Photos

Digging through my pictures....



That's me on the Mayflower
sitting on a sack of rice
amid baskets and bush els


My niece gets really sad when the song Happy Birthday is sung.

Autumn, Ryan, and Me
Rochester NY

My dad standing next to a Shinto statue in Nemero, Japan

Baby Elvis, Baby Zorro

Sunset, Adirondack Mountains

Me - on a Christmas long ago.


My brother the cowboy

John with unibrow

I like birds

Back Yard



Me and Barb
Near Ithaca, NY

Cape Cod

Belonging - Remember a Rose

Belonging - Remember a Rose



Sad is my heart for the blighted plants
Its pleasures are aye as brief
They bloom at the young years joyful call,
And fade with the autumn leaf:
Ah! may the red rose live alway,
To smile upon earth and sky!
Why should the beautiful ever weep?
Why should the beautiful die?

- Stephen Foster


As this week's host of the Tar Heel Tavern, Ron Hudson called upon us to post about Belonging. Lost in the business of our everyday lives, it can often become too easy to overlook the fact that we're part of something greater than ourselves, and there's a responsibility that comes along with belonging. Outer distinctions between our "self" and others need to be transcended before we can be aware of how our actions can impact the greater cause we choose to serve. Change in our world can only be made through your hands. You have the ability to create, inspire and influence others.

Many of America's Founding Fathers were Deists. As part of their belief, they recognized patterns of the natural world that were reflected in human patterns of existence. There's a sense of belonging in every natural form, from molecules to trees to animals and to the planets that round the Sun in our Universe. We live our lives according to the same natural principles. When the bloom of the beautiful rose begins to wilt and fade and its life cycle comes to its natural and inevitable end, no longer having the strength to support itself, it bends earthward and gently returns to the very place that nourished it and created its beauty. We look to the same place to see the return of the rose's beauty when Spring begins because we belong to the same cycle of life. It is no accident that Christians, who believe in the resurrection of their savior, celebrate his glorious return and transcendence to his heavenly father in the sky when the Spring comes each year. The sky, ever unchanging, reflects an eternal awareness - even though our thoughts and moods are as changing as the clouds that roll by. Watch the clouds and you recognize the shapes as something that calls to mind a reflection of your own thoughts or memories. We, as a community of man, are both the clouds and the sky; just as we are the waves and also the ocean. And each of us, try as we may, will never escape the fact that we are like the rose, ever-bending earthward with age while being capable of spreading such beauty in the short time that we exist.

Our nation was created with a collective mindset. There were many different views, but each philosophy belonged. Divisions were there, but the Delaration of Independence was the healer that shed great light on each individual spirit while representing a collective agreement to be free from monarchy. The Constitution made a protective statement about belonging and an agreement on the rule of law in light of the individual rights spoken of in the Declaration. Because of the Founding documents, we belong to a nation that was created to legally respect the individuality of each human spirit.

It's time to remind everyone of that legal respect for the individuality of each human spirit. Last week, I saw a contradiction that was so alarming that my conscience guided me to spring to action. Many of our political leaders consciously decided to risk the integrity of our Constitution in order to blow out the candle and darken the spirit of belonging and to snuff out the civil rights of a an entire class of American citizens: gays and lesbians. It would be a violation of both the first and fourteenth amendment to impose the fundamentalist right's religious views a large portion of the rest of the population and thus deny them equal rights.

Though the Senate failed to pass a motion to close debate on the proposed Constitutional Amendment to prohibit gay marriage, it received a majority vote (it needed 60 votes to close the debate altogether). It will now be considered in the House. I hereby affirm unequivocally my support for gays and lesbians to have the same legal rights as heterosexuals. I believe that gay and lesbian families should be given full support, not only because of equal rights, but because their involvement in creating lasting bonds of love and caring strengthen the level of love and caring in our society and strengthen rather than weaken family life. This is a question for all of us: Do gay families belong to the greater community of Americans or not? - And it is abundantly clear that they do. This is an important question: Does each individual member belonging to the greater American community deserve equal treatment under the Constitution? - And we see that it is made clear by the Constitution and the freedom for which we stand, that each individual does.

The Network of Spiritual Progressives have made a statement with which I agree:

The emerging models of families in the homosexual world also contribute to a new understanding that families are no longer defined by the models of the 1950s, but today come in many different shapes and forms. The key to family is love, and that love is at least as abundant in gay and lesbian families as it is in heterosexual families. Similarly, when homophobia is removed from the picture, children of homosexual families flourish at least as well as children from heterosexual families.

Our common goal should be to flourish - each and every woman, child, and man. If you walk through the world fully aware of the nature that surrounds you, you will find that not only does it surround you, but that you are an undeniable part of it. We belong to the world, each and every person is connectedness in nature, and we are all part of the same nature. Our capacity to love did not spring from a Bible or a set of laws. Our capacity to love springs from our nature and it is only in recalling that we all belong to the same web of life and cycle of death as the rose that will increase our awareness of our need to keep the American founding alive, defending equality and justice for each and every person living in this country and living on the face of the earth.

We should vote out of office any people (regardless of political party) who are risking the integrity of our Constitution while trying to divert our attention from the real struggle against selfishness and materialism in our society to the phony and hateful struggle against gays and lesbians and the pandering to the fundamentalist right.

Say "No more!" Keep the beauty of freedom alive, or all of the beautiful who have strived for justice - every last rose - shall have lived in vain. Hate and bigotry does not BELONG in a society of people who cherish love.

- Jude

*Dedicated to my mother Rose, who I lost last year and whose birthday is June 12th.

