






Days of Yule

Monday, December 29, 2008

New York Tithes to Obama

Well, well, well. An interesting list of New Yorker's donating to Oblabla's Coronation, ahh, I mean Inauguration. From the Times Union:
  • Six members of the Soros family and the Soros Fund, including George Soros, sent $50,000 apiece. A few Rockefellers sent money, including Laurence, of the New York League of Conservation Voters, down for $38,000.
  • Banker Howard Millstein and wife Abby Millstein, a lawyer with Constantine Cannon, donated $50,000 each.
  • Chairman of The Island Def Jam Music Group Antonio Reid contributed $50,000.
  • Jeff Gural, the track and racino operator, sent $25,000 and his father Aaron Gural, who started the Gural family real estate firm, threw in another $50,000.
  • Ronald O. Perelman , chairman of MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings Inc., sent $50,000 and the company lawyer, Barry Schwartz, added $25,000.
  • In the Capital Region, Andrea and Timothy Collins, of Ripplewood Holdings, each wrote checks for $50,000, using their Saratoga Springs address.
  • And technology and learning consultant Elliott Masie, of Saratoga Springs, sent $10,000.
And, another interesting story regarding Gov. Paterson's Wish List Letter to the Oblabla administration:

Four days after Christmas, David Paterson sent his wish list to President-elect Barack Obama.

He wants money. Lots of it. In an open letter sent today, Paterson asked for Congress to appropriate $500 billion of direct aid to states, with half of that amount earmarked for social service programs. He also asked for $300 billion to be earmarked for infrastructure projects, of which he and others are fond of boasting that New York has 98 which are "shovel-ready."

This weekend, Senator Chuck Schumer said he thought New York would get $5 billion in extra Medicaid funding. New York is facing a budget gap of about $15 billion this year, and Paterson met with Obama earlier this month in Philadelphia along with other governors to make the case for more aid.
The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away or, I'll grease your palm if you grease mine. Same old dance - just a different partner.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

And So This is Christmas

My life is small town America, with a view of the Mohawk River. It is folksy people, loads of history, close proximity to Cooperstown, Saratoga Springs and the Southern Adirondacks. Or, we can drive to Manhattan in a little over 3.5 hours.

But, there are no jobs here. People don't lock their doors at night and they don't eat arugula. They shovel their own sidewalks, clean their own houses and their kids play high school sports. There are vegetable gardens and homemade wines. Christmas cookie baking parties and a library group for people who love to knit, but there is not a grocery store within 10 miles. Taxes are high and homes aren't selling. It's small town Norman Rockwell America at its best and at its worst.

I was born here, my parents still live here and two of my three sisters are within 9 miles of my house. It's a small community of less than 2000 residents with a large elderly population. Our kids graduate from college and only return home to visit.

So, it was with mind boggling soberness to learn that Bernard Madoff has affected our lives. On Christmas Eve, my retired construction worker husband had a visit from his former boss, who presently sits on the Board of Trustees for the Pension Fund of his Union. He was told that 85% of the Pension Fund and 20% of his annuity had been invested with Madoff. The money is gone, the fund has fallen into Critical Status, a meeting is being planned for sometime in the future to discuss what has happened, how it impacts members and what efforts will be undertaken to address all of the above. The Board has requested that State Police be present at the meeting, as it is expected that the Union workers will not take kindly to the fact that such a high percentage of their hard earned money was invested in something so speculative as a hedge fund. Benefits will be cut, workers who have not yet retired will have to work much longer to accrue retirement credits, monies deducted from paychecks for the Fund will have to be increased sharply, disability, supplemental death benefits and early retirement subsidies will be reduced or eliminated in an effort to restore the Pension Plan.

It is hard to grasp that the man responsible for security fraud that has affected so many people throughout the world is on "house arrest" in his luxurious apartment, enjoying the same freedom as you and I. He has reached into to hundreds of thousands of lives and ripped out their best laid plans. It is too late to do anything about the 50 billion dollars of investor assets he has stolen, but it is not too late to remind us how greed can ruin lives.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Not Rape

A riveting essay by Latoya at Racialicious Read it and pass it on to your Sisters and ask them to pass it on. It is that important

This is how the Not Rape epidemic spreads - through fear and silence, which become complicit in perpetuating the behaviors described here. Women of all backgrounds are affected by these kinds of acts, regardless of race, ethnicity, or social class. So many of us carry the scars of the past with us into our daily lives. Most of us have pushed these stories to the back of our minds, trying to have some semblance of a normal life that includes romantic and sexual relationships. However, waiting just behind the tongue is story after story of the horrors other women experience and hide deep within the self behind a protective wall of silence.

Paterson's Budget

From David Sirota - Based on his interview last night with Bill Moyers on PBS, it's fair to conclude that New York Gov. David Paterson (D), who wants to raise taxes on working class people and shield the super wealthy from any income tax increase, is either lying or grossly uninformed.

When New Jersey instituted a higher income tax in 2004, researchers found that most people who move away from New Jersey move to states that impose higher income taxes - thus crushing claims of some sort of "automatic link" between people moving away from states and a state moving to slightly raise its income tax rates on the very wealthy.

Likewise, when New York instituted a temporary - and tiny - increase in high-income tax rates after 9/11, the researchers found the state added jobs, and found that the 15 states that have higher income taxes on the wealthy also added jobs - thus destroying Paterson's argument of an "automatic link" between slightly higher taxes on the very wealthy and job loss.

As for Paterson's claim that New Yorkers just love taxing the super-rich, the study found that over the last 30 years, New York has cut its top personal income tax rate on the wealthy by half (15.375% to 6.85%).

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Winter Solstice


Mother earth, we feel your heart beat
Mother earth, bless this day
Turning wheel, with your life force
The Winter Solstice has come our way
Winter Solstice, shaft of light
Signifies the shortest day
Turning wheel, the coldest season
Has sprinkled snowflakes of a silver grey

Snowflakes dancing in the wind of change
Inspires within me the dreams of hope
The Winter Solstice is a magical day
Colorful visions in the kaleidoscope

Mother earth, we feel your heart beat
Mother earth, bless this day
Turning wheel, with your life force
The Winter Solstice has come our way
Alywn


Ancient Origins from Candlegrove
Blessed be.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

What You Don't Know About Caroline Kennedy

A very interesting read via debtov at The Albany Project, concerning Wayne Barrett's excellent article at the Village Voice involving the political connection between Kennedy and Mayor Bloomberg. The Barrett article details so many characters and alliances, it reads like a Mafia Don novel and contains some very interesting information about Caroline's padded resume.

