There's No Safety Under Your Desk

Yes, We Can!

2008-02-05T09:00:00.000-05:00

It may be naive, but I have always believed in hope and natural movement toward enlightened wholeness - and the elegance of the country's central strength -- the written documents upon which we rely to guide our government and our laws (Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Constitution, Bill of Rights) and the spirit with which we face challenges. Adaptability, courage and the willingness to re-exam who we are and the courage to reinvent ourselves are our greatest strengths.

While no one person is the answer, I do think one person can inspire us to believe in ourselves and, maybe, in each other. If you haven't seen this video yet - it is worth taking a look and may even inspire you to believe? *grin*

Don't miss a chance to vote in the primaries!!

Excerpt from Obama's New Hampshire 2008 Speech

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we've been told that we're not ready, or that we shouldn't try, or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people.

Yes we can.

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom through the darkest of nights.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballot; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality. Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity. Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this world. Yes we can.

And so tomorrow, as we take this campaign South and West; as we learn that the struggles of the textile worker in Spartanburg are not so different than the plight of the dishwasher in Las Vegas; that the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in America's story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea - Yes. We. Can.

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino Reacts to "Another Question" by Helen Thomas

2007-12-09T12:52:00.000-05:00

I've watched this clip a half-dozen times (scroll down for clip) and I can't tell if Dana Perino is angry or genuinely offended. Perion's attempt to draw the other journalists in the briefing room as also experiencing a "state of offense" was shallow and a bit desperate. Certainly Perino's barely veiled-threat that being a journalist allowed into the briefing room was a "privilege" was a mistake -- better than she have tried to intimidate Helen Thomas and failed. The angry eye-blast she gives Helen Thomas at the end of the clip turns Perino's performance into a childish display.

Nor does Perino's try at turning Thomas' comments into an anti-troops statement work - as anyone who has followed even part of Thomas' 45+ career as White House journalist would know.

Regardless of what motivates Dana Perino, Helen Thomas' attempt to shake her up succeeds. Helen Thomas did not choose her words without thought - never does.

Helen Thomas is known for her tough questions and for her courage - asking unpopular questions when her colleagues remain silent... as illustrated by this quote taken from Wikipedia's entry on her:

On March 21, 2006, Thomas was called upon directly by President Bush for the first time in three years. Thomas asked Bush about the war in Iraq:

"I'd like to ask you, Mr. President, your decision to invade Iraq has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans and Iraqis, wounds of Americans and Iraqis for a lifetime. Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. My question is: Why did you really want to go to war? From the moment you stepped into the White House, from your Cabinet -- your Cabinet officers, intelligence people, and so forth -- what was your real reason? You have said it wasn't oil -- quest for oil, it hasn't been Israel, or anything else. What was it?"

Scroll down past the clip for more of Helen Thomas on the war, civil liberties and the responsibility of the press.

Helen Thomas on war, civil liberty and the responsibility of the press

2007-12-09T12:29:00.000-05:00

Truth, Fear and War

Excerpt from Helen Thomas' speech at her WiLL/WAND Torchbearer Award ceremony delivered at the Sewall-Belmont House in Washington, DC on Saturday, September 13, 2003.

". . . But now it is once more into the breach for us, and once more truth is the main casualty of war. In the brief five months of the Iraqi war, we already have learned that the human and financial costs are too high. But when will our leaders learn--war is not the answer. It's time for women to make their voices heard. Their silence on the subject of war and peace is deafening."

"We have lost our halo, because we represented the...best hopes and ideals of mankind and we have disappointed the world. To be a military superpower does not arrogate to us the right to invade countries, defy laws and dictate to other people. That is not us. It never was. We have no choice--it is imperative for us to take back the dawn." [Read Thomas' full speech at thenation.com}

Lap Dogs of the Press

posted March 15, 2006
"Of all the unhappy trends I have witnessed--conservative swings on television networks, dwindling newspaper circulation, the jailing of reporters and "spin"--nothing is more troubling to me than the obsequious press during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. They lapped up everything the Pentagon and White House could dish out--no questions asked." [Read complete article at thenation.com}

Helen Thomas on Wire Tapping

Thomas questions press secretary Scott McClellan about wire-tapping under the PATRIOT Act. Follow this link to video.

AT&T, Verizon & Bellsouth Sell Out Their Customers

2006-08-27T01:23:00.000-04:00

(Post courtesy "Sea of Noise")

AT&T to Customers: Up Against the Wall!

Verizon & Bellsouth Sell Out Their Customers, Too!

...and it's not just AT&T:
The nation's largest phone companies -- AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth -- reportedly have been providing the National Security Agency with call records of millions of Americans.

Not because the government ordered them to, mind you. Because the government paid them to.

Kudos to Qwest for respecting their customers' privacy.

