Sunday, April 25, 2010

WHAT’S BEEN IN THE NEWS LATELY?

Noam Chomsky Has ‘Never Seen Anything Like This’
Chris Hedges, TruthDig
http://www.truthdig.com/report/print/noam_chomsky_has_never_seen_anything_like_this_20100419/

How the Sleazy Used-Car Salesmen at Goldman Sachs Tricked Investors into Buying Their Busted Clunkers
Brad Reed, AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/story/146512/how_the_sleazy_used-car_salesmen_at_goldman_sachs_tricked_investors_into_buying_their_busted_clunkers
Goldman Sachs is being sued by the government for allegedly defrauding its investors. Confused? Here’s some plain talk about a mega rip-off.

To Organize Against Wall Street, We Need a Narrative Focusing on Crime and Massive Fraud
Danny Schechter, Media Channel
http://www.alternet.org/story/146463/to_organize_against_wall_st.%2C_we_need_a_narrative_focusing_on_crime_and_massive_fraud
How we can be experiencing the largest economic meltdown in decades with no real mass mobilization or ongoing response from the progressive world?

Obamacare Creates Windfall for Drug Companies
Dr Mercola
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/04/22/obamacare-creates-windfall-for-drug-companies.aspx?aid=CD945

Six Banks Control 60% of Gross National Product – Is the US at the Mercy of an Unstoppable Oligarchy?
Bill Moyers Journal
http://www.alternet.org/story/146528/moyers%3A_six_banks_control_60%25_of_gross_national_product_--_is_the_u.s._at_the_mercy_of_an_unstoppable_oligarchy

Food in the US is Still Tainted with Chemicals that were Banned Decades Ago
Emily Elert, Environmental Health News
http://www.alternet.org/story/146576/food_in_the_u.s._is_still_tainted_with_chemicals_that_were_banned_decades_ago
38 years after DDT was banned, Americans still consume trace amounts of the infamous insecticide every day, along with more than 20 other banned chemicals.

We Want a President Who Won’t Coddle Capitalism
Sally Kohn, Movement Vision Lab
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ae%2B%2FrZ%2F1fKuIISyVTQeoiLm21Cf3qJMW
The American public ain’t buying the spoon fed load of crap that Wall Street executives had our economic best interests at heart but just somehow, by accident, went astray.

Moyers on the Cost of Wars
http://act.commondreams.org/go/286?akid=29.19616.PEzqsA&t=16

Ninety-Four Percent of Kandaharis Want Peace Talks, Not War
http://act.commondreams.org/go/282?akid=29.19616.PEzqsA&t=7

Sanders: Congress Must Make Real Changes on Wall Street
http://act.commondreams.org/go/283?akid=29.19616.PEzqsA&t=9

Peace and Nuclear Abolition Organizations: UN Secretary General to Join International Peace Movement Conference to Abolish Nuclear Weapons on Eve of NPT Review Conference
http://act.commondreams.org/go/296?akid=29.19616.PEzqsA&t=36

Friday, April 23, 2010

PLUNDER: THE CRIME OF OUR TIME
Tuesday, April 27, 2010, 7 P.M.
All Souls Unitarian Church
Reidy Friendship Hall
1157 Lexington Avenue (@ 80 Street)
New York City

In 2006 filmmaker Danny Schechter was denounced by some reviewers as an "alarmist" for his film In Debt We Trust, which warned of the coming credit crisis. He was labeled a "doom and gloomer," until the economy melted down vindicating his warnings.

His new film, Plunder: The Crime of Our Time, is a hard-hitting investigative film that shows how the financial crisis was built on a foundation of criminal activity.

To tell this story, Schechter speaks with bankers involved in these activities, respected economists, insider experts, top journalists such as Paul Krugman, and even a convicted white-collar criminal who blows the whistle on intentionally dishonest practices.

Plunder: The Crime of Our Time looks into how the crisis developed—from the mysterious collapse of Bear Stearns to the shadowy world of trillion dollar hedge funds. Insiders who work in the industry and know it well tell both of these stories. Plunder also shows how hastily arranged government bailouts did not revive the economy and may have lost billions.

Ultimately the film calls for a full investigation and structural reforms of financial institutions to insure accountability by the white-collar perpetrators who profited from the misery of their victims.

This is a preview showing of this soon-to-be released film. The filmmaker Danny Schechter, who was here one year ago talking about this subject, will host this event and take questions following the showing.

Danny Schechter is the founder and executive editor of Media Channel and founder and Vice President/Executive Producer of GlobalVision, Inc., an award-winning media company formed in 1986. A broadcast and print journalist and internationally recognized speaker and writer on media issues, Schechter has been honored with numerous awards, including the Emmy and George Polk Awards. He was the news director and principal newscaster for WBCN-FM, an on-air reporter for WBGH, and a news program producer and investigative reporter at CNN and ABC.

Co-sponsored with Resistance Cinema of Community Church of New York
Free event. Donations appreciated.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

PERSONAL NEWS # 178
Thursday evening, April 1st, I attended the monthly TGTSNBN meetup. We met in the back room of the Stone Creek Lounge and watched the amusing, though abit long, “A Very Potter Musical”.