The most tawdry part of the Bloomberg cheerleading, however, has been the exaggeration of the Kennedy resume. Aside from Caroline's books--some of which have been collections of her mother's favorite poems and other people's essays--the only significant career accomplishment is the two months she worked part-time at Bloomberg's Department of Education. Volunteering, like the mayor, for a dollar a year, she is said to have worked three days a week fundraising for city schools. But what few seem to have noticed is that Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein announced her appointment in October 2002, Klein said it would become a fulltime position in 2003, but it never did. When she left halfway through 2004, education reporter David Herszenhorn from the Times wrote:

"But while Ms. Kennedy generated excitement among donors and often met personally with them, several school officials and acquaintances said she was never entirely comfortable within the bureaucracy of the nation's largest school system. For months after she started, even some high-level education officials said they were not quite sure what she did. In an interview about eight months into her tenure, she would not say how often she worked at the department headquarters or how many hours she spent on the job, saying only, 'I put in as much time as I can.'"

The Photo, updated December 21st


I'm going update this post as articles are available to make sure it stays fresh in your mind. Kennedy-Schlossberg political aspirations and corrupt Chicago politicians have a way of upstaging the shoddy treatment of women. So, I'll leave it sitting here until the misogyny is addressed by The One that brought us Jon "Just a Kid" Favreau.

UPDATED LINKS:
From Rabble Rouser Amy - Totally Synced Up
Klownhaus - Is it just me?
He brought the cutout of Hillary to his parent's house for a party?
Another Redstar - Fav's Style
Lingual Tremors: Groping women, while drinking beer
Angry Scientist - Conversation with the President - Gropergate
Ms Placed Democrat - And the hits just keep on coming
Jane Q - Obama and Media: Silent or Dismissive?
Jon Favreau needs to be fired from RKMK
How the Media Makes Light of Gropergate
Camel's Nose - What would Arabs think?
Third Estate Sunday Review
Historiann
I'm gonna buy me a paper doll from NYCweboy with a h/t to Redstar
Another from Redstar - Cardboard
Octogalore
falstaff
Joanna The Maid
Women's Space, which led me to this article by Catharine MacKinnon
Fire Jon Favreau
Write Jon Favreau's Apology Speech
Misogny, knowing right from wrong
California NOW
Charlotte Front and Center
inappropriate
Hillgropegate
Hideous sexism or party prank
Obama's Message to Women: The New Agenda
Heather Gold
Lambert
Puma Responders: Special resources from 1950 Dem0crat has a plethora of information.
Murphy's Gropergate Day 6
Alegre's Accountability Begins at Home with a phone number and an email address to let Obama's team know how you feel about their failure to respond.
Is firing Jon Favreau the right answer from The New Agenda
It's the System, Stupid from Violet

If you run across any related posts or if you have one up yourself, please leave the address in comments and I will link it here.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Thursday, December 18, 2008

And The Beat Goes On

Via Feminist Law Professors
Here's another sign of the tough economic times: Some clinics are reporting a surge in the number of women applying to donate eggs or serve as surrogate mothers for infertile couples.

The going rate for a surrogate is about $25,000. Egg donors generally receive $3,000 to $8,000. But a few agencies advertise that they'll pay much more for specific characteristics. One ad running in campus newspapers promises $25,000 for a donor who is "100% Jewish with ... High SAT Scores... Attractive, at Healthy Body Weight and Free of Genetic Diseases."
Ova Time: Women Line Up To Donate Eggs -- for Money

Truth and Consequences

Anna Belle has a post up about negativity over at Peacocks & Lillies which really resonated with me.

After eight years of Bush&Co., a horrible primary season filled with backstabbing, misogyny, DNC machinations and false claims of Clinton racism, capped off with a sham vote at the convention, I crave some good news.

But, it's Day 14 and there is no word from the Obama camp concerning any repercussions to precious speechwriter Jon Favreau. And if it hasn't happened by now, it won't happen at all.

Obama's cabinet appears to be unbalanced with many more men than women and he has now chosen a sexist preacher for his Inauguration.

The economy is in the tank due to the "look the other way" or the "do for me" attitude of the Congress, protecting their turf and lining their pockets. The former head of the NASDAQ has fleeced all kinds of charities and and private citizens. My Christmas has never been extravagant, but this year I've had to cut back even more.

Caroline Kennedy is staking her claim to Hillary's senate seat. I don't even know what issues she supports. She's campaigning upstate and word on the street is that if Gov. Paterson doesn't give her the seat, Ted Kennedy will instruct his friends in high places to pull their support and their campaign contributions to Gov. Paterson's re-election. Rock and a hard place. If Gov. Paterson doesn't hand it over to Kennedy, he will be MY person of the year and a very bright spot on an otherwise dismal horizon.

And to cap it off, the MSM is blaming the critics of Caroline Kennedy on Hillary. Listen up, dudes. I supported Hillary Clinton for president, believe she was best suited to the office and saw her robbed of the election. However, that has nothing whatsoever to do with my views on the NY Senate seat. I'm a New Yorker, a former Democrat who has worked in government, but am now unaffiliated with any party. I want my politicians to be experienced and I want to know where they stand. I am sick and tired of being stuck with leaders who have to surround themselves with other people to show them how it's done because they have little to no background in governing.

Bah humbug.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Caroline Kennedy Hires a Pro

Nick Confessore just reported that Caroline Kennedy will openly seek the Clinton seat, and that she too has hired political professionals to help her effort.

A knowledgeable source I spoke to confirmed that she will campaign for the seat and that she has hired Josh Isay's consulting firm, Knickerbocker SKD, to help.
Here. And more Here

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Friday, December 12, 2008

Sunday, December 07, 2008

The Photo

WITH UPDATES BELOW:
By now you've seen it, read it, heard it on the news and have moved on to the next news cycle. Here is why that's wrong. Sexism is not a story and it's not something that can be forgiven. It is racism, bigotry, oppression and hatred all wrapped up in one big fat F**k You if you happen to be a female. Get over it, girls. It was just "bad judgment".

The life size photo of Hillary didn't just appear in that room. It was brought there with the intention to demean her. Let your mind wander about what would happen if the roles were reversed - if that was an Obama photo with a bunch of anti-Obama women. Or if it was a life size likeness of Obama's wife. Imagine that.

Riverdaughter's post is excellent. She writes about the woman in the photo:
Who is this woman hanging out with these swine? And what does she possibly see in an Obama administration if it is being run by creeps like this? How long will it be before they move from groping and humping a cardboard cutout to treating her like she’s just a stupid c&*t and a low level gofer? And did her beer buzzed induced transcendence get the better of her? Did she end up in bed with one of them? He’s full of Obama empowered mojo and she’s basking in the reflected radiance of the Lightbringer ‘cos he’s going to change it all!
Conversely, Dissenting Justice just doesn't get it. Although he takes Campbell Brown to task, he believes this is a "feminist" issue. This is his response to my comment that the photo did indeed exhibit sexist behavior: DJF - I still believe that feminists could debate the matter. They are even split on whether "prostitution" (or sex work) is sexist, so I imagine this picture could receive similar treatment. Here is more from his post:
Finally, even if the picture is sexist, this does not mean that Clinton (or other women) have to respond to it the same way they would respond to other acts of sexism. People who face discrimination often develop a set of "coping skills" to deal with the situation without always mounting an explicit protest. Typically, when people encounter discrimination, they want to diffuse the situation and move on from the moment. During the primaries, for example, Clinton often ignored sexism and just kept campaigning.