Larry Johnson on American Outrage

Larry Johnson on American Outrage

Larry Johnson had this to say yesterday at the Yearly Kos convention in Las Vegas:

Chris Bowers on the convention
Crooks and Liars
DemFromCt (Next Hurrah)
David Swanson
Wonkette
Mahablog (*Barbara, I saw you on CSPAN)
Skippy (too many posts to pick just one)
Democracy Cell Project
Pam's House Blend

Geno's Cheesesteaks: Anti-Immigrant?

Geno's Cheesesteaks: Anti-Immigrant?


Geno's

I read this story, and I've got to be honest. I'm not surprised to hear about such a stupid rule at Geno's. You go there to eat and you're faced with political-tinged posters (ie: the anti-Mumia Abu-Jamal manifesto in your face) and the whole place just yells "We're right-wing Republican." Eateries aren't supposed to give you heartburn. As much of a political person as I am, I'm also a cheesteak connoisseur and I'm disappointed that Geno's would sink to this political level. I don't discuss or take bitter sides on the immigration issue among mixed company at my table, so why should I be forced to do so at theirs?


Pat's King of Steaks

I say screw 'em. To immigrants who are struggling with the language, don't worry. Not only will Pat's be willing to accommodate you in whatever language you're comfortable with, but their sandwiches are far tastier and they won't cram unwanted and divisive political crap down your throat with each bite you take. Besides, Pat's has the Red, Whire, and Blue sign.

Le gusta Pat's.

Media Monsters Mock Widows and Parents of the Dead

Media Monsters Mock Widows and Parents of the Dead

We have come to a point where we are so divided in this nation that the Right has had to resort to insulting the widows and fathers of dead sons of America.

Ann Coulter's many statements have revealed who she is, and I'm speaking especially of her interview on NBC this week where she happily defended her bitter denigration of 9/11 widows and the marital bonds they'd shared with their decesaed husbands.

Yesterday, John Gibson of Fox News publicly mocked the father of 26 year-old Nick Berg, who had been beheaded in Iraq, and continued to mock him after Michael Berg had hung up in understandable disgust.
MP3 HERE

The public debate, when it reaches this shrill, hateful, and uncivil tone toward those who have lost something so precious, hurts the ears of sensible people and reveals to every sane person in the viewing audience the monsters who engage in such disrespectful conduct.

Our nation is greatly diminished if we can no longer reason kindly with one another with respect for the poorest among us - those who've lost the most and have the least to gain by telling their truth.

People are naturally resistant to change. They will rail against opinions that aren't part of the government propaganda they hear day in and day out. But when a network that is in the business of spreading the propaganda invites a father of a dead American son to come on their network to not only use him as a straw man, but to make a whipping boy out of him, mocking him, publicly crucifying him, people are more apt to see him as a self-sacrificing agent for radical and loving change - not all that different from Jesus Christ in front of Herod and Pilate.

And we move on.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Wise Advice From A Young Graduate

Wise Advice From A Young Graduate

I wanted to share with you some words of wisdom from a young man who spoke at his commencement ceremony at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts last weekend:

Class of 2006 graduate Charles Micah Christian urged his classmates to "take a chance for change" and to do so with "a fire burning in us … that water cannot put out."

Christian, a communication major, said the most important item on a tombstone is not the name, message or date of birth, but "the dash in between" the dates of birth and death.



It's all about the dash.


"The deeper meaning of this little dash encompasses relationships, change and growth, love shared, memories made, moments of pain and lasting peace, moments of tears and lasting joy, moments of weakness and lasting strength," Christian said.

"It represents the hearts that were stirred, inspired, moved and changed from your words and actions, and it represents the remarkable people that helped to mold and develop your mind and spirit during your everyday growth," he said.

25 Sexiest Novels

25 Sexiest Novels

Just in time for summer beach reading - Playboy's list of the 25 Sexiest Novels ever written. Get browsing!

Zarqawi Death: Michael Berg Turns Tables on Media

Zarqawi Death: Michael Berg Turns Tables on Media

“As the poet John Donne said, any man’s death diminishes me. It doesn’t bring my son back, and this will just bring a new cycle of revenge killings."

- Michael Berg

The Jordanian government made sure they got the justice they sought for the hotel bombings within their borders that their native son Abu Musab al Zarqawi orchestrated and supported. President George W. Bush is claiming all the glory in the hope that he will regain some popularity in the polls.

This morning when MSNBC's daytime anchor Randy Meier interviewed Michael Berg, father of 26-year-old Nick Berg who was beheaded in Iraq, I was struck by what seemed like a defensive nationalist stance on behalf of the network by its own anchor. I wish I had a video because that would speak volumes. Meier actually recoiled and retaliated, cutting Berg short on his comments when Mr. Berg commented that he understood how the parents and family of Zarqawi feel today, having lost a son. Meier quickly interrupted, as if he was responsible for acting as a right-winger in a hot-button political debate rather than an interview with the father of a lost son. Meier said:

"With all due respect, I doubt that Zarqawi’s family is going through what you went through. Since Zarqawi is now deemed a martyr by his family members and they are rejoicing in his death. I don’t think that they are feeling anywhere near the type of grief that you and your family felt."

My goodness. What an arrogant statement! I looked at an MSNBC on-line story which tells both sides and, for all intents and purposes, refuted the need for the overly (and odd) defensive manner in which Randy Meier conducted himself. The article shows the contrast between family members who privately grieve and publicly proclaim martyrdom for their lost son.