Friday thru Sunday, April 2nd-4th, I visited my family in upstate NY and very much enjoyed the lovely, warm, sunny weather.

Tuesday evening, April 6th, I attended the LOST meetup at the Irish Rogue pub. I hung out with Deborah, Elena, Sarah, Jax, Jenni, Shannon, Erik and Greg.

Wednesday, April 7th, after work I had a chiropractor appt, and at 8:45pm I jumped on the NydoPeace CCR team conference call. We welcomed a new member [ie: Chris Archer] to the team and discussed plans for the Mother’s Day campaign, plus the upcoming Brooklyn Peace Fair in mid-May.

Thursday evening, April 8th, I attended a panel discussion at the NY Society for Ethical Culture regarding “A World without Nuclear Weapons”. The guest speakers were Daniel Ellsberg, Jonathan Schell and Kennette Benedict, along with Phil Donahue as the moderator. This was a free event though donations were welcome. I also ran into Mary Geissman and Alice Slater at the event, which was hosted by Peace Action Fund of NYS and The Nation Institute. Great evening and very informative, and one can watch it on YouTube … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdfSH95cF8w

Friday evening, April 9th, I attended Friday Nite Knits in Kensington section of Brooklyn.

On Saturday, April 10th, I had to work at the office from 10am to 3pm, as it was nearing the end of “Tax Season”. From there I headed up to West 55th Street in the hopes of catching some of the Tartan Day parade on 6th Avenue. I missed it, but was able to catch the “aftermath” of the festivities. Men in kilts ... hell yeah! I took advantage of the sunny weather and strolled along the city blocks down to Grand Central Station to pick up train tix to CT for visit with Katherine on Sunday.

On Sunday afternoon, April 11th, I headed up to CT to take my good friend Katherine out to lunch at Red Lobster for a belated b-day lunch. This is our 20th anniversary in regards to this tradition. Afterwards we went clothes shopping at Dressbarn in Trumbull, and stopped by a Dunkin Donut for some liquid refreshment. We spent the rest of the afternoon into early evening lounging on the back deck her house with her hubby Maurice and their grandson Shane.

Monday evening, April 12th, after work ended at 7pm I rushed over to City Harvest office on 8th Avenue to volunteer with “Skip Lunch” campaign. Ran into Daniel and he informed me that City Harvest volunteers will be needed at the Union Square farmer’s market starting on April 19th.

Tuesday evening, April 13th, I attended the LOST meetup at the Irish Rogue pub. I mostly hung out with Deborah, Kelli, Greg and Erik.

Wednesday evening, April 14th, I attended Deborah’s birthday party, along with several other members of TGTSNBN, at Trattoria Spaghetto on Bleeker Street in Greenwich Village. Really good food and Jennifer created owl cupcakes for dessert. Those in attendance were Linda, Deanna, Jenna, Elena, Jennifer, Margaret, Michelle, Alex, Irvin, Deborah and I. Lots of fun and Deborah received gifts from everyone, including the two pair of bead style earrings I created.

Thursday evening, April 15th, after shopping at Keyfood, I enjoyed a lengthy phone conversation with Josee in Canada. She’s been living in her new digs for two weeks, and it sounds really nice, plus has a balcony.

On Friday evening, April 16th, I enjoyed phone conversations with Gail and Art. The latter I’d been briefly conversing with via email on OKCupid.

My busy Saturday, April 17th, started out with checking out the farmers market in my hood and taking care of several errands. One of which was grocery shopping at The Garden. I really enjoy shopping at several different health food stores in Brooklyn and Manhattan. One never knows what types of goodies one will find for a Vegan. I then headed into Manhattan to attend the reading of a new play by my friend Kristina Latour called “Temping”, which was held at The Metropolitan Room on West 22nd Street. The play was very entertaining with a good cast, plus parts of it reminded me of when I worked at Koll Management in the mid-1990s. It was one of the few jobs, over the years, where I was very unhappy and stressed. [The office manager and VP were such incompetent fools.] Anyhow, that is where I met Kristina, who was temping, back in 1997 and we’ve stayed in touch over the years. Afterwards I checked out the busy farmers market in Union Square and then some shopping at Dressbarn. Very productive, enjoyable day................

On Sunday afternoon, April 18th, I joined several other TGTSNBN members for the monthly Quidditch up at Riverside Park. Weather was abit cloudy and breezy, and it felt so good when the sun did make an appearance. Centaurs won two games and Dementors won one game. The games were played with enthusiasm, good saves by the keepers and much excitement when the snitch was caught. Since last year I’ve assisted with keeping score of the games, and occasionally take pix with a player’s digital camera. Afterwards, about 12 of us strolled to Broadway to have a leisurely, tasty brunch at TOAST. Also, enjoyed a brief phone conversation with Art later that evening.

[Duchess Note: Stay tuned for some digital pix of hood tour and springtime in NYC.]
AND NOW THE LATEST IN THE NEWS

Peace Activists Extend an Olive Branch to the Tea Party to Talk about War
Medea Benjamin, AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/story/146441/
Tea Partiers who are furious at government spending and soaring deficits should take a hard look at what is the biggest sinkhole of our tax dollars … Pentagon spending.

