PERSONAL NEWS #92
Monday, April 10th, I attended two events, as well as being at work. The first event was at the Community Church [East 35th Street] from 12pm to 1:30pm for a Town Hall meeting. This event featured Congressional representatives Murtha [PA] and Maloney [NY]. I was able to catch 30 minutes of it out of the whole 90 minutes. Murtha mostly talked about getting the troops out of Iraq and answer questions from the "standing room only" audience. Ran into Rob Jereski and talked for about 5 minutes, plus met his new bride. After work I went to my first PDA [ie: Progressive Democrats of America] meeting at the SEIU Local on West 43rd Street. Saw some folk that I know from working on past political campaigns. That homeless insane jackass [Tom W] showed up briefly, caused a hostile scene and was verbally abusive to Jessica Flagg and me. Thankfully he was escorted from the building by security. Topics of discussion that evening were on ... voting issues, work to get progressive presidential candidate, setting up PDA chapters by district, impeaching Bush/Cheney, join Democrat Clubs, etc. Guest speakers were author Mark Crispin Miller and NY state senate campaign candidate Steve Greenfield. Had a discussion with Jessica Flagg, as I'm helping [volunteer] her out with her congressional campaign.

Headed upstate NY for the Easter weekend and left Friday morning. Visited my parents, as well as my brother and sister-in-law over the weekend. Felt good to get away from the city for a few days and relax. Went to "Over The Moon" bead/gift shop and restocked my supply of beads for future earrings. Also checked out Battenkill Books and had an appointment at hair salon. Mom and I did an exchange of books ... she wanted to read "In Cold Blood" and I wanted to read "Memoirs of a Geisha". On the bus ride up to Albany I finished reading a fascinating book by Hugh Kennedy called "When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World". The rise and fall of Islam's great dynasty [Abbasid] ruled from early 700 to 1031. Ending around the time of the first Crusade. Overall I had a nice weekend & the weather was gorgeous on Saturday.

On Thursday, April 20th, I attended the monthly "New Yorkers for Dept of Peace" core team meeting. We had happy news ... learned that one of our members is pregnant and due in about four months. Yep, a little peacemaker is on the way. As always our meetings are fun, productive, inspiring and interesting. [Main planning on a big event for early September & tie in with 9/11. As well as World Peace Day on Sept 21st.] We had a nice turnout of members, plus two newbie’s ... Kevin, Liz, Carol, Karen, Marni, Priscilla, Eileen, Norma, David, MaryJo, Barbara, Marianne and I. If anyone would like to join the Dept of Peace activist ListServe, go to ... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dopactivist/ Around this time I picked up a terrific book here in Manhattan called "The World of Tolkien" by David Day. Explains how LOTRs and Middle Earth came to be via Tolkiens interests in mythology, ancient languages, folklore and epic novels.

SEVERAL REVIEWS ON PEARL JAM’S NEW STUDIO ALBUM
Metacritic.com
http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/pearljam/pearljam?q=pearl%20jam

PEARL JAM NEW STUDIO ALBUM REVIEW
By Michael Metivier, PopMatters.com
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/pearl_jam_pearl_jam/

PEARL JAM, CONSTANTLY TOURING, STILL COMMANDS GENUINE LOYALTY
By Jon Pareles, NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/06/arts/music/07web-pearl.html

POKER, HOOKERS AND SPOOKS
by Maureen Dowd
http://agonist.org/nymole/20060505/maureen_dowd_poker_hookers_and_spooks
[Duchess Note - The conservative corporate mainstream media (who fawns ALL over the Bush Regime) will NOT print news of this nature. They adore Dictator Bush & Company. Sick buggers! But We The People, Liberals and Progressives will always bring you the TRUTH about totally corrupt, evil Republicans. Our precious tax dollars are paying for their filthy garbage. Not for security, education nor healthcare. Get the truth out Americans! Write your newspaper editors, Congressperson and/or Senator. Get the word out in a peaceful, non violent manner. Just like Gandhi and Martin Luther King.]