The mainstream media seem to have lost all sense of the meaning of morality and humanity when they speak of "values" issues from the perspective of two narrow issues: abortion and homosexuality. This interview between Randy Meier and the father of a son who was executed by al- Zarqawi was not handled with any moral deference to the man who lost his son whatsoever. When that man raised the possibility that another family might be mourning today, he was cut off. As a human being with values that lead me to see how war affects millions of innocent lives, I sat back and marveled at the moral hypocrisy of the American media.

The focus in the media that is put on human values is perverted because of the Bush theology to which so many misled people subscribe. Bush theology has nothing to do with real religion or faith. It is only a religion of nationalism and empire. I believe Randy Meier acted unprofessionally this morning. He showed, on behalf of his network MSNBC, that his network is more than willing to turn their heads away from objectivity when they are presented with a moral values challenge that throws Bush theology for a loop. To me, it seemed that Randy Meier acted more like an apologist for war giving a poor schmuck who lost his son some pity-air-time than an objective network anchor.

I think NBC/MSNBC should take a close look at their media strategy. Sensible people are watching. One voice from the right side of the blogosphere (who misspells Mr. Meier's name) asked a question for which the answer seems so obvious:

It’s easy for the cable anchors to criticize the extreme statements of Michael Berg. But the important question is, why, on this day, did they feature him at all?

Perhaps someone will remind this young Einstein that Mr. Berg's son died at the hands of al-Zarqawi.

Think of what happened just yesterday when we saw Brian Williams on the Nightly News giving plenty of prime time coverage to the controversy occurring on their own network when Matt Lauer hosted an interview with the offensive Ann Coulter, who took some of the ugliest pot-shots against 9/11 widows that I'd ever seen or heard. Shouldn't we ask why she was featured at all on a professional network - and why her filthy statements echoed throughout the primetime cycle?

We'll remain a morally confused people as long as truly decent and kind Americans are shut out, belittled, or cut off in public when a real challenge to the tilted civility balance is presented. Mr. Berg lost his son Nick to a man who engaged in murder. That murderer, Zarqawi, was the target of state-sanctioned vengeance. Mr. Berg proclaimed "Not in my name and not in my son's name." This statement rings of something so Christian in its nature that I am stunned when I think of our own society with so many Christians out there supporting what we have done in Iraq. The $25 million bounty on Zarqawi's head offered to some unsavory someone in the Middle East will surely be rendered unto Caesar by the Christian American taxpayer while they give their consent to continuing violence and human torture by their silence.

Mr. Berg pointed out that Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld had called Zarqawi's tactics "sadistic and medieval" while completely forgetting his own sadistic and medieval tactics used at Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, and God knows where else. Sometimes I think we've lost our minds here in this nation.

A dozen Zarqawis will come to take the place of the one. This war in Iraq, never even officially declared, is not in the best interests of the United States. The cycle of violence will continue because the "enemy" is embroiled in what they consider to be "Holy War" and the Bush administration's answer of violence for violence has not been a sufficient appeal to the hearts and minds of the only civilized people who could turn things around - the Muslims themselves. Our troops should come home now. There is nothing left to justify the reasons for our nation's military action as cited in Public Law 107-243 in October, 2002 (passed in the days when legislators made the grievous mistake of trusting in the President's honor and ability).

The Canadian Mounties uncovered a massive terrorist operation in their nation without removing one freedom from the Canadian people. The Bush administration has stolen many of our freedoms and taken our nation to an unnecessary and unjust war. In what is supposed to be the most powerful and just nation on the face of the earth, the contrast should shock you - and cause you to weep with shame.

* Cross-posted at American Street

Karl Zinsmeister In The Blogs and News

Karl Zinsmeister In The Blogs and News

There are some days that I curse myself for being a pack-rat. On rare occasions, I am happy to say I'm a furious saver.

Karl Zinsmeister is a local resident who was recently tapped as President Bush's new domestic policy chief.

Last week I introduced you to the controversy surrounding his alleged unauthorized altering of an article written by Justin Park of the Syracuse New Times in Syracuse, N.Y. and updated you on the story.

Here is the snippet from the Syracuse New Times article that is in question.




Below is the cover of the August 18, 2004 edition of the Syracuse New Times picturing Mr. Zinsmeister.



In an update from Editor and Publisher, I caught something Mr. Zinsmeister said just one short year ago that has no fitting place among our references to reality today:

June 20, 2005, Zinsmeister, after another period as an embed, wrote, "What the establishment media covering Iraq have utterly failed to make clear today is this central reality: With the exception of periodic flare-ups in isolated corners, our struggle in Iraq as warfare is over....Contrary to the impression given by most newspaper headlines, the United States has won the day in Iraq.... the battle of Iraq is no longer one of war fighting—but of policing and politics."

I'm afraid that the Iraqi civil war is more than a series of periodic flare-ups in isolated corners of the unfortunate nation. Chopped-off heads are delivered daily to public squares. It's more like Murder, Incorporated than
'a-tussle-here and a knock-down-there.'

But do I really have to be saying this as if I'm trying to prove something to you that's already happened right in front of your very own eyes?

I respect Mr. Zinsmeister for what I believe is a genuine caring for the welfare of our troops and a patriotic spirit, but I don't have to go far to point out that he's overconfident in his opinion that this war is won by any stretch of the imagination. Is he writing as an intelligent patriot or as an ideologue? I leave that up to you to decide.

The manly-man bravado displayed in another statement made by Mr. Zinsmeister about the journalists who are risking their lives alongside troops every day in Iraq was not lost on Crooks and Liars. Think of "the appalingly soft" Bob Woodruff from ABC and the "whiny" James Brolan from CBS. It's funny how our past statements come back to haunt us.

At American Prospect's Horse's Mouth blog, Greg Sargent questions Mr. Zinsmeister's claims that he founded the American Enterprise magazine.

