http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/7/2004/991
by Harvey Wasserman
Columbus, Ohio---Hour after hour the testimonies are the same: angry Ohioans telling of vicious Republican manipulation and de facto intimidation that disenfranchised tens of thousands and probably cost the Democrats the election.
PERSONAL NEWS #42
Howdy all have lots of news and gossip to catch up on. So prop your feet up for abit and grab a cup of tea [or whatever beverage you fancy], this may take awhile.
First of all, my sincere thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers concerning my father. Very much appreciated. He had triple-bypass surgery back on November 12th and came home yesterday. Dad is doing well and recovery will take over a month. The main thing is the surgery was a success … yep … he pulled a Clinton on us.
QUOTE OF THE DAY ... Although drugs are immoral and must be kept from the young, thousands of schools pressure parents to give the drug Ritalin to any lively child who may, sensibly, show signs of boredom in his classroom. Ritalin renders the child docile if not comatose. Side effects? Stunted growth, facial tics, agitation and aggression, insomnia, appetite loss, headaches, stomach pains and seizures. Marijuana would be far less harmful. Gore Vidal [The War at Home - November 1998]
Back on Wednesday, November 10th, I attended the monthly NYC Dept of Peace meetup held at an upper Westside Starbucks. Three of us [ie: Kathy, Ellen & I] were in attendance that evening. Topics of discussion were: Animal Rights, Kucinich/vegans, Howard Zinn book [ie: Peoples History of the US], Election talk, building up committees and a documentary called “The 4th World War”. We left Starbucks around 9pm, after a two hour meetup, and it took me 1 ½ hours to get home. The subways were sooooo messed up that evening and many delays. Ugh!
The following evening, November 11th, was the NYC Dept of Peace Board member’s general meeting. It was held in a conference room at DOP members [Kevin] office on East 34th Street. Liz brought homemade cookies and muffins for us to nosh on. [Terrific group of folk & it was my first official onsite board meeting.] Those in attendance: Carol, Kevin, Coco, Ellen, Karen, Liz, Vlad, Dawn and myself. Topics of discussion: target groups, strategy, bi-partisan efforts, milestones, and progressive agenda, and bank account structure, petitions, mailing and PR. Great meeting, very productive, I’m helping out with several “projects” and also “secretary” for future conference calls. Good vibes all around.
The national DOP website is at:
http://www.dopcampaign.org
And the NYC DOP website is at:
http://www.nyc-dop.com
On Saturday, November 13th, I headed up to Yonkers for a full afternoon of volunteer work at Ferret Shelter. Headed up via Metro North train and Aliza picked me up at the station. Hadn’t seen her for many months, so while she drove me to the shelter, we caught up on news et al. She declined on coming inside Joanne’s home/shelter, as she’s in process of apartment hunting. It’s great seeing Joanne again and first thing I noticed upon entering the house was that Poopy wasn’t there. Poor, sweet, darling doggy had been ill for some time and Joanne finally had her put-down. We chatted for abit before I headed into ferret shelter to tend to the wee ones. I’d brought up empty, clean paper bags from my grocery store, so they could play with them. And play they did … it was so amusing to watching them cavort inside and outside of the bags. I just love taking care of the furkids and find the whole experience very therapeutic.
On November 7th & 14th, in the evenings, I watched a terrific Masterpiece Theater production called “Henry VIII”. It starred one of my fav actors the brilliant Sean Bean. He played the role of Robert Aske and Ray Winston portrayed King Henry VIII.
[Ray Winston & Sean Bean in Masterpiece Theater production of "Henry VIII"]
Speaking of the handsome, talented Sean Bean … this past Friday, November 19th … I went to see the movie “National Treasure” at one of the cinema’s in Times Square. Sean Bean played Ian Howe the bad fella in the film, which also stars Nicholas Cage, Jon Voight and Christopher Plummer. I very much enjoyed the film and it seemed the audience did too. Which, I might add, was a sold-out crowd. The critics have written the usual mixed reviews, but apparently the audiences didn’t listen to them. As box office receipts showed it was number one over the weekend.
During the evenings of November 15th and 16th I went to two meetups [ie: Pearl Jam & Harry Potter]. I was the only one attending … abit of a washout. Well, maybe next months meetups will be different.
On Wednesday, November 17th, was the NYC Dept of Peace conference call. Liz and Joe joined me for the call. We discussed a few topics; such as: Peace Circles, developing strategies, an inspiring book called “Peace Pilgrim” and the Humanities Team [ie: which Joe is involved with]. Liz brought up a quote from the Declaration of Independence … “Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness” … what does it mean to you.
Over the weekend, on Saturday evening, I attended a terrific house party by fellow Kucitizen member [Cielito] in Brooklyn. She shares an apartment with her roommate Maggie and the walls are covered with amazing paintings by two local artisans [ie: Constant & Engel’s]. Over 10 guests showed up and we enjoyed homemade Thai and Caribbean food, listened to music and engaged in fascinating conversations.
The following day [November 21st] was the first, official NYC Friends of Kucinich general meeting that Ellen and I co-chair. It was held at the 11th Street Bar and about 16 Kucitizens showed up. Those in attendance were: Linda Z, Peter, Dolores, Kenny, Paul, Ellen, Cielito, Elizabeth, Linda D, Rodney, William, Louise, Gloria, Eric, Tom, Ephraim and I. Meeting started around 4pm and went to about 7:30pm. Two new committees have been added on, dealing with elections and homelessness. Most of the group at the meeting signed up to help out with several committees; such as: Universal Healthcare, Multiparty System, Civil Liberties, Education, Women’s Empowerment, Animal Welfare and Hispanic Bridge. Someone suggested reading an op-ed by Maureen Dowd in the November 18th issue of NY Times, as well as a fascinating website:
http://www.reachingcriticalwill.com
Overall it turned out to be a good meeting and several topics were covered. I gave out the info on Decembers Kucinich Meetup and everyone debated on dates for next “general meeting”, which will be held after the holidays in January.
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