73 Days to election 2006 & Laughing is the Only Way to Make it

2006-08-27T00:00:00.000-04:00

I live and vote in a Blue State. Actually, I have been blue since Election Day 2004 (well.. actually 2000, but you probably knew that). Unsure how to survive it, I think I've been holding my breath for the last two years - hoping the damage isn't too great and everything I believe in is still recognizable in 2008. I think I've become cyanotic -- complete with blue fingernails -- waiting to breath again.

Of course, that's an exaggeration - I do get some fresh air intake - - it happens when someone makes me laugh at the situation we've gotten ourselves into with GW & Company. Jon Stewart has been a lifeline. Colbert helps, too. Then today, a new friend introduced me to a local Connecticut writer, Jeff Schult's blog - and a piece he wrote in late 2004, "Red Talk, Blue Talk and Vice Versa ..."

Several hearty laughs and a shake or two of my head and I'm a brighter blue.

I'm thinking of emailing Jeff and asking him for an update -- even with Election 2006 coming soon -- I've a feeling I'll need many more laughs to make it through to 2008.

2006-07-13T14:49:00.000-04:00

The Daily Show - Ted Stevens and the Internet

I think Jon's the keeper!

Save the Internet

2006-07-13T14:42:00.000-04:00

Celebrate Freedom on Independence Day

2006-06-30T12:40:00.000-04:00

July 4, 2006, 11 AM
Fie On You, King George!
3rd Annual New London Declarations & American Folk Music Festival
Hygienic Art Park, 87 Bank Street, New London, CT
Community reading of the Declaration of Independence.
Time Traveling To Five Years of The Fourth of July
A community pageant, in words and music, in five brief acts.
Act 1, July 4, 1776, Act 2, July 4, 1789 in Paris, France, Act 3, July 4, 1826 Act 4, July 4 1863, Act 4, July 4, 2006 New London Declarations

Just as the writers of the Declaration of Independence sought to address issues and grievances against the British Crown in 1776, New London Declaration also seeks to announce to a candid world that the issues of freedom, equality, justice and honor should still be uppermost in our minds as we contemplate being an American in our republic. We believe these questions of democracy require constant examinations, with a skeptical eyes, and constant vigilance. As patriots said "fie on you, King George" at the founding our republic, so do we today say "fie" on all who would diminish our freedoms for the sake of safety or seek to purchase our democracy.
Written by Peter Roberts, Stage direction: Jim Stidfole, Music: Sherry Stidfole, her crew and Hugh Eli.

2006-06-26T14:42:00.000-04:00

Stephen Colbert Interview on the 10 Commandments

Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report interviewing Representative Westmoreland (GA)... it's embarrassing to think this man is in Congress. Westmoreland sponsored a bill to display the Ten Commandments in Congress, but does not know them or seem to understand they are not a judicial list of "dos & donts".

Darfur Awareness in Needham MA

2006-06-23T16:37:00.000-04:00

While researching news updates for my own effort to "get out the word" about Darfur, Sudan, (see http://joyworks.net/sudan/darfur/) I came across a story about Alan Greenfield and the people in the town of Needham. Greenfield offered to pay for a banner from SaveDarfur.org for anyone in town willing to put one up. He hoped to catch attention of media and eventually President Bush in hopes of some real actions on part of US to stop the genocide in Darfur. You can read more about his effort and results on his blog at http://needhamdarfur.blogspot.com/ .

You can read first-hand articles and commentary from our friend, David Morse (author of The Iron Bridge) on his web site at http://david-morse.com/darfurInfo.html.
You can also read David's account of his trip to Darfur on the web at http://www.friendsjournal.org/contents/2005/0905/feature.html in the December 2005 issue of "Friends Journal".

There's not much I can say about the lack of resources and commitment this country has toward the people of Darfur and, perhaps, in general, the people of Africa that's not been said by more influential people than me. Except maybe this - I believe that no regard, no caring, no favor, no act of kindness, no love given from the heart is ever wasted or lost. So, each of us, if we do what we can - what we can imagine, what we dare, what we can bear - then - while all evil may not vanish - it will not get any stronger. So, let's all read, learn, talk, write letters, make phone calls, get the people who love you to do the same - and support the relief agencies who try to provide day-to-day survival - until such time as this particular evil is conquered.

All-Decade Team Top Picks

2006-06-18T01:51:00.000-04:00

Well, although all my picks didn't make it ... I can't argue that any of the final picks for the WNBA Team of the Decade didn't deserve at place in the nomination list. For the final story, see http://www.wnba.com/history/

JT's WNBA All-Decade Team:

2006-05-20T21:29:00.000-04:00

It's the 10th Anniversary of the Women's National Basketball Association... cause for celebration, reflection and trying to see if you can pick the "WNBA All-Decade Team"! Below are my picks. Not an easy task - and I really wanted to pick 11 or 12 players - as it doesn't seem right not to have Diana Taurasi or Lisa Leslie on my list - but the 10 I did chose are "must-keep" picks for me ...