Where was God in Those Days?

Where was God in Those Days?

Jeff Jacoby wrote a thought-proking piece for the Boston Globe this week. Like me, Mr. Jacoby was a bit incredulous at Pope Benedict XVI's question asked when visiting Auschwitz, the infamous place where Nazis tortured, starved, and murdered over a million innocent human beings: "Where was God in those days?"

Mr. Jacoby said:

The God "who spoke on Sinai" was not addressing himself to angels or robots who could do no wrong even if they wanted to. He was speaking to real people with real choices to make, and real consequences that flow from those choices. Auschwitz wasn't God's fault. He didn't build the place. [..] It was not God who failed during the Holocaust or in the Gulag, or on 9/11, or in Bosnia. It is not God who fails when human beings do barbaric things to other human beings.

Perhaps the Pope understands that the Catholic church leadership stood stone-silent and it was a great moral misjudgement to have done so. If European Catholics who prized morality had witnessed that silence of the Vatican during those dark times, I would not have blamed them for losing their faith in the church as a gatekeeper of God's love on Earth. Perhaps many Catholics had regrets that they did not speak up when the Jews were discriminated against and socially isolated. By the time the Nazi voice had reached its fever pitch, it was too late.

I have to call myself a seriously doubting Catholic today upon hearing what I believe is a wrong-hearted message about God's love on Earth. I've learned from Raw Story that the current Pope has released a 60-page document called "Family and Human Procreation" that bashes gay family units and was, curiously, issued just days after Bush publicly supported a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. My heart and soul tells me that Pope Benedict XVI is very wrong when he turns the Catholic heart away from any loving family on the face of this all-too unloving Earth. The fact that the Vatican more than likely realizes how their document will affect U.S. politics turns my heart away from the moral path they are asking me to take. Make no mistake, a Catholic-sanctioned discrimination and isolation of LGBT families is just as morally wrong, if not as dramtic, as barbarism. It is an instruction that runs against God's love.

If I'm a sinner by loudly supporting loving and committed families, then I'm a beautiful and conscientious sinner on the side of love. For all his recent proclaiming of the importance of love, Pope Benedict XVI has lost my faith that he truly understands what love is all about by this recent document. "Where was God?" a future Pope may ask as he looks back on the discrimination, trampled human rights, and social abuse that gays and lesbian families will likely experience for years to come. I'll tell that Pope of the future exactly where God was. He was in the hearts of the people who truly believed in God's love and justice. I'll know I was right. Listening to our hearts and responding to the faith God has instilled within us is the only way for God's voice to be heard on Earth. Unfortunately, I'm quite aware that a lot more people will follow the Pope than to follow Iddybud. Then again, there was once one this loud voice in the wilderness......

What Kos Knows

What Kos Knows

I'm hoping to attend this groovy happening:

What Kos Knows

From Tom Watson's blog:

When Markos Moulitsas accepts the 2006 Drum Major for Justice Award next month in New York City, he'll be doing so on behalf of a massive network of committed activists who are changing progressive politics day by day, post by post, link by link, comment by comment.

On June 22, the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy, a progressive think tank on whose board I'm privileged to sit, will honor Markos and Anna Burger (Change to Win Labor Federation) for their commitment to American principles of government, activism, and democracy. To put it bluntly, DailyKos has long been an inspiration on the left - it's inspired legions of progressive bloggers to stop whining, pick up their keyboards, and create a movement. Indeed, DMI's own thriving policy blog - DMIBlog - is a direct response to the political activism of DailyKos.

So Kos deserves the honor, and he and the NetRoots movement he's helped to breathe life into deserve the support of progressive bloggers. To that end, we've started putting together a committee of bloggers to honor Markos. I'm pleased to say that the co-chairs of this blogging committee are a quartet of incredibly prominent, scarily committed, and genetically prolific bloggers: Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake, Steve Gilliard of The News Blog, Lance Mannion, and Ezra Klein. That's an all-star group representing thousands of daily words and many thousands of daily readers.

Bloggers - Want to join 'em? Go here to find out more.

Honoring Kos

Rick Warren in the News

Rick Warren in the News

There's a piece by Philadelphia's Tom Krattenmaker about Christian leader (and best selling author) Rick Warren in today's edition of USA Today. I particularly appreciated this statement:

Warren in recent years has avoided being painted into political corners. He says, perhaps too glibly, that he's not for the right wing, or the left wing, but for "the whole bird."

If that is the case, I'm afraid he's lost my faith in the honesty of that statement with his involvement in this turkey of a project. How very disappointed I am. He surely hasn't captured my "whole bird."


Politics

Tar Heel Tavern #67

Tar Heel Tavern #67


BlogAsheville will celebrate its first anniversary on June 17, 2006

Don't miss this week's Tar Heel Tavern, "Anniversaries, Marriage and Acts of Love" at the Anonymoses blog.

In case you've missed recent editions, the links below will take you to other recent editions of the Tar Heel Tavern:

Last week's Tavern (66) was hosted by Erin.

Tar Heel Tavern 65 was hosted at Ogre's blog.

Bora at The Magic School Bus hosted #64.

Arse Poetica did a great job with #63.

Stolen 2004 Election Must be Acted Upon

Stolen 2004 Election
Must be Acted Upon

Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman think it's great that "the story of the stolen election of 2004 has FINALLY busted into the mainstream media, thanks to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Rolling Stone Magazine." There is a "however" attached to that statement. It doesn't sound like they're willing to HANG until any further media follow-up or for the Democratic Party to actually DO SOMETHING "about the fact that America is about to be hijacked again in 2006, and then for the third straight presidential race in 2008."