Victims of discrimination learn to prioritize the battles they fight. It was very important for Clinton to challenge men in the media and Democratic Party leadership who failed to appreciate the significance of a potential woman president and who acted with blatant sexism in their treatment of her. Their power and influence potentially inflicted harm upon all women and was offensive to all persons who want a society that takes women politicians seriously. Although the "iron our shirts" neanderthals probably lacked power relative to Clinton, they shouted at her during a critical town-hall meeting. Her witty response was tailored to the situation.

This picture, by contrast, essentially involves a kid, far junior to her in the administration, behaving inappropriately. Given Favreau's relative lack of power over Clinton, he is probably crawling to her in order to apologize. They can simply deal with this matter on a personal level without heightening the situation through public verbal exchanges which the media would spin into an unseemly circus.

Sorry, Professor, I don't agree. I will never develop "coping skills" to handle unjust behavior. Women and men are entitled to respect. Ignoring inappropriate behavior won't make it stop. It's like rewarding your child when she acts up. Contrary to your view that this guy is just a kid (as in boys will be boys, wink wink), he crossed the line and that is more than just bad judgment. If Mr. Favreau isn't held to the high standards that his employment in the Obama administration demands, it hurts all of us. He was way over the line and he should be dismissed. If he isn't, it shows exactly what we can expect in the future from the Obama administration.

Feminism isn't a gender based exclusive female club. When men demand respect and equal rights for women, it enriches all of us. I know many men who call themselves feminists. I know that they will stand up with me and for me. Until the rest of society understands this, we will continue to have these conversations.

UPDATE: Read Heidi's post
The Grope Here

UPDATE II: The Groper Must Go by swedescott, via Heidi Li

UPDATE III: PUMA Action Alert

Saturday, December 06, 2008

Sign the Petition - Hillary's Senate Seat

From PUMA ellurian at Hillary Unleashed, a petition for Hillary's Senate seat. NOTE: After you sign the petition, you will be directed to a site asking for a donation. You do not have to donate to participate. Once you sign and click, you are listed. We need a qualified woman like Carolyn Maloney to fill this seat. I, for one, am not interested in someone with no previous experience. NY needs adequate representation and not someone who needs on the job training (we have enough people in Gov't who have no previous experience). The best candidate is a qualified woman. ellurian's comments and the link are below:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We need someone QUALIFIED. Like Carolyn Maloney or another woman who has “paid her dues”.

We are hoping to have at least 500 signatures by next week to present a 1st run to Gov. Paterson.

All, though this is mainly a New York issue, it is also a national issue as it determines the makeup of the Senate. Please read and if you agree, sign the below petition regarding Hillary’s replacement in the Senate. The link to the petition is here:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/clintonwoman/

Wording of petition:

Dear Governor Paterson,

Women are vastly underrepresented in the Senate. Although women comprise 52% of America’s population, women only comprise 17% of the Senate’s population. When Senator Clinton vacates her seat, that shamefully small percentage will shrink even further…unless you choose another woman to replace her.

As you are aware, there are a great number of qualified women who could become the next Junior Senator from New York. At the top of my list is Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who has represented New York’s 14th District with great vigor and distinction since 1992.

Please do not harm the cause of the advancement of women by putting a man in Hillary Clinton’s seat.

Thank you.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/clintonwoman/

Friday, December 05, 2008

Feminist Majority PAC and NOW PAC Endorse Carolyn Maloney for NY Senate Seat

Fabulous news Here!

The Feminist Majority Political Action Committee and the National Organization for Women (NOW) Political Action Committee announced their endorsement of New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney for appointment to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton Thursday. Clinton (D-NY), is currently one of just 16 women serving in the Senate.

Congresswoman Maloney has served in Congress for 16 years and has also served as a New York City Councilwoman. She chairs the Joint Economic Committee of the House and Senate and the Financial Institutions Subcommittee of the House’s Financial Services Committee. She is also a senior member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Maloney has done key work on feminist issues including family and medical leave, processing of rape kits, reproductive health issues, and working to end gender apartheid in Afghanistan.

Feminist Majority President Eleanor Smeal commented on the endorsement in a press release:"I have worked with many legislators over the course of several decades. Congresswoman Maloney gets things done whether in the majority or the minority. She is an effective legislator who never takes no for an answer when it comes to fighting for women of the world or the citizens of New York."

Chris Matthews Chickens Come Home to Roost

Sooner or later, some of the lewd, idiotic, misogynistic statements and actions had to catch up with him.

From The Hill - Matthews could be haunted by his own words.

A simple YouTube search shows the possible perils of a Chris Matthews Senate candidacy: foul language, inappropriate touching and an offer to duel.

Speculation is growing that the MSNBC talk show host may challenge Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) in 2010. The campaign is “in its infancy,” with a final decision expected early next year, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party told a liberal blog Thursday.

“He’s just talking to people. Conversations are going on, obviously,” Pennsylvania Democratic Party spokesman Abe Amoros told TPM Election Central. “We will know whether or not he’s a serious candidate sometime early next year.”

A new Rasmussen Reports poll shows Matthews within striking distance of Specter. The Republican is in the lead, but with a narrow 46-43 percent advantage over Matthews. Previous independent polls have shown a close race, though with a wider margin separating the two. The poll, conducted Dec. 2, has a 4.5 percent margin of error.

But a potential problem for Matthews is that his candidacy would be an opposition researcher’s dream. The loud-talking, combative journalist has an 11-year on-air career, another 13 years in the print media, has written six books and has a lengthy Internet Movie Database listing.

All that information could provide Specter and independent groups with ample ammunition to attack the “Hardball” host.

For example, typing his name in the video-sharing website YouTube brings up almost 10,000 results.

Some of the most popular include a 44-second “Chris Matthews Swearing Montage” filled with clips of Matthews swearing on-air.

Then there is the infamous incident with former Sen. Zell Miller (D-Ga.)

At the 2004 Republican National Convention, Miller addressed the GOP delegates and appeared on “Hardball” afterward. Matthews asked him about his criticism of then-Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry (Mass.).

The heated exchanged ended with Miller saying: “I wished we lived in the day ... when you could challenge a person to a duel. That would be pretty good.”

This year, in what became a YouTube sensation, there was Matthews’s appearance on the “Ellen DeGeneres Show.” The popular daytime talk show host is known for her love of dancing, and most guests show off a few moves before sitting down.

When Matthews stopped by the show in March 2008, he spun DeGeneres around and ended up grabbing her breast.

“That was best dance ever,” DeGeneres said after they sat down.