Teresa Weatherspoon, Guard
Sheryl Swoopes, Forward
Ruthie Bolton, Guard
Cynthia Cooper, Guard
Ticha Penicheiro, Guard
Dawn Staley, Guard
Andrea Stinson, Guard
Tina Thompson, Forward
Vickie Johnson, Guard/Forward
Rebecca Lobo, Center

Losing Teresa Weatherspoon from active play was a real disappointment - but she made the right decision. T-Spoon is my "inner basketball player" - she is the player I imagine myself to be. I admire her heart, her toughness and her love of the game. One of my best memories of going to CT Sun games is getting the chance to see T-Spoon play when NY came North to play the Sun. The only downside was - my dilemma of -- who to root for !! T-Spoon's my #1 choice for the top 10 list.

Then there's Lady Swoopes. Class act, elegant play, articulate and dedicated. Sheryl Swoopes is a team player who knows when to take the lead and when to assist her teammates. I was privileged to see her play the Sun several times. Swoopes was a member of three consecutive Olympic good medal teams in 1996, 2000 and 2004.

Long-time player, Ruthie Bolton (Holifield)- a combination of strength, toughness and tenacity. In her position as guard, Ruthie was to be reckoned with ... a loyal, consistent and gutsy player. Playing for the Sacramento Monarchs until 2005, she was the WNBA's fourth all-time leader in 3-pointers, scored over 2,000 career-points and was a two-time WNBA All-Star and on the 1996 U.S. Olympic Team.

After graduating USC in 1986, Cynthia Cooper, played professional basketball in Italy until the WNBA was formed in 1997. Already 34 years old when she joined the WNBA, Cooper was chosen MVP in 1997 & 1998. She and her teammates, Swoopes and Thompson took the Houston Comets to four national championships. Cooper was the first player in WNBA history to score 1,000 and 2,000 career points. She was also part of the 1988 gold medal Olympic team.

Sacramento Monarch guard, Ticha Penicheiro is fun to watch. She loves the game and it shows. She's got speed and grace and passion. Ticha holds the WNBA record for most steals (10) in a game and led WNBA in assists per game in every year from 1998 through 2003 - for 6 years in a row! She's a four-time WNBA All-Star.

Three-time gold medal winning Olympian, two-time World Championship gold medalist, head coach of Temple University, and member of 4 time championship winner WNBA Houston Comets and assistant coach for the 2006 USA Women's World Championship Team is just the beginning of an introduction for Dawn Staley. Dawn Staley runs the floor - wherever she plays. Her intelligence and passion are evident - as is her skill with the ball. Dawn is another player who makes the game fun to watch. She's dead serious and having fun - all at once.

Starting her career in Charlotte, Andrea Stinson was one of the original WNBA players. She was the fourth player in league history to score 2,000 career points (2001). She's also a three-time Italian League All-Star. Andrea didn't miss a game for anything... leading the league in minutes played -- with her performance reliably good every game. Stinson played from 1997 to 2005 with Charlotte and 2005 with the Detroit Shock. Stinson returned to the Sting in 2006 as the team's community relations ambassador. As an honor to her, the Sting retired her jersey (#32) in their opener today against the new team, the Chicago Sky.

Tina Thompson, forward for the Houston Comets became the second player in WNBA history (Lisa Leslie was the first) to surpass the 3,000-point plateau on 8/1/03. She and her teammates, Swoopes and Cooper formed a deadly trio that few opponents could best. A member of the 4 championship Comet teams and the 2004 Olympic gold medal winning team, Thompson is the kind of player you want beside you - making plays and watching your back!

My next to last pick is Vickie Johnson, who, up until 2006, played either the guard or forward spot for the NY Liberty -- since 1997. A versatile, reliable, tenacious team player - Vickie may not be an obvious choice for this top ten list... but I believe her kind of play and dedication is fundamental to the character of the WNBA. Vickie was a two-time WNBA All-Star and the first New York Liberty player to reach 2,000 career points (2002). Vickie began playing for the Silver Spurs in 2006.

Last spot is saved for sentimental choice, Rebecca Lobo. Rebecca is a home-town (or home state) favorite. An integral part of the '95 championship UCONN Huskies. She was a member of the 1996 Olympic gold-medal team, a member of the first-ever WNBA Eastern Conference All-Star Team. One of the founding WNBA players, Lobo was assigned to the New York Liberty, along with Teresa Weatherspoon, in the WNBA's first player allocations in January 1997. But more than all her accomplishments on the court, Lobo has had a significant role off-the-court. Her poise and graciousness brought positive attention to women's basketball in Connecticut. Along with Jen Rizzotti, Lobo represented all that might be... the future of women's basketball. She helped bring the level of involvement in the sport up where it'd been in Tennessee for years. Connecticut suddenly discovered women's basketball -- and Lobo embodied our ideal of what women in basketball should be.