An excerpt:

The massive article in this week's [Rolling Stone] focuses on the impossible contrast between exit polls showing a clear and overwhelming Kerry victory versus bogus "official" vote counts giving George W. Bush four more catastrophic years in the White House. It also details some of the horrific intimidation, manipulation and outright theft used by Ohio's GOP Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell to deny hundreds of thousands of mostly Democratic voters their right to a ballot. And it discusses in some depth the fact that Diebold and other electronic voting machine and software producers make it possible for any inside operator to use a laptop and a few keystrokes to flip an entire election in a matter of seconds.

It reminds us that the one good thing that can be said about George W. Bush is that the American people have never actually elected him president of the United States.

The media hasn't totally blacked out coverage, but the authors of How the Gop Stole America's 2004 Election & Is Rigging 2008 say the media hasn't produced nearly enough investigative or revelatory journalism. Structural changes to electoral laws alone may assure Republicans of more shady victories in 2006 and beyond.

In the past month, some coverage has finally surfaced in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Newsweek and other big media outlets on the vulnerability of electronic voting machines.

But we're still seeing just the tip of the iceberg. Most importantly, STRUCTURAL changes have been made to the electoral laws in Ohio and nationwide that virtually guarantee the ability of the GOP to steal our elections now and in the future.

+ Danny Schechter asks - Why is the Media Downplaying Our Voting Scandal?

+ A May, 2006 story by Wasserman and Fitrakis - Ohio 2004 election thief grabs Gov nod while (surprise! surprise!) voting machines malfunction


Politics

Taste of Syracuse

A TASTE OF SYRACUSE

I attended Taste of Syracuse, an event that takes place in the heart of the city at the Clinton Square Festival site in downtown Syracuse every first weekend of June. More than 40 great area restaurants provide a limited menu of dishes for sale as well as mini-portions for tasting which cost $1 each for each sampling.


__That's me near one of my personal favorites - Dinosaur Bar-B-Que.


























More of my photos can be seen at Syracuse.com.

Around New York State

Around New York State

What happened to NY State Comptroller Alan Hevesi? "Beyond dumb" seems to be a mild way to decribe his recent comments. Will this be looked back on as a moment of political suicide? Not if you ask the New York Times. where Raymond Hernandez and Conrad Mulcahy say:

Mr. Hevesi's remark occurred on the same day that Republicans nominated J. Christopher Callaghan, the Saratoga County treasurer, as their candidate to challenge Mr. Hevesi this fall. Mr. Hevesi is expected to win re-election easily.

According to the New York Sun, Syracuse New Times editor Molly English is considering legal action against President Bush's nominee for domestic policy adviser, Baldwinsville native Karl Zinsmeister, for changing quotations in a profile of him written by Justin Park and published in 2004 in the alternative newspaper. Post Standard staff writer John O'Brien gave the story full coverage in his front-page article of June 1, titled Mismatched quotes make mess for Bush adviser with CNY ties.


Senator Hillary Clinton will visit St. Adalbert's Response to Love Center in Buffalo today after attending a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the opening of Buffalo's Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) Center for Genetics and Pharmacology and the New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences.


Dan Maffei, who recently announced his candidacy for U.S. Congress from his home in DeWitt, will challenge incumbent James Walsh for the 25th congressional seat. Mr. Maffei served as a press secretary for Senators Bill Bradley and Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Bill Bradley will be right here in Central New York tomorrow, June 3, to join Mr. Maffei for an afternoon fund-raiser at Liverpool Golf and Country Club, according to the Maffei campaign. (See Frederic Pirece's May 22 blogpost at the Post Standard Political Notebook for more details). Don't miss the page of Memorial Day weekend photos at the Maffei campaign site.


The Working Families Party will hold their convention in Albany this weekend and they will be live-blogging the convention. One legislation they've been supporting is the Fair Share for Health Care bill that would set a minimum amount that large businesses must spend on employee health benefits.


The Humane Society is unhappy with Governor George Pataki's economic development office giving Hudson Valley Foie Gras, a factory farm that produces abusive foie gras, a $420,000 capital grant. On their website, they say that the process for manufacturing the product is "one of the most notoriously cruel practices in animal agribusiness" and "this large subsidy—funded with taxpayers' money—will pay for the expansion of the factory farm." There is a Humane Society campaign to revoke the legislation to support a ban on the "cruel product." The story has moved into the national spotlight, with a story focusing on the topic in today's edition of USA Today.


Richard Kirsch, Executive Director of Citizen Action of New York, is appealing to citizens to discourage the Senate from repealing the estate tax. The U.S. Senate may vote soon on proposals to repeal the estate tax or cut it by as much as 93 percent. Citizen Action is also supporting NY State Senator Dave Valesky's fight for the legislation (mentioned above in my mention of the Working Families Party) that would require large retail employers to pay for health care for their workers.

The Central New York Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO is informing citizens about the fact that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is moving forward with plans to unilaterally impose its last contract offer in bargaining with the nation’s air traffic controllers. They claim that this action may result in as many as one-in-four air traffic controllers retiring, putting the safety of air travel at risk. From the AFL-CIO blog:

"..the FAA declared an impasse in contract negotiations with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) on April 5. Unless Congress acts by June 5, FAA Administrator Marion Blakey will impose the agency’s last offer, which could result in as many as 4,000 controllers, about 25 percent of the workforce, choosing to retire."