“It was a little too physical,” Matthews responded.

But a video that may raise questions about Matthews's support within the Democratic Party is the almost five-minute clip of Matthews apologizing for what he said about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) this election cycle. On Jan. 9, Matthews said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show that Clinton got elected because her husband “messed around.”

“The truth, of course, is finer, smarter, larger than that,” Matthews said in his lengthy apology.

The Clinton campaign often expressed its fury with MSNBC during the presidential race, and critics claimed Matthews did not try to hide his support for then-candidate Barack Obama.

And besides the made-for-TV moments, Matthews has given several noteworthy print interviews, including his participation in an 8,100-word New York Times magazine profile.

The piece noted bloggers have accused Matthews of being sexist, pointing to a YouTube video of him ogling CNBC host Erin Burnett.

Matthews vigorously defended himself to the Times, saying: “I don’t think there’s any evidence of that at all. I’ve gone back and looked. Give me the evidence. No one can give it to me. I went through all my stuff. I can’t find it.”

Also in the profile Matthews pointed out he had 19 honorary degrees, which he expected to add to, and advised the author to call people like Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) for quotes.

Plus, there are plenty of other revealing quotes, such as when Matthews says: “I don’t think people look at me as the establishment, do you? Am I part of the winner’s circle in American life? I don’t think so.”

And it was the Times article that set off the Senate speculation. In it, Matthews said: “I’m a free man starting next June,” which is when his contract with MSNBC is said to be up.

But a lengthy media career doesn’t always translate into electoral disaster. Former “Saturday Night Live” star, radio talk show host and author Al Franken overcame several criticisms of his past life during his Minnesota Senate candidacy, including a racy piece Franken wrote in Playboy. Franken remains in a hotly contested recount with Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.).

On the other hand, a one-minute video can spell ruin for a candidate, particularly in an age in which the opposition sends cameras to record every move. In 2006, Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) called a volunteer for Democratic opponent Jim Webb’s campaign “macaca.”

The video became an Internet and cable-TV sensation, and Allen lost his reelection bid.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Gov. Paterson - Feminist

What a breath of fresh air!

NY gov. outraged no women nominated for top judge

NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York Gov. David Paterson said on Wednesday he was "outraged" that no women were nominated to lead the state's Court of Appeals, its highest court, forcing him to choose from seven men recommended by a panel.

Paterson said he believes the state constitution obliges him to pick one of the men nominated by a 12-member panel. But he directed state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to explore options for picking a new chief judge for the appeals court that is considered one of the most influential state courts in the country.

"Because we're citizens of a state in addition to being public servants, we're outraged," Paterson said, adding that the panel's rejection of more than half the population could discourage women.

"What we really wanted to do is just publicly acknowledge ... the disappointing fact that they spanned the globe and couldn't find a woman in New York state that was qualified to serve as the chief judge," he said. Still, he called the seven male nominees highly qualified.

Four women served on the nominating panel, which was created in the late 1970s to reform the highly politicized way judges were chosen.

The current chief judge of Court of Appeals, Judith Kaye, resigns at the end of the year. Three other women serve on the seven-member court, and Paterson, joined by the Democratic attorney general, questioned why none of them was nominated.

Here

Monday, December 01, 2008

Senator Clinton's New York Senate Seat

Although as a New Yorker I will be sad to see Hillary leave the Senate, I am thrilled that this brilliant woman will have a opportunity to use her wide array of talents in a position that will benefit all Americans. I wish Senator Clinton well, trust she will fly through the confirmation hearings and know that she will be an outstanding Secretary of State.

I believe that Sen. Clinton's seat should be filled by a woman and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney is the logical choice to fill that seat. Representative Maloney has been a tireless champion of issues affecting women and has recently written a book about women in politics entitled Rumors of our Progress Have Been Greatly Exaggerated,wherein she promotes what she calls "the 30% solution". If you haven't read it, run out and get a copy - I highly recommend it.

Another name being bandied about is Representative Kristen Gillibrand, an upstate New Yorker, recently re-elected to her second term in the House. Benjamin Sarlin has an article about possible replacements for Sen. Clinton's seat and how politics will influence who will untimately fill this seat, as does the New York Observer.

Either woman would be a great asset, although I personally prefer Maloney for her vast history and experience with women's issues. That said, one never knows what the future holds, but I am hoping that Gov. Paterson chooses a woman to fill this seat. If you agree, you may want to contact Gov. Paterson here.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Echidne Of the Snakes - The Question

Women can balance their own work, their partners' work, the children, the parents and grandparents, the Thanksgiving turkey, the birthday cards, the care of the sick, the need to look young and sexy, the dustbunnies under the beds, the school menus, the parental chauffeuring services. They can balance all that, somehow, while walking on the tightrope of cultural femininity, the demands of a labor market which still assumes that every worker has a little lady at home to give succor and psychological counseling and cleaning services. And then the woman-haters write how women don't have the same genius as men do, how no woman has ever invented something like the automobile or designed a great church, how women therefore are obviously biologically incapable of anything but -- well --- playing the role of Girl Fridays for famous men.

So I'm angry. How very awkward for me. But really, why can't we keep the limelight on the real question Ruth Marcus asked, for longer than one fleeting second: What can be done to make the sexual division of labor within families more egalitarian? And if we don't want to make those changes, how do we provide women with equal opportunities in other spheres of life? The answer must not focus on all the ways that women alone could somehow achieve that. Days are still only twenty-four hours long, even for us of the girly persuasion.
It's here

Friday, November 28, 2008

Buy Nothing Day a/k/a Black Friday

Christmas Buying in a Time of Recession

Buy Nothing Day is an informal day of protest against consumerism observed by social activists. Typically celebrated the Friday after American Thanksgiving in North America and the following day internationally, in 2008 the dates will be November 28 and 29 respectively.[1] It was founded by Vancouver artist Ted Dave and subsequently promoted by the Canadian Adbusters magazine.

The first Buy Nothing Day was organized in Vancouver in September of 1992 "as a day for society to examine the issue of over-consumption."[2] In 1997, it was moved to the Friday after American Thanksgiving, which is one of the top 10 busiest shopping days in the United States. Outside of North America, Buy Nothing Day is celebrated on the following Saturday. Despite controversies, Adbusters managed to advertise Buy Nothing Day on CNN, but many other major television networks declined to air their ads.[3] Soon, campaigns started appearing in United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Germany, New Zealand, Japan, the Netherlands, and Norway. Participation now includes more than 65 nations.[2]

While critics of the day charge that Buy Nothing Day simply causes participants to buy the next day,[4] Adbusters states that it "isn't just about changing your habits for one day" but "about starting a lasting lifestyle commitment to consuming less and producing less waste."[2] An example of an event celebrating Buy Nothing Day is a Buy Nothing Day hike.[5]

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Chelsea for US Senate



I know, I know. Hillary's status remains in limbo. I'm not sure if Obama is having second thoughts or if Hillary hasn't made her decision on tying her future to an empty suit. In any case, if she leaves the Senate, who better to take her place than Chelsea? After all, Papa Bill says she is the "best politician in our family"! And, as a NY'er, I believe that Hillary's seat should go to a woman.