Wall Street’s Stranglehold on Our Democracy Must be Broken
Zach Carter and Simon Johnson, AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/story/146470/simon_johnson%3A_wall_street%27s_stranglehold_on_our_democracy_must_be_broken
The progressive economist talks about the fight to reform Wall Street, what Robert Rubin should do with his money, and why Jamie Dimon is the most dangerous man in America.

Obama’s Bad Gamble on Afghanistan – 100,000 Soldiers Used as Chips for a Bet the US Can’t Win
Bill Moyers, AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/story/146406/obama%27s_bad_gamble_on_afghanistan_--_100%2C000_soldiers_used_as_chips_for_a_bet_the_us_can%27t_win
We are losing lives for no purpose. The perpetuation of this unnecessary war exacerbates the problems in the Islamic world.

Terrorism: The Nuclear Summit’s ‘Straw Man’
Shibil Siddiqi, Asia Times
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/LD16Ak02.html
'Nuclear' terrorism? In actuality, the threat of terrorists acquiring a working nuclear device are relatively remote. Building nuclear weapons is a complex and resource intensive business; if it were not, more countries would already possess them.

Mind Blowing American Wealth Disparity – The Bottom 50% Have Comparatively Nothing
Grant Lawrence Blog, AlterNet
http://blogs.alternet.org/grantlawrence/2010/04/10/mind-blowing-american-wealth-disparity-the-bottom-50-have-comparatively-nothing/

Small-City Mayor Takes on the Pentagon – War Spending Should be Spent on Americans, Not on Killing Afghans
Jo Comerford, Tomdispatch.com
http://www.alternet.org/story/146408/small-city_mayor_takes_on_the_pentagon_--_war_spending_should_be_spent_on_americans%2C_not_on_killing_afghans_
We don’t just have a revenue problem in this country, we have a values and priorities problem.

US Accuses Goldman Sachs of Fraud
http://act.commondreams.org/go/263?akid=28.19616.wc-F5b&t=5

Green Manifesto in UK Adds 'Radical Change' to Message of 'Hope'
http://act.commondreams.org/go/264?akid=28.19616.wc-F5b&t=7

Kucinich: White House Assassination Policy Is Extrajudicial
http://act.commondreams.org/go/265?akid=28.19616.wc-F5b&t=9

Frida Berrigan: The New Anti-Nuclear Movement
http://act.commondreams.org/go/272?akid=28.19616.wc-F5b&t=24

Tom Turnipseed: A Coal Miner's Catastrophe: Big Coal--Big Lies
http://act.commondreams.org/go/273?akid=28.19616.wc-F5b&t=25

Thursday, April 08, 2010

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE NEWS

The Strange Death of Senator Paul Wellstone
From “Ed’s Links” Blog
http://edwardrynearson.wordpress.com/the-strange-death-of-senator-paul-wellstone/

Reaching Zero
Jonathan Schell, The Nation
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100419/schell

The Tea Parties: Built on Fear, Violence and Race Resentment
Christopher Deis, AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/story/146190/the_tea_parties%3A_built_on_fear%2C_violence_and_race_resentment
Racism and xenophobia have been central to the Tea Party movement from the start; while not all of them are racist, they swim in a sea of white racial resentment.

How the Corporations Broke Ralph Nader and America, Too
Chris Hedges, Truthdig
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/how_the_corporations_broke_ralph_nader_and_america_too_20100405/

The Many Burdens a GI Faces in Afghanistan
Clancy Sigal, The Guardian
http://www.alternet.org/story/146356/the_many_burdens_a_gi_faces_in_afghanistan
The GIs are doing the best they can, in a “job” the politicians command them out of imperial hubris and historical ignorance.

Message from CodePink: Women for Peace
Collateral Murder: Is the Truth A National Security Threat?

This week two media makers, the Times of London and Wikileaks, released ugly truths about US military engagement in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In Afghanistan, after initially denying involvement in the deaths of two pregnant Afghan women and a teenage girl, the US-led military command in Kabul admitted that its forces had killed the women and removed the bullets from their bodies to cover up their crime.

The cover-up continues in Iraq. WikiLeaks obtained and decrypted a previously unreleased video footage from a US Apache helicopter in 2007 showing American soldiers brutally massacring Iraqi civilians and Reuters journalists. The military is now backpedaling, saying that the video lacks context while the Pentagon cannot find its own copy of the tape but has declared war on WikiLeaks, calling it a “national security threat.”

Do not stay silent and complacent to collateral murder. Sign-on to CODEPINK's condemnation of the cover-ups and demand accountability for past and present war crimes.

http://j.mp/WikiLeaks

We strongly condemn the cover-ups and the move to censor media outlets that expose the truth. The truth is not a threat to our national security, however the flagrant lack of accountability is certainly a threat to our democracy.

Duchess Note: Stay tuned for more of my "digital experimentation" photo gallery with walking tours around Brooklyn.