Although I have no weblink to this breaking news, I have heard that the Sheet Metal Workers Union has given their official support to incumbent U.S. Congressman James Walsh for 2006. With the realities of outsourcing and more recent layoffs at the Carrier plant in DeWitt, indications are that as the company completes a worldwide realignment, any Congressman will face uphill battles in politically preserving local Union jobs. Although they say "all politics is local", we have seen the national Republican party resisting any move to regulate the bleeding of manufacturing jobs from the American landscape. I tend to wonder why a Union would put trust in a Congressman who has no official Congressional vote on Labor recorded since 2001, yet supported CAFTA in 2005.



The Post Standard's Political Notebook blog has the latest news on many political happenings around Syracuse and New York State.

*cross posted to Syracuse.com

Politics

Federal Marriage Amendment: An Unwise Use of the U.S. Constitution

Federal Marriage Amendment:
An Unwise Use of the U.S. Constitution

I saw the oddest appeal on Town Hall.com today. The words stuck out like a sore thumb: “Marriage needs your help.” I asked myself, “Now, why would marriage need my help? I’m certainly no expert at saving marriages and if I tried to fix my neighbors’, they’d probably tell me to butt out and mind my own business.” “Marriage matters,” they say, and I can’t argue with that. Marriage is, in my opinion, a sacred institution. It’s a shame so many heterosexual couples don’t share the same fervor about their own unions as at least 50% of their marriages crumble like last week’s crackers. Marriage is a privileged state to which committed people are admitted when they meet certain conditions, and it confers upon those individuals certain privileges and responsibilities. That said, the people at TownHall.com seem to think that, if we care about marriage, we’d best sign their petition to “save it.”


I’ve listened to the voice of fundamentalist right leader James Dobson of Focus on the Family saying, "Marriage is under vicious attack.from the forces of hell itself." I heard him give strong voice to his personal fear of Western civilization coming to an end. Who is going to cause all of this, you ask? The answer, according to Dr. Dobson, is "same-sex couples." [the brief MP3 can be downloaded here] While I must respect Dr. Dobson's personal views based on his religious beliefs, I feel that he is a very irresponsible public leader and I certainly do not agree with his extremist views.

There are many voices coming from many individuals, each coming to the table with their own set of personal values opining on the topic of “marriage.” There is no one person or religious representative with the “right moral answer.” A diverse group of clergy and religious leaders met on Capitol Hill last week to speak against passage of the so-called “Federal Marriage Amendment” (FMA). Dr. Kenneth L. Samuel was present, and he said:

“If we want to protect marriage the answer is not in discriminating against a class of people. The answer is in putting our energy, our resources, and our effort at ensuring a decent public education for all citizens, decent health care for all citizens, and economic opportunities for all citizens. To discriminate against a class of people is wrong because a threat to justice anywhere is still a threat to justice everywhere.”

Columnist David Waters of Scripps Howard News Service, states that he believes that marriage between a man and a woman is not under attack by homosexuality, but instead by heterosexuals. He also comments on the timing of the proposal for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to specify that the definition of marriage is a union between a man and a woman.

We're pouring hundreds of billions of dollars, not to mention thousands of troops, into the quicksand that is Iraq.
- Millions of Americans are uninsured or underinsured. Millions more can't afford the health care they need.
- Gas prices are hurting every level of government, every business and every individual except the oil barons (in and out of the White House).
- The government can't seem to stop spying on us or lying to us.
- Our borders are about as secure as a screen door in New Orleans.
-Mother Nature is getting hotter and testier with every passing storm.

We've got big problems.
So, naturally, some of our political and religious leaders have something more important on their minds:
Gay marriage.
Must be an election year.

We must ask ourselves: “Is this amendment proposal really a pressing and dire necessity?” With all of the (many) pressing problems of a dangerous and wanting world, we see a hyper-focus on “saving” marriage by Republicans today. (And some of them have not been adept at “saving” their own personal unions).

I’d wager that most Americans trust that Western civilization isn't going anywhere anytime soon. I believe the GOP is looking to pander to the fundamentalist right, and we know that the fundamentalist right is obsessed with the emotional issue of homosexuality. They use the issue to keep high emotion at the forefront of the national debate about "moral values." For the overwhelming majority of Americans, the issue becomes a dividing wedge that blurs and delays an honest debate about our wide array of common values. We need honest debate now more than ever.


The last two suggestions made by Mr. Waters in his op-ed would make sense in today's America. (His first four suggestions, in my opinion, are highly debatable.)

Stop obsessing about the specks in the eyes of gay people who want to get married.

First deal with the planks in the eyes of child-bearing straight people who don't.

The majority of Americans today accept the reality of same-sex relationships without condemning or ridiculing the people who choose that lifestyle. When religious fundamentalist leaders demagogue the issue of homosexuality, it often results in a narrow public debate about “moral values.” If this narrow debate translates to a political consensus restricting the civil rights of an entire class of Americans, the political acceptance of this public denigration encourages further discrimination against gays and lesbians in our country. The feeling of just how wrong that seems is palpable in terms of the civil injustice brought about by such a narrow debate on the values that the majority of Americans share in our society. It's undemocratic.

I don’t think the debate about the definition of marriage should be turned into a food-fight where the worst of heterosexuality is compared to the worst of homosexuality. Instead, I believe that we should all call upon our government to define and protect civil rights for all citizens, including those of civil unions. It should be left to American church congregations in each state to define marriage, not the Religious Right or the U.S. Constitution.

Calling for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution on the definition of marriage will increase the likelihood that a significant number of American citizens will experience an increase in discrimination for years to come. The message that the U.S. Constitution is up for discriminatory “grabs” by any political party that temporarily enjoys majority status sends the wrong message. It sends the spirit of America's rich legacy of freedom reeling backwards. Discrimination and injustice should never be the result of a proposal for any amendment to our U.S. Constitution. It's not a play-document to be used by political panderers at will. It is sacred to the heart of American freedom, justice, and democracy. I believe that the current amendment, as proposed by public leaders who I view as no more than divisive panderers, is an unacceptable political treatment of the question of civil rights and we should not stand by silently while Republicans tinker with our sacred Constitution in order to rally quick and cheap conservative support for the November elections.