I mean, if Biden can save his seat for his son, Beau by appointing his chief of staff, Ted Kaufman, until 2010, why can't Hillary give her seat to Chelsea?

Here's Chelsea's Wikipedia profile. Pretty impressive, huh? What do you think?

Monday, November 24, 2008

Obama Opts for Gym Over Church

President-elect Barack Obama has yet to attend church services since winning the White House earlier this month, a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors.

On the three Sundays since his election, Obama has instead used his free time to get in workouts at a Chicago gym.

Asked about the president-elect's decision to not attend church, a transition aide noted that the Obamas valued their faith experience in Chicago but were concerned about the impact their large retinue may have on other parishioners.

"Because they have a great deal of respect for places of worship, they do not want to draw unwelcome or inappropriate attention to a church not used to the attention their attendance would draw," said the aide.

Gee, I wonder if he'll be able to attend Cabinet meetings? Or, will everyone be so star struck by his presence, they'll start drooling and fainting? Here

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Do As I Say, Not As I Do


Obama's offical limo will be a gas guzzler.

On the campaign trail, Barack Obama promised to get a million plug-in hybrid cars on the road by 2015. His own new presidential limousine will be far from green, however.

The Obamobile being prepared for the president-elect is said to be a monster gas-guzzler made by General Motors, the troubled car giant. It will look like a black Cadillac but is built like a tank. A spy photographer who tracks down future car models for magazines snatched pictures of the heavily disguised first-car-in-waiting when it was being road-tested last summer.

The armour-plated car, which has a raised roof, windows up to 5in thick, extra-strength tyres and a body made of steel, aluminium, titanium and ceramics, is thought to be based on a GMC 2500 truck that gets less than 10 miles to the gallon. Three cars are believed to be in production so that two can serve as decoys.

While security is paramount - the car is built to survive roadside bombs as well as gunfire - there are hybrid four-wheel drives on the market, such as Ford’s Mercury Mariner, which some critics believe could have been adapted for the president.
Let's hope he remembers to keep the tires inflated and gets regular tune-ups.

Friday, November 21, 2008

The Agony of the Women of 2008

Oh, fuck. A bunch of men explaining how women feel about the 2008 election. H/T to Caro at Make Them Accountable
Featuring some exceptional lying by Howard Dean.

Palin Pardon Amid Turkey Butchery

In the spirit of giving equal time to media's Palin bashing, an article from the UK with a headline above that only the English could write.

With an astonishing comment from Palin:
"I was happy to get to be invited to participate in this. For one, you need a little bit of levity in this job... It's nice to get out and... participate in something that isn't so heavy-handed politics that it invites criticism."

Oh, Sarah, don't you get it? There is nothing that you do that will escape the wrath of the biased media.

By the way, to you that are so horrified over the butchering of turkeys - Just where in the hell do you people think your Thanksgiving turkeys come from?

(With apologies to all Vegans.)

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Misogyny in American Culture.

By Daphne Merkin- entire article is Here

Of course, any vaginal-American running for high office is instantly consigned to the scrutiny of the reductionist male gaze and the hypercritical female one. Hillary's ankles were as closely analyzed as her competence, just as Nancy Pelosi, perhaps the most powerful woman in government, is more famous for her pearls than her policies. What Clinton failed to realize is that when it comes to female candidates, accomplishment is a sideline; Americans, both men and women, want gossip. Can she really believe we're more intrigued by what bills she's helped pass than her relationship with Bill? Small wonder the woman lost.

Strong women have always threatened men and will continue to do so as long as women remain the primary caretakers of young children, the front-line enforcers of society's inhibiting agenda. What seems newly in evidence is how resistant women are, consciously or not, to putting one of their own in power. It was, after all, a woman who asked John McCain at a November campaign meeting the question that launched almost a million You Tube hits: "How do we beat the bitch?" Young women today appear less concerned about the limitations imposed on them with good reason; they can indeed become lawyers and doctors with greater ease than would have been imaginable in the 1950s. The attitude seems to be that as feminist goals have gotten closer—no matter that women are still routinely paid less for their labor—there's no need for the strident rhetoric or far-reaching vision of the women's movement.
H/T to TGW

With a bonus story - The Barrier that Didn't Fall with full article Here
* By an overwhelming 61% to 19% margin, women believe there is a gender bias in the media.

* 4 in 10 men freely admit sexist attitudes towards a female president. 39% of men say that a male is “naturally more suited” to carrying out the duties of the office

* Only 20% of women are willing to use the word “feminist” about themselves. Only 17% of all voters said they would welcome their daughters using that label.

* 48% of women thought Hillary Clinton received fair media treatment and only 29% believed Sarah Palin was treated fairly. In contrast, nearly 8 in 10 voters thought the press gave fair treatment to Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

* More than two-thirds of women said they were being treated unfairly in the workplace (68%)

Monday, November 17, 2008

Kissinger Backs Hillary for SOS

Headline grabbed you, huh? He said Clinton would make “an outstanding appointment” as America’s top diplomat. Well, reading a bit further, he also said Clinton would have to be subordinate to her former rival - which would be a “symbol of a new approach.”

Sorry, Mr. Kissinger. You get an F in Equality.

UPDATE: Hillary accepts? Via The Guardian

Sunday, November 16, 2008

How to Ground The Street

Elliot Spitzer writes a great op-ed about what should be done to help create sustainable, honest financial markets into the future. He also reveals that attempts were made and rebuffed by the Bush Administration to head off this problem well in advance.

read more | digg story

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Truth or Dare

Does anyone else see the hypocrisy in this article? Yes, he met with her. It wasn't a hard offer. He is cautious and elegant. He took a big step toward Hillary. They talked about what happened during the campaign. He was respectful. She is great. He gave her a huge amount of support. She cares about health care. He reached out to her. He took a big step. She reciprocated. He does not want to be rejected by her. It's hers to turn down. Good grief, it reads like some kind of weird, sadistic mating ritual.

I think we're being played like a violin. Obama has seen the power of The Hillary and the enormous support she has. My prediction: There will be an announcement that she was offered the position of Secretary of State and she turned it down. Then, we can all get back to Palin bashing.

here

Details on Hillary-Barack Meeting

ABC News' Martha Raddatz reports: President-elect Barack Obama met with Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Thursday in Chicago to discuss the possibility of the senator becoming secretary of state.

A source with knowledge of the transition process describes the meeting as not a hard offer. Obama is more cautious than that.

He is doing this more elegantly, but a source said Obama took a big step toward Hillary. They had a long private meeting in which they talked about their philosophies and what had transpired during the campaign.

