Tuesday, November 08, 2005

GOOD OLE PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL NEWS

EDITORIAL: MAKING WAL-MART CHANGE ITS WAYS
Don Hazen, AlterNet
In Round II in the battle to make Wal-Mart honest, progressive media gets into the act with a unique editorial collaboration.
http://www.alternet.org/walmart/27898/

COMO SE DICE 'SPIN'?
John Nichols, The Nation
When he does not have a script in front of him, Bush can barely mumble a restaurant order in Spanish. And his mastery of the intricacies of the western hemisphere is even less impressive.
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1108-26.htm

WAL-MART'S 'CHINA PRICE'
Joshua Holland, AlterNet
Robert Greenwald's documentary shines a light on who pays for Wal-Mart's cheap products from China: the workers who make them.
http://www.alternet.org/walmart/27829/

PRESIDENT BUSH'S WALKABOUT
NY Times Editorial
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1108-21.htm

BRINGING HOME THE GUARD
Michael Blanding, AlterNet
With a proposed ballot initiative to prevent the deployment of Massachusetts National Guard troops to Iraq, a new coalition hopes to hold a national referendum on the war.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/27626/

DECONSTRUCTING CHENEY
James Carroll, The Boston Globe
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1107-20.htm

THE END OF ARNIE'S DAYS
Dean Kuipers, LA CityBeat
Longtime Los Angeles politico Jackie Goldberg discusses Schwarzenegger's suicide strategy for Election Day and the corporate takeover of California.
http://www.alternet.org/story/27732/

PERSONAL NEWS #77
On Monday, October 10th, Maria [NYC DoP member] invited me to join a group of friends in attending a Matthew Shepard Foundation event at jazz club Birdland. The event and light refreshment was a birthday treat to me from Maria, as she wouldn't be able to attend my party on 16th. [She is such a sweet, caring, thoughtful gal.] Karen [NYC DoP] also joined us for two hours of music, tasty food and much joy. All of the performers that evening are talented folk from Broadway, cabaret and entertainment. Wish I could remember their names, but I do recall that one gent is currently in the show "Spamalot". To learn more about the Matthew Shepard Foundation [a young man brutally murdered because he was gay] go to the website at ... http://www.MatthewShepard.org ... The goal of this foundation is to replace anti-gay hate crimes with education, understanding, compassion and acceptance. Very much a worthy cause ... please ... lend your support.

Saturday, October 15th, I had scheduled maid service to work on my kitchen and bathroom. Was ready and waiting for the scheduled maid [Sheila] to arrive at 9am. By 9:15am I was getting concerned, so called the agency and spoke with Michael. He said to give it until 10am, as he heard there had been some subway troubles. I took care of some things around the apartment while I waited. By 10:15am there was still no sighting of the maid, nor any phone calls. Now I was getting abit angry, along with being concerned. Called the agency again, spoke with Michael. He'd make some phone calls and get back to me, which he did. [While this was going on I baked cookies.] He said she's not at home and not answering her cell phone. I clearly stated that I required the maid service that day, as I had a party scheduled at my place next day. Michael was so very understanding. He called me back at 12 noon and further discussed the situation. Michael said that if this maid did show up to dismiss her, as her services are no longer necessary, and he'll send another maid [Katherine]. Plus, I would only pay half the fee, as compensation for my troubles. Oh yeah! He called me back after 1pm to say Katherine was on her way, but having subway troubles. We discussed the situation and I mentioned a few alternatives. Michael also asked me about my answering machine message. So I told him about the Dept of Peace campaign and I'm a member of the NYC chapter. He was really jazzed about the whole idea and concept. So I passed on the NYC and national website URLs. Well, Katherine [delightful Caribbean lady] finally showed up at 2:30pm and I picked her up at the subway. Hurray! She did a wonderful job in cleaning the bathroom and kitchen. I was so thankful that I generously tipped her. Amen!

The next day [Sunday, October 16th] dawned sunny, though windy, for my political soiree and birthday party at moi chateau. [Was on medication for a sinus/allergy troubles.] Since the party wasn't supposed to start until 3pm, I had time to make a spinach quiche, tossed salad and veggie/brown rice dish. As well as finish cleaning rest of apartment et al. After a month of organizing and prep work it was time to be hostess again. Those who were able to attend ... Linda, BC [4 months preggers], Andrew, Paul, Cielito, Peter, Nadine, Gail, Larry, Liz, Rob, Carol, Karen and Max. Paul was the first to arrive and brought me a lovely bouquet of yellow long stem roses. In Victorian times yellow represented friendship. After putting the beautiful blooms in two separate vases, for display, the rest of my guests trickled in over a span of 45 minutes. Bringing such goodies as tortilla chips, bottles of wine, guacamole, b-day cards, pumpkin pie, granola/date bars ... it was all wonderful. I was so happy to see everyone. At one point, before it got too congested in the living room, I asked my friend Larry to help me remove the air conditioner and put it away. Also, my friend Cielito brought along 3 books, freebies courtesy of where she works at Charlie Rose TV show. We set up a raffle; put everyone’s name on pieces of paper and in my Indiana Jones hat. Later on at 6pm I held the raffle. Paul, Gail and Peter won the prizes ... which were books on Margaret Cho and Paul Wellstone.



Everyone was enjoying the food, drink and diverse topics of conversation. Networking was going on and the exchanging of business cards. Several had to leave around 5pm or so due to other commitments. At one point I got into this cool conversation with Rob, Cielito, Max and Linda about movies. Mostly regarding LOTRs and Harry Potter. Yeah! I also enjoyed listening to other conversations and occasionally interjecting my thoughts. Around 8:15pm this terrific party broke up and those still hanging out headed home. Took some time to clean everything up and I was able to sit on the sofa to relax at 9:30pm.

[From left to right ... Liz, Gail, Rob, Karen, Carol & Linda ... in my watermelon theme kitchen]


PREMIERE BROADCAST IN THE UK ON CHANNEL 4 -- A DOCUMENTARY CALLED "Out of Status"
A documentary called "Out of Status" will have its first broadcast in Great Britain on Channel 4. This documentary follows four Muslim families detained or deported in post 9/11 immigration roundups. Channel 4, UK will be airing a broadcast version of "Out of Status" on Wednesday, November 9th at 9pm, on their new Channel More4. Please pass this info on to your friends, especially those in the UK. Feel free to forward this to community organizations as well as people who might be interested. Thank you for your support. We'll keep you posted when it airs in the US.

Below is the link to the Channel 4 website page for Out of Status: http://www.channel4.com/more4/documentaries/doc-feature.jsp?id=10

Our website :http://www.outofstatus.com/

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