difficult decisions

"The Word" is a segment on The Colbert Report.  It is one of the smartest things on tv.  He recently had a report that I couldn't believe originated in a true story.  I don't know why I am suprised that the government would even suggest continuing to raise the military budget, and then suggest cutting benefits for our veterans.

watch this:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - The 1%
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

I wanted to find out if it was real - it took me awhile to track down the letter online but this seems to be it(?)
Other media outlets, the Times, and the military have also picked up on the story.

my (fairly undereducated) thoughts on the whole thing:

I'm all for cutting military costs. I don't agree with these wars we are involved with.  I do believe, however, that once we send our troops abroad, we owe it to them to take care of them when they come home.  It seems like a pretty basic concept.  So yes. let us make some difficult decisions as a country.  take the secret loans that the fed was giving out.  we should be talking about how the government is choosing to spend (or not spend) our money. talking and questioning. and voting. that's all.

first holiday of the '11 season

I am thankful for my family, friends, health and grateful to have a job I love.  I had a lovely thanksgiving but I have trouble with it.  There is this...

(my mom sent me this cartoon. I am finding out where it is from and then will give credit where credit is due.)

and this...

 (cover of the New Yorker magazine)

But, since the weekend was an opportunity to see new friends, old friends, and family, I could not have been happier.

After I got out of work on Thanksgiving day, I had dinner at NVD's sister's house. This is NVD making fresh whipped cream with her nephews...so sweet (the boys. and the whipped cream).  It was a really fun evening.









Friday, I took the train to the DS's. HDS had her bridal shower on Saturday.   RW's mom came down for the party.  It was a beautiful weekend in Jenkintown.

If you have known me at all during the last 22 months you know that
this girl is one of my favorite people in the world...

JW and Adalia

the groom and his sisters...his whole family came down for the bridal shower.

So did RW's mom. It was so nice to see LW. (Of course, we missed BW.)

(can you tell how much I love taking pictures of the bean?)

Finally, I saw family this weekend....Uncle John hosted a lovely dinner for Cousin Susan but first, SU, JU, IU and I went to Bloomingdales.

<3 

me and my mom - sadly i have only a few pictures of my own because I used my mom's camera to take a lot of pictures...

cousins :) (in living color.)
Those who have known me for more than 22 months know that jax and izzy have had my heart for a very long time. I think I'll scan some pictures of our early vacations together very soon. (JU let me learn how to use my camera by not freaking out when i would take hundreds of pictures of jax and izzy.)

what are you watching?

repost from Nicholas Kristof:


"This fascinating study suggests that watching Fox News actually leaves people less well-informed than if they don't follow news at all:http://t.co/NtVtLQ8E Listening to NPR or watching Sunday shows leaves people best informed..."


check is out here: http://publicmind.fdu.edu/2011/knowless/

Proud leaders?

 Luckily, America can still claim to be a leader in some things around the world.  Important things. Please read this NY Times article: A Country of Inmates by Albert R. Hunt/Bloomberg News.  It is a horrifying - "With just a little more than 4 percent of the world’s population, the United States accounts for a quarter of the planet’s prisoners and has more inmates than the leading 35 European countries combined.".

And then check out LP's blog for a related story @ some kind of sign: Criminal Justice Reform / First Amendment Lawsuit: The NAACP tried to storyplace this ad in the Philadelphia Airport. The City of Philadelphia did not accept the ad...


proud to be an American?

Busby Berkeley Dreams

I haven't seen you in ages, but it's not as bleak as it seems,

We still dance on whirling stages, in my Busby Berkeley dreams.

(I know I'm a little behind, but I listened to the magnetic fields none stop this summer. 

They reference Busby Berkeley a lot.)

Stop Stop and Frisks. Queens Style.

Check out the Center for Constitutional Rights stop and frisk statistics for NY City. They are appalling.

CCR is doing amazing work on this (and other important) issue(s). Support them.  Love them.

Here are pictures from the rally and more information about the organization (the Stop Mass Incarceration Network) bringing more attention to illegal stop and frisks happening in New York.

This is my friend CM and her husband's friend Randy, who is a political activist. During our rally in Queens he made an extra special effort not to get arrested because he was performing in a political comedy show that evening and the next day had an appointment in Albany, to get arrested! 

There is the green hat, again. I will get one!

(I don't really understand what the people actually being arrested for, since they didn't commit a crime or block the roads, or anything.)

11/17/11 final thoughts & the story behind the "bat signal"

The story of how the "bat signal" was made is inspiring. Read about it and watch the video at the end of the story so you can see what it looked like.

How the Occupy Wall Street ‘Bat Signal’ Was Made

Crossing 17 bridges in 17 cities was coordinated to bring attention to the delapidated infastructure across our country.  The Obama Jobs Plan will provide billions of dollars to repair and improve our infastructure and create jobs.  OWS is a movement to remind our government they work for us and not their donors.  Many of us agree that the movement can use improved coordination and needs a clearer agenda about what policies they support.  However, we also agree that this group of idealists has truly shifted the conversation in America in a necessary direction. -SK

To all those people (and i have seen a lot of facebook comments about this) who see the 99% as choosing to be out of work and lazy: I am the 99%. My sister, who teaches special ed in red hook, is the 99%. The police are, in fact, the 99%. My clients, who are children, and still have the imagination to envision a better life for themselves, are the 99%.

and, if not for ourselves, we should all be fighting to help the children's vision, those children who grow up with little reason to be idealistic but are, become a reality.

11/17/11: March across the Brooklyn Bridge

My story continues.  Sadly, i still did not have my real camera but thankfully I had my (new) phone!

(there were cops on every subway platform as I headed back into Manhattan.)

11/17/11 was a day of action for the OWS movement. After spending time at Zucotti Park that afternoon, I really wanted to be a part of the march across the BK Bridge.  Unfortunately, I had an appointment that took me to Park Slope and afterwards I called SK, BP, and KF and they didn't think I would be able to find them.  I decided to try.  I got on the 4 train and got off at Fulton (i'll admit, I almost chickened out and got off in BK heights to wait for them).  

I walked along the side streets until I got to Pace plaza.  There were hundreds of cops hanging out. literally, hanging out. smoking, eating, laughing.  The streets were barricaded.  I tried to wait for them at the foot of the stairs leading up to the BK bridge but the "sarge" said the stairs were closed. 

I continued on my mission, wandering around, looking for my friends in the crowd of 30-45,000. I started walking up the sidewalk and was taking pictures of the sites (a big road sign that said if you block the street, you will get arrested). I really didn't think I was anywhere near the group I was looking for.  I saw some UAW banners and started taking pictures because it is always fun to see fellow union members.

Then they started talking to me.  It was SK, BP, KF, MB and DS. I had found my friends, right at the foot of the BK bridge. It was pretty amazing. 

We crossed the bridge, chanting, cheering, skipping and laughing.  Even joking around with the cops once we got to BK side of the BK bridge (they were a lot more friendly). The most magical part of the walk was at the top of the bridge, looking around the city on a beautiful night, people yelling "tell us what democracy looks like" and us responding, "this is what democracy looks like" and then seeing the Verizon building displaying beautiful art. the "bat signal."