your weekly youtube installment

this is from a television show I have never seen.....but found this on a blog I read regularly: Racialicious

my statement for the press conference

Hello, my name is Katherine Stewart. My daughter, Emily, is 13 years old. Earlier this year, Emily was diagnosed with a disorder that affects her behavior at home and her ability to learn and perform well at school. We had no insurance coverage at the time of her diagnosis. On the initial trip to the pharmacy, I was shocked to find out that the cost for a month’s worth of the medication prescribed was more than $400. I had no idea how we would pay for such an expense. I left the pharmacy empty handed and distraught. Like many working families, we have found it difficult to acquire affordable, comprehensive health insurance. Thanks to the Illinois All Kids program, Emily now receives the much-needed medication and her health and functioning has improved.

I am dismayed that the expansion of SCHIP funding is in jeopardy. I hear many politicians talk about family values and moral imperatives, but their actions don't seem to add up. When it comes to valuing life and family, I can think of no cause as important as insuring the health and well being of our children. I am grateful to people like Senator Durbin who are working to get my child, and your children, the care they need. We must not stand idly by and allow this legislation to be torn apart or compromised. I encourage all Americans to stand up, for the well-being of our nation and our future, and demand that this legislation be passed. Thank you Senator for inviting my family and me here today and for giving me a few moments to speak. Thank you.

speak your mind, even if your voice shakes

We were called by both Governor Blagojevich's office and Senator Durbin's office and have been invited to give a statement and participate in a press conference tomorrow with the Senator and Rep. Emmanuel regarding the SCHIP program and promote health care for our nation's children!

We are going to craft our statement tonight.

We got in this position because I wrote a letter to the governor a couple months back, thanking him for his support of the All Kids Health Care program and told him Emily's story. Graham said, "wow, it's nice to know someone is reading those letters you send!"

I can tell you this much - our representative (Peter Roskam) would never in a million years invite us to anything, nor has he (so much for those open town hall meetings he has touted on national radio)....I guess protesting the war outside of his office doesn't endear us to him - nor all of the angry letters.

I am really excited to be invited to this - but also really nervous - wow.

migraine land

I am pretty pleased with myself.....today, while toting a migraine along with me, like a bag of hammers, I managed to get a lot done.....

--laundromat

--cupcakes

--mopped the kitchen

--cleaned the living room

--talked to the neighbors

So, yes....I deserved that Starbucks latte.

today

we went to an anti-war rally and march at a park out in the boonies…..there were a few bands and some speakers. We then walked with signs to our Representative’s office – that of Peter Roskam (groan).

It was interesting to see the reactions of the passersby – some honking with delight and waving, others with looks of disgust…..and some spewing nonsense…..

“learn your history!”

“support the troops! support the troooooooops!”

“Iraq should be a parking lot!”

This last comment made me really sad and I just can’t believe there are people who actually believe in statements like that.

It was nice to be with a group of likeminded people, and taking the message into the heart of oblivion country where people are so wrapped up in their own lives and think that life doesn’t exist outside of strip malls, Macy’s and Fox News – hence the many confused, twisted faces of passersby.

There is a large demonstration downtown Chicago on October 27th and Graham and I are planning on being there. I will post info about this when I have more. I know it is starting in Union Park and will move proceed downtown.

Peace.

i think this may be my new favorite band

looks like a must read

I am a big fan of Naomi Klein's work and I am looking forward to her new book with great anticipation. It is refreshing to see someone take the Chicago School/Milton Friedman to task for the horrors inflicted upon the globe because of their inhumane economic theories and the policies which have emerged.

I have always been fascinated with the issue of fear, and the use of, in politics and economics.

This should be a gripping, intense read.

we can't let this happen

found on crooks and liars.....

Numerous reports, including most credibly one in The Times in London (owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.), suggest that a plan has already been laid out for a three-day massive bombardment on over 1200 targets in Iran, which would attempt to destroy not just that country's nascent nuclear processing capability, but also its government, communications, and military facilities, essentially leaving the country of 70 million a smoking ruin.

Such an attack, with no international support, no UN sanction, no threat, imminent or otherwise, and no provocation, would be, pure and simple, a war crime of the first order. It would also put the US at war, not just with Iran, but also with virtually the entire Islamic world.

...

The shocking thing is that even though all the signs of a Bush attack on Iran are there, including the build-up of an unprecedented Naval armada, armed to the teeth, in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, nobody in Congress or the American media is talking about this looming crime and imminent disaster. Most Americans are blissfully unaware, even though people in the military are watching it all unfold in horror.

In 2002, Bush illegally diverted billions of dollars Congress appropriated for the war in Afghanistan to a covert build-up of troops and weapons in the Middle East for an attack on Iraq. Now the president is asking Congress for another $50 billion for the War in Iraq, which he will almost certainly be diverting to the attack on Iran.

The pathetic Democrats in Congress, who already handed Bush $120 billion a few months ago for continuing and escalating his epic disaster in Iraq, are likely to grant him this new king's ransom to finance an even worse disaster in Iran. If they do, the blood of Iranians and Americans will be equally on all their hands.

The clock is ticking. The only thing that could prevent this Crime Against Peace by the president would be for Congress, as one, to vote to rescind the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, which Bush has claimed authorized an unending "war on terror," and which will be his justification for attacking Iran, and to begin impeachment proceedings against the president and vice president for conspiring to violate the Nuremberg Charter by attacking a nation that poses no immediate threat.

Stopping this crime will require concerted mass action. Meanwhile, every American should contact their representatives to demand action (to reach your Congressional delegation, call the Capitol switchboard at 202-225-3121).

You're Watership Down!

by Richard Adams

Though many think of you as a bit young, even childish, you're
actually incredibly deep and complex. You show people the need to rethink their
assumptions, and confront them on everything from how they think to where they
build their houses. You might be one of the greatest people of all time. You'd
be recognized as such if you weren't always talking about talking rabbits.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

holy sentence structure batman!

Apparently I am not the only person in the world who thought that Teen Miss SC had the chops to run for president.