He was extremely respectful, saying she was great, and giving her a huge amount of support. He said that he knew how much she cared about health care but said there are other challenges, and wanted to reach out to her about secretary of state.

They were both cautious but again took a big step toward her. She reciprocated.

Obama does not want to be seen as being rejected by her, but it is “hers to turn down,” one source put it.

They have an agreement to have another meeting or phone conversation about this very soon.

ABC News has also confirmed that New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson met with Obama in Chicago today, per a Democratic source. Richardson has also been rumored to be a candidate for the Secretary of State position.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Neither Fiscal Nor Monetary Policy Can Solve Economic Crisis

"What Reich and the American economic establishment do not understand is that the recession paradigm does not apply. There are no jobs waiting at US manufacturers for a demand stimulus to pull Americans back into work. The problem is not a liquidity problem. To the contrary, there have been many years of too much liquidity. Credit has grown far more than production. Indeed, US production has been moved offshore. Jobs that used to support the growth of American incomes and the tax bases of cities and states have moved, along with US GDP, to China and elsewhere....

Anyone who thinks that America still has a vibrant economy needs to log onto www.EconomyInCrisis.org and face the facts."

We need to bring the jobs back. The only way to do that is through TARIFFS on imports. TARIFFS raise the end price to American consumers of foreign imports, which will make American products comparatively less expensive, increasing demand for American production, increasing demand for America labor to provide that production--thus increasing wages and employment.

And TARIFFS don't cost any money. In fact, they raise Federal revenue, while at the same time creating American jobs and raising wages.

The only way $18/hour American workers can compete with 49¢/hour Chinese workers is by putting Tariffs on the goods produced by those 49¢/hour workers.

read more | digg story

The Hatred of Sarah Palin - Debunked


A rant from one of my new favorite feminists, Soopermouse. And the following is just a snippet!

There is much self reinforcement to be gained from watching people make the same choices you do. We are social animals, and the opinion of the majority does matter. Especially when you do question your own choices, knowing everyone else did the same thing and is equally miserable wil make you feel better.

This is why these feminists felt threatened by Sarah Palin. She was the conservative woman who did not fit into their narrow weltanschauung of conservative women. She was successful and making choices that were contrary to theirs. Which meant that their choices were not the be all end all. Which meant that they were not infallible.

The whole paradigm was falling on their heads with a threatening thud.
So what did they do? They tried to fit Sarah into the generally accepted standard of conservative woman. First they tried to push the meme that she was just a puppet for her husband. That didn't work because it is about as fake as Amanda Marcotte's feminism.

So when that didn't work, they tried to make her the monster. She charged victims for their rape kits. She burned books. She fired people. She was evil. She believed in ID, she forced her daughter to have a child, she cut funding for teen mothers, she believed in abstinence only.
All of the above ( in case you are a stupid fuck who can't possibly check its own facts) are lies. Lies easily debunked. But debunking them caused the same problem- if Sarah is not a monster then those who attack her are. Who would want to regard themselves as monsters? Nobody.

Go read the rest by clicking the link at the top.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

I Interrupt This Regularly Scheduled Program


For shameless promotion of my daughter and son-in-law's music. Everyone needs a little Gypsy in their soul. Go give a listen at the "read more" link.

World pop band INNER GYPSY on WLTW 106.7 Lite fm New York!
World-beat acoustic pop duo Inner Gypsy's song, "Gypsychology", the title track of their debut album, in rotation on WLTW-FM New York City. "The acoustic guitar and flute are simply splendid. You will love this album if you like to sit down and listen to music and let it take you where it will." (-Music Industry News Network)

read more | digg story

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program... (with mucho thanks from Mama)

World pop band INNER GYPSY on WLTW 106.7 Lite fm New York

World-beat acoustic pop duo Inner Gypsy's song, "Gypsychology", the title track of their debut album, in rotation on WLTW-FM New York City. "The acoustic guitar and flute are simply splended. You will love this album if you like to sit down and listen to music and let it take you where it will." (-Music Industry News Network)

read more | digg story

Obama's Draft

Via Liberal Rapture

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

The Fed run Amok

Under Ben Bernanke, the Fed has completely rewritten its mission. The Fed Reserve was never envisioned to be lender of last resorts to investment banks, money markets, and commercial paper issuers. The money squandered by the Fed is difficult to measure. By one measure, the Fed has gone from a balance sheet of $800 bill in assets down to $250 bil.

read more | digg story

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Business as Usual


Let's pretend I am a paralegal and work for a sole practitioner who does real property closings. Let's also pretend that I am the Queen of Real Property, 'cause I am.

So, what has changed in the mortgages that we see now compared to the mortgages we saw in the last 10 years when mortgages were given to people with lousy credit, no down payments? You remember - The American Dream Grants (cough), I mean loans. The ones we taxpayers are paying to bailout the purchasers of those overvalued pieces of paper?

Not one fucking thing. Nada. Nothing has changed. In fact, the mortgages have become even more bizarre. Bad credit? No down payment? Want a house anyway? Call your friendly "mortgage broker" and he or she will find some obscure bank, most likely located out of your state, who will email you the closing documents, and take your money. In fact, I would venture to go out on a limb and say if you can't afford a conventional mortgage from a conventional lender, you can't afford that house.

The worst scenario I've seen in the last few months was a house selling for $65,000.00 with a "gift" from the seller to the buyer in the sum of $30,000.00. This means the house was only worth $35,000.00 in the first place, but in order to get the numbers to work, the home price was inflated, the seller pledged money that never really existed, and the buyer got the home that he can't afford and will probably lose.

So much for fixing the Housing Bubble. Get ready for a whole new round of bailouts in the coming years.

Fed theft of Taxpayers' money exceeds $2 trillion

Total Fed lending topped $2 trillion for the 1st time last week & has risen by 140%, or $1.172 trillion, in the 7 weeks since Fed governors relaxed collateral standards on Sept. 14. The difference includes a $788 billion increase in loans to banks through the Fed and $474 billion in other lending, mostly thru MBS purchases from Fannie & Freddie.

read more | digg story

Media Bias


With the recent announcement that MSNBC has extended Olbermann's contract and an email from an Obama supporter (entitled "matches o'reilly's extension at faux news, with a $3.5M annual raise"), lauding that fact, I think it's time to really examine what influence these political pretend news programs have on the average American.

It is a sad reflection on the US that we are fed a diet of rhetoric, propaganda, opinion and untruths from the bloviating Forth Estate. As Bill Moyers so aptly put it,

I heard this story a long time ago, growing up in Choctaw County in Oklahoma before my family moved to Texas. A tribal elder was telling his grandson about the battle the old man was waging within himself. He said, “It is between two wolves, my son. One is an evil wolf: anger, envy, sorrow, greed, self-pity, guilt, resentment, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other is the good wolf: joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The boy took this in for a few minutes and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf won?”