I'm going to tell my representatives how I feel today. I hope you will examine your own conscience and do the same.

*Cross-posted at Blogcritics.org

UPDATE:
See Carpetbagger Report, June 3 -

GOP says ‘I do’ to bigotry By Edward M. Kennedy, Monday, June 5, 2006

Politics, Marriage

Chris Trapper at the Redhouse

Chris Trapper at the Redhouse

More Confusion about Spiritual Progressives

More Confusion about Spiritual Progressives

I'm seeing more confusion and misrepresentation in the blogosphere about Spiritual Progressives - who they are and what they seek.

Straight from a spritual progressive's mouth, I replied.

David Limbaugh discusses faith and politics at his website. He mentions conservative Christians' disappointment in the Democratic party for what they view as contempt for "traditional values."

The problem isn't that conservative Christians -- generally speaking -- don't understand where the left is coming from; it's that they do. They have expressed open contempt for certain traditional values, even though many Democrats are Christians, too.

My problem, as a 'social-justice Catholic' is that, for twenty years, the Religious Right has walked all over many of my own closely-held values....or walked OVER them in their rushed obsession to co-opt the GOP with their two pet issues. (Abortion and homosexuality). Mr. Limbaugh can poke fun at Howard Dean all he likes, but it won't change the fact that there are millions upon millions of Christian Democrats, or that the GOP's public reputation is sinking. If the GOP thinks they'll recoup any kind of lasting popularity with the majority of American voters while pandering to a group who thinks "two issues a set of moral values makes," they are sadly mistaken. Methinks they are hustling in order to avoid electoral disaster in November.


Politics, Network of Spiritual Progressives

Headlines June 1, 2006

Headlines June 1

HADITHA:

Haditha:

Iraq Will Investigate Allegations Against US Troops - Scott Stearns/VOA

Report: False Testimony in Haditha Probe - Guardian

After Haditha: What Makes Top Marines Worry - Time

Hadithah Can't Be Blamed for a Lost War - Washington Post




IRAQ/WAR ON TERROR:

Live From Baghdad - More Dying

Eighty-nine detainees are now on a hunger strike at the Guantanamo Bay naval base - WAVY-TV



MIDDLE EAST:

Risky Gambit by Abbas Raises American Hopes, Israeli Worries - Forward

Despite U.S. expressions of hope that a new gambit by the chairman of the Palestinian Authority could pave the way to negotiations with Israel, fears persist in Washington and Jerusalem that the maneuver could backfire and end up strengthening the Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas

DOMESTIC CONCERNS:

EXCLUSIVE: BOBBY KENNEDY JR. TO QUESTION 2004 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN MAJOR ROLLING STONE FEATURE ARTICLE - Brad Blog (tip of the hat to sarahlane)


Thomas L. Friedman: A Quick Fix for the Gas Addicts - NYT





ENTERTAINMENT:

Dixie Chicks beat backlash, hit No. 1 with new album - CBC

Everybody loves Clay Aiken (Well, maybe not everybody).

American Idol haikus

Baghdad ER

What's a Valleyschwag?

Singer Rocio Jurado dies of cancer - WaPo





THE NET:

“Pirate Bay” blockaded by Police - FiveZeroFive





SPORTS:


Corning, N.Y.: 10 memorable moments from this year's LPGA Corning Classic

Excerpt:

The Natalie Gulbis experience: It's not polite to stare, but it's also hard to miss the Natalie Gulbis galleries around the course. Golf fans admire her solid game. There are others who just like to look.

* My recent favorite on Youtube:

Sing (mbair)


Politics

A Tribute to Camillus, N.Y.

Camillus Memorial Day Parade, 2005

"I see this town as a microcosm of Heartland, U.S.A."

- Mario Rossi, writing about my own village of Camillus, N.Y.

A Tribute to Camillus, N.Y.
by Mario Rossi

The late (and great) Syracuse columnist Mario Rossi wrote an article (from which I posted excerpts below) in 1977 about my own village. I moved to the village of Camillus, N.Y. in 1991, fourteen years after Mr. Rossi wrote these words, but they ring just as true today as they did back in 1977. In 2002, the village of Camillus celebrated its 150th anniversary and a three-day sesquicentennial celebration was held.


Mayor Ed Fletcher


There is an undeniable strength of the American spirit here in this place, and thanks to the efforts of people who strongly value tradition, such as the village's current mayor (and veteran) Ed Fletcher, our children grow to understand the significance of holding our nation and its traditions close to our hearts.

Camillus typifies Memorial Day celebrations
* EXCERPTS - read the entire column at Syracuse.com)
Thursday, May 25, 2006
By Mario Rossi
(Neighbors West edition of the Post Standard)

Everything seems to be changing in this fast-moving, volatile age of ours, but some traditions manage to continue, thank heavens, thereby transmitting a sentiment that is pure Americana and so, as reassuring as it is enjoyable.

I came to this conclusion in Camillus on Memorial Day.

The village observes the holiday with parade and ceremonies, drawing thousands to a main street which dips from hillside to hillside and is transformed briefly from its customarily staid appearance to a thronged, banner-bedecked thoroughfare.

Children by the score wave American flags, provided free by the generosity of local business people; vendors move through the crowds with balloons and souvenirs; and the spectators stand three, five and even six and seven deep.

It's a great turnout for a great spectacle.