Sun shine at opening game at home

2006-05-20T21:19:00.000-04:00

A pleasant surpirse... 2 women's basketball games on today - and the second was the Connecticut Sun v New York Liberty! It was the Sun's game from the start - with Nykesha and Taj doing what they do best and some great plays from newcomers to the team - a youngster named Erin and another named Mahoney. Final score was 74 to 91.

Mercury's speed burns down

2006-05-20T18:29:00.000-04:00

Well... the Mercury v Sacramento game started with a bang... with Taurasi hitting 3 straight 3 pointers... it's was fast and fun to watch. But, the team play of the more experienced Monarchs won in the end... with a lop-sided score of 78 to 105. DT was suffering from a hip/thigh injury and clearly not up to speed. Cappie Poindexter put in a good game, but it wasn't enough to quiet the drive of Yo and Kara Lawson and company.

Although I'm a committed Connecticut Sun fan, gotta keep an eye on former UCONN players... call it sentimental, but can't help routing for DT, Bird, Swin and, now, Ann Strothers - also with the Mercury - when I get the rare chance to see their play televised. Keep an eye on the Mercury... if they pull it together, they'll have a good season. It would be good to see DT get a chance at the championship.

from Barack Obama

2006-05-12T21:46:00.000-04:00

Thank you Barack Obama for a light in the wilderness...
...from the blog on Barack Obama's web site... "Last Tuesday, the president told us it was time to get serious about America's addiction to oil. Last Wednesday, his advisers told us he didn't mean that literally. To underscore that point, the administration plans to start laying off government researchers who work on the very same renewable energy solutions the president said were our future."

The extent of this President and his administration's lack of insight, leadership and wisdom is amazing. I must keep repeating the mantra, "just two more years, just two more years... ". True, it will feel like way more!

Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded

2006-05-12T03:58:00.000-04:00

The wrongness of our action of aggression against Iraq and all that's come of it is so profound, it almost bears no further explanation. Written over 200 years ago, James Madison's words are both eloquent and prophetic.

"Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes. And armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended. Its influence in dealing out offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing the force of the people. The same malignant aspect in republicanism may be traced in the inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a state of war . . . and in the degeneracy of manners and morals, engendered by both. No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.
~ James Madison, April 20, 1795"

CT DMV Concerned About Cost Of Real ID ACT

2006-03-30T13:54:00.000-05:00

CT DMV Concerned About Cost Of Real ID ACT :: ACLU of Connecticut:
"Connecticut officials are right to be concerned,” said Roger C. Vann, Executive Director of Connecticut American Civil Liberties Union. “Real ID not only means a national ID, but it will mean higher taxes and fees, longer lines, repeat visits to the DMV, bureaucratic snafus, and, for a lot of people, the inability to obtain a license. To top it off, it will do little if anything to prevent terrorism.”"

What's the Real ID Act? See http://www.realnightmare.org/

Let's live as if fear did not rule

2006-03-30T13:10:00.000-05:00

Let's live as if fear did not rule our lives and perhaps, it won't.

Fear of . . . is the devil of our existence - fear of failure, fear of loss, fear of intimacy, fear of those who are different from us, fear of those who act out the secret, unapproved of parts of ourselves we keep hidden, fear of death and fear of never really having lived. Especially now, during a time when our country has allowed fear to make fundamental changes to the way we live together.

We've allowed fear to blind us to the true villains:
~ disease, poverty, abuse, cruelty and avarice;
~ and those who would legislate away our civil rights and freedoms in the name of safety and security and who condemn and threaten the others who recognize these villains for who they really are: the fearful and the exploiters who believe they can sustain their anti-constitutional "security measures" in the name of patriotism and suppress those who speak out in alarm by intimidation.

Act fearlessly upon what you believe is right. Act neither with arrogance nor aggressiveness nor require the absence of fear. Fearlessness requires only conviction, faith and courage.

Remember air-raid sirens. . .

2004-09-07T11:50:00.000-04:00

Remember air-raid sirens and the absurb practice of crawling under your desk, hands over the back of your neck, face down to protect your from the anticipated Russian nuclear attack? Then, you're probably over 45 years old and maybe, as tragically-amused as I am at the "new" search for safety under other trojans. The amusement fades quickly, however, at the harbinger of a potentially ominous future reality referred to as the Patriot Act. More to come.. (isn't there always? And wouldn't it be dull, if there wasn't?)