The old Cherokee replied simply, “The one I feed.”

Democracy is that way. The wolf that wins is the one we feed. And in our society, media provides the fodder.
So long as we continue to tune in, so long as we continue to support the advertisers and feed the bad wolf, we won't be hearing the truth any time soon. It's your choice.

UPDATE: Death by 1000 Papercuts has an incredible roundup of media bias in the election Here

Monday, November 10, 2008

Boobs for Burma: Can Sex Sell Human Rights?

Via The Feminist Underground


You know, I get it--human beings like nothing more than looking at sexy ladies and thinking about sexy lady boobies. So, naturally, if we want to sell something to other human beings we must first get their attention with boobies and sexy ladies. Apparently we can sell anything this way - masonry drills, information numbers, animal rights, compassion...

Wait - can you really sell people on compassion with sexy ladies? The Human Rights Action Center says, "Yes! With the help of Tila Tequila, we'll save the good people of Myanmar!"

Sunday, November 09, 2008

The America We Never Seem to Talk About

Brenda Ann Kenneally captures the female working poor and culture of incarceration in Troy, N.Y., where the presidential race has little resonance.

Upstate Girls A Photo Essay
As the U.S. economy falls further into recession, politicians continue to focus on the endangered middle class while the 40 million Americans living below the poverty line have disappeared from the discussion.

Photographer Brenda Ann Kenneally, author of Money, Power, Respect, documents the permanently poor in Troy, N.Y., once a proud industrial boomtown with a rich labor history, now a city of female-headed households where big box stores and penitentiaries are the only sources of employment.

Nina Berman talks to Kenneally about her hometown of Troy, the mothers and daughters she photographs, the culture of incarceration in Troy and whether the presidential race has any resonance.

Obama is Toast


H/T to Bad Astronomy

Get over to ebay and bid before the Bots find it!

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Woman Unleashed


The treatment of women in this election, particularly that inflicted by Obama and the faux MSM, has uncovered that part of my soul that I had been neglecting while raising children, working to keep my head above water and dealing with the shit life throws at us to make sure we aren't feeling too sassy. I am horrified and mad, mostly at myself, for not paying enough attention. My lapse of awareness has resulted in a need to once again become involved. I find I am voraciously reading, which is what led me to this excerpt from Robin Morgan's Witch - Spooking the Patriarchy:

WITCH is an all-women Everything. It's theater, revolution, magic, terror, joy, garlic flowers, spells. It's an awareness that witches and gypsies were the original guerrillas and resistance fighters against oppression-particularly the oppression of women-down through the ages. Witches have always been women who dared to be : groovy, courageous, aggressive, intelligent, nonconformist, explorative, curious, independent, sexually liberated, revolutionary. Witches were the first Friendly Heads and Dealers, the first birth-control practitioners and abortionists, the first alchemists. They bowed to no man, being the living remnants of the oldest culture of all-one in which men and women were equal sharers in a truly cooperative society, before the death-dealing sexual, economic, and spiritual repression of the Imperialist Phallic Society took over and began to destroy nature and human society.

Witch lives and laughs in every woman. She is the free part of each of us, beneath the shy smiles, the acquiescence to absurd male domination, the make-up or flesh-suffocating clothing our sick society demands. There is no "joining" WITCH. If you are a woman and dare to look within yourself, you are a Witch. You make your own rules. You are both free and beautiful. You can be invisible or evident in how you choose to make your witch-self known.

Whatever is repressive, solely male-oriented, greedy, puritanical, authoritarian-those are your targets. Your weapons surround you : theater, satire, explosions, magic, herbs, music, costumes, candles, bells, Voodoo dolls, incense...... Your power comes from your own self as a woman, and it is activated by working together with your sisters.
This comment comes from Violet's post at Reclusive Leftest. It struck a definite chord with me and says a lot about where we are on society's ladder of life. Have you ever experienced anything similar to this?


  1. Lisa, Gine, theOtherDelphyne, SKM, and Violet, thanks for your kind words. And thanks to Violet for such an excellent post which has provoked so many interesting and heart-felt comments.

    And Lisa, I loved your comment that “Sexism and misogyny are so covert, and so ubiquitous, that a woman can look crazy complaining about it. It is this trait that makes it so dangerous. How do you fight smoke?”

    I often feel that I “look crazy” when I talk about misogyny. Most of the time my friends and family are polite and wait ’til I finish, then conversation picks up where it left off before I spoke, as if I had committed some embarrassing social faux pas. My words seem to be swallowed up by some sort of voice-choking material– like smoke. It is …”crazy-making.” Not one of my close women friends really “believes in” misogyny. And that makes me feel crazy — as if I am inhabiting a reality no one else sees. It is very isolating. And so, I really appreciate this blog, because, here, I encounter others who affirm my perception of reality — which leads me to believe perhaps I am sane after all.

Friday, November 07, 2008

Imagine A Woman

Via FCW Society

from one woman to another …

Imagine a woman who believes it is right and good she is a woman.
A woman who honors her experiences and tells her stories.
Who refuses to carry the sins of others within her body and life.

Imagine a woman who trusts and respects herself.
A woman who listens to her needs and desires.
Who meets them with tenderness and grace.

Imagine a woman who has acknowledged the past’s influence on the present.
A woman who has walked through her past.
Who has healed into the present.

Imagine a woman in love with her own body.
A woman who believes her body is enough, just as it is.
Who celebrates her body’s rhythms and cycles as an exquisite resource.

Imagine a woman who honors the body of the Goddess in her changing body.
A woman who celebrates the accumulation of her years and her wisdom.
Who refuses to use her precious life-energy disguising the changes in her body and life.

Imagine a woman who names her own gods.
A woman who imagines the divine in her image and likeness.
Who designs a personal spirituality to inform her daily life.

Imagine a woman who authors her own life.
A woman who trust her inner sense of what is right for her.
Who refuses to twist her life out of shape to meet the expectations of others.

Imagine a woman who values the woman in her life.
A woman who sits in circles of women.
Who is reminded of the truth about herself she forgets.

Imagine yourself as this woman.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

On My Way


On my way to an election, I saw some chose to heal racism instead and They picked words and cadences over hard work and experience.

On my way to an election, I saw some look the other way and They said hope and change and change and hope and hoped it would be there in the end.

On my way to an election, I saw women ripped apart and They said Cunt and Bitch and Bros before Hos and chose to foster inequality of a different nature.

On my way to an election, I saw some refuse to look behind the curtain and They chose to wear the blindfold and were led down a chosen path.

On my way to an election, I saw highly competent and superbly qualified women and They threw them off a bridge in order to make way for The Proverbial Man.

I learned a lot on my way to an election and, for my daughters and my sisters, I will take up that plow and keep going until we get it right.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Tom In Paine: BITTER DEMOCRATS. OBAMA'S HARVEST

Tom In Paine: BITTER DEMOCRATS. OBAMA'S HARVEST

Bitter Democrats. It sounds like an Ingmar Bergman movie from the 50's. but that is what Obama supporters call Democrats who are refusing to support Obama and march in lockstep like they are and like the Republicans do traditionally. But it is actually the Democrats who will be voting for Obama who are the bitter Democrats. Bitter over 8 years of a Republican President who is without a doubt the worst most unqualified President this country ever had and never should have been elected in the first place.

Open Letter to Sen. Obama from Ralph Nader

"Far more than Senator McCain, you have received enormous, unprecedented contributions from corporate interests, Wall Street interests and, most interestingly, big corporate law firm attorneys...Why, apart from your unconditional vote for the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, are these large corporate interests investing so much in Senator Obama?

read more | digg story

Obama Attacks Himself

All in the Family

Senior aides to Sen. Barack Obama and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick were aware that Obama's aunt, Zeituni Onyango, was living in the United States illegally and in a South Boston public-housing project, and were monitoring her at the request of senior Obama campaign officials, according to a current employee for Obama's key political consulting firm, AKP&D Message and Media.

Back in early 2007, as Obama's chief campaign strategist David Axelrod was organizing and planning the Obama campaign, he identified Obama's unique family situation -- a number of half-brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, some living overseas -- as a potential problem, says an employee for Axelrod's political consulting firm, and who has done work on the Obama campaign. "Given [Obama's] father's family history here and in Africa, David wanted the campaign to know who was who, where they lived, and what they were doing. No surprises. We knew she was here illegally. We knew her income levels, but I don't think anyone from the campaign had had contact with her."
Read it here

How Many Pumas Does It Take to Win An Election?

MCCAIN-PALIN 310 OBAMA-BIDEN 228

From the marston Chronicles: For those of you who have been following my prediction of a McCain-Palin landslide, here is my latest take. This article was posted yesterday on Real Clear Politics and resulted in over 42,000 hits on my website. It was cross posted on a half dozen more. I am going to copy in the tables from that article that have now been updated using today's averages shown in the no toss up map page at real clear politics. I have posted this article on real clear politics, but there were so many articles submitted that it did not stay on the front page for very long.
Marston Chronicles

Get out there and vote, PUMAS!

Monday, November 03, 2008

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Mad about The One

What's troubling to anyone old-fashioned enough to care about standards in journalism is the news coverage of the presidential race in mainstream media. Forget the old notions of objectivity, fairness, thoroughness, and so on. The nastiest rumours on both sides haven't been published, but the coverage has been slavishly on the side of "the one".

read more | digg story
Just Say No Deal Presents Closing Arguments in Nationwide Conference Call Sunday, November 2, 5PM et.

Dial : (218) 486-1662
Access Code : 82114#
OR
Listen via Blog Talk Radio streaming of the LIVE CALL on the internet via this link :
SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKERS:
Lady Lynn de Rothschild
Charlie Crist, Governor of Florida
Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City
Larry Johnson, PhD.
Lynette Long, PhD.

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Annie, Get Your Gun

From my favorite blogger, - Heidi Li - a feminist, truth teller, leader of the next wave. A voice of reason in a sea of unbelievable discontent and unwillingness to accept that which is wrong.

The first group in the U.S. to wage a nonviolent civil disobedience campaign

Many others who believe, as I do, that this election season has revealed how far women have to go in the fight for full civil and political equality, have noted the work of Alice Paul, the author the Equal Rights Amendment, and a prominent force in the fight for women's suffrage. What many Americans do not realize is what a long, hard fight that was nor how original and intelligent Paul's tactics were. An extended excerpt from one source of information about Paul's life and times.

Via Patriot Room

The Women of America Aren't Finished Yet

Obama's Duplicity

An update on my Obama's Compassion post below.

Obama's aunt from Kenya is living in America illegally. That's right - she was turned down in her request for asylum in 2004. Eight years ago.

It appears none of the Obama clan is required to play by the rules.
Read the AP story here

Friday, October 31, 2008

A No Holds Barred Weep-A-Thon

America’s supplies of tissues must have been exhausted during Barack Obama’s 30-minute election broadcast late on Wednesday night. It had been billed as a “closing argument” by the Democrat’s seemingly unstoppable campaign. In reality, it was an all-out, no-holds-barred weepathon with a feel-bad factor pitched somewhere between the third act of Schindler’s List and the slaughter scenes in Watership Down. I emerged from my TV room sodden-eyed and legs trembling, wishing that Iran would just drop the bomb and get it all over with.

It began, as these things so often do, with a flugelhorn. Then pictures of wind-rippled cornfields. Then footage of children and old people smiling — the tape slowed down a little, to make their happiness appear somehow tragic.


When Obama, made his entrance he was wearing a sombre black suit (pictured right) and standing in what appeared to be a log cabin. You could practically smell the coffee roasting. This was Obamaland, where everything is safe and warm, where Big Brobama loves you and keeps the evil profit-doers at bay. You, too, could go to Obamaland, went the subtext, just so long as you voted for the man with the “D” next to his name. But in case Americans didn’t realise what was at stake, Obama set out to demonstrate what a God-forsaken, economically devastated shell of a nation they now live in. So we cut to a harried mother named Rebecca, from North Kansas City, Missouri, who complained that her husband Brian, who works at a tyre plant, has to stand up all day, even though he has a dicky knee. We were treated to a glimpse of Brian slumped on his sofa, looking fed up. He had planned to have surgery in June, said Rebecca, but because of the rising cost of living he couldn’t afford it. We then saw Rebecca rationing the food in her fridge, balancing her cheque book, and driving her humungous SUV in the moonlight.

From this purgatory we emerged again into the comforting fuzzy goodness of Obamaland. “We measure the strength of our country not by the number of billionaires we have,” he boomed, “but by whether a waitress who lives on tips can take the day off to look after a sick kid without being laid off.”

Then we were back in the wasteland of He Who Must Not Be Named — the dark wizard Bush (whose dead half-brother, McCain, has been exhumed to carry on his dastardly work). This time we were in Sardinia, Ohio, with an elderly African-American woman named Juanita who needs 12 different medications each day for rheumatoid arthritis. Her husband Larry lost his health insurance when he retired, so he took out a loan to pay for the pills, and now, at the age of 72, he has been forced to work as a salesman at Wal-Mart. We saw him putting on his name-pin with an expression of sadness and contempt.

Then Obama brought up his dead mother. It was enough to make you pine for the wit and intelligence of a Sarah Palin debate. I had hoped for goosebumps and that swollen feeling you get in your chest when you know that something good might happen. But instead I just felt downbeat; not only because of America’s obvious problems but also because of Obama’s willingness to exploit them so mawkishly.

Republicans have always used fear to their advantage. Now it seems that the Democrats are just as skilled with self-pity. It’s a measure of just how poorly McCain has run his campaign that Americans seem to be buying it.
I'm moving to England