Message comes through

With the opening of the program, the real message of the event begins to come through: This is unabashed patriotism, as genuine as it is sentimental - homage to our country and Old Glory, tribute to the fallen heroes of battlefield and rededication to the American ideal.

Is this an anachronism? An anomaly?

We are in pure sunlight, our eyes and ears are open, and the loudspeaking system is working perfectly. That's "God Bless America" we hear, and "Flanders Field" and "Taps," echoing and reechoing across the heart of the village. And red roses are being placed on the grave's green covering, and shots are being fired in ceremonial salute.

We're not missing a thing; it's really happening.


They remember history

Let others forget the past, if they will; let them forget history, but not in this place.

They do not pander here to the currently popular notion that a nation is only worth the handout it can give you; they hold to the theory that devotion to country is an all-pervasive thing akin to love. That is the gratifying reality that prevails in today's sight and sound.

Somehow, the old values do survive, and if here in Camillus, perhaps in other communities across the land.

I see this town as a microcosm of Heartland, U.S.A.

And so, when called upon to say a few words, I speak of the solider who died in battle, and I ask:

"Did he die for an abstract cause, a silken flag, a faceless government, a catchy slogan?"

But I know the answer is here, and I need not have articulated it: "Friends, he died for you and me."

More importantly, however, I know that this village and its people and the happenings here today give comforting evidence that what our country stands for will ever withstand the assaults of the skeptics, the doubters, the challengers and the non-believers.

We can be assured that though many elsewhere prefer to forget the battlefield sacrifice as no longer ideologically fashionable, at least here they understand and comply wholeheartedly when they are importuned, in reference to the dead warrior.

"Let him be forgotten no more."

Eliot Spitzer Rally in Syracuse

NY State gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer and Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll




Eliot Spitzer Rally
in Syracuse





Eliot Spitzer rolled into Syracuse last night and spoke to a crowd of about 100 supporters at the Erie Canal Museum.









As supporters gather, preparations are made for Spitzer's visit.








Nancy Hallock (l) and Kaye Jaeger (r),
members of SEIU 1199





Eliot Spitzer's bus rolled in to the tune of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down."





Eliot Spitzer emerged from the bus smiling, waving, and shaking hands as he approached the outdoor podium.





Attorney General Spitzer reminded the crowd that the Erie Canal helped to make New York City the place it is today. When Dewitt Clinton had the vision for the canal, there was a lack of hope that it would live up to its alleged potential. There was a decided Upstate vs. Downstate mentality, and he believed that was a fitting metaphor for this time as we see gridlock in Albany, population loss in the state, employment losses, and a palpable sense of doom.

Spitzer said, "We know a good project when we see it."

"We need to shake the lethargy out of Albany," said Spitzer, insisting that reform must be confronted in a "head-on" manner. Having just visited the city of Rochester where women's rights activist Susan B Anthony lived, he quoted the historic activist:

"Careful, cautious people, always casting about to preserve their reputations, can never effect a reform."

He reminded his supporters, "No one has ever called me cautious." He promised to continue to risk the tough fights and to stand up, unafraid of losing, even if he risks getting "scuffed up" a little bit. He ended by saying that his goal is creating the kind of government that works for the People, and not the other way around.





Listening intently to the current NYS Attorney General.






From the Oneonta Daily Star: N.Y. Democrats designate Spitzer for governor


Politics

A Small Business Owner Discusses Net Neutrality

A Small Business Owner Discusses Net Neutrality

Small business owner Scott Huffman from Charlotte, N.C. eloquently brings the issue of Net Neutrality, local politics (Rep. Sue Myrick), national politics, the danger of mega-mergers and improper FCC oversight into focus in a way that citizens can easily understand. All this occurred in a seven-minute conversation with Mike Collins on May 23 during "Open Phones" on his radio show "Charlotte Talks." We may be hearing more from Mr. Huffman on future Charlotte Talks shows. I highly recommend that you listen to Scott and Mike. This is eye-opening.

PART ONE:

PART TWO:

Politics, Net Neutrality

Headlines May 31, 2006

Headlines May 31

Global Warming

Hear Al Gore talk about global warming at NPR. He discusses the melting of the North Pole. Definitely not good news for Santa Claus.




The Internet

The Net Squared conference is happening now in San Jose, Ca. The conference blog is here. One of today's highlights was a session with Democracy Now's Amy Goodman on Grassroots, Netroots, and the End and Beginning of Politics. (Sure wish I could have been there).


Media

In a review of the glaring hypocrisy we see in journalism today, Joe Conason asks: "Is there a reason why the enduring, 30-year bond of the Clintons merits more withering scrutiny than the multiple unhappy marriages of ambitious politicians such as Senator John McCain and Rudolph Giuliani? Is there a reason why the marital privacy of elected officials should be violated, while media moguls like Rupert Murdoch can discard their wives with impunity?"


Today's ABC News Political Note has some juicy gossip about the Associated Press' veteran political journalist Ron Fournier. They ask: What is Fournier's new job (related to the World Wide Web) and which potential 2008 presidential candidates are familiar enough with the AP to have educated guesses about who might replace Fournier in this slot (and has begun sucking up to them)? ;)


Iraq

An Iraqi war veteran is suing filmmaker Michael Moore over the use of certain footage in his film "Fahrenheit 9/11". It's in the New York Post, naturally. It's a "feelings" lawsuit. In a nutshell, the double-amputee felt used; misrepresented. He can't lose, when you think about it. Even if unsuccessful in the litigation, the vet's views will be made clearly known to the public.

In a Statfor.com analysis titled Break Point, George Friedman says:

"A government has been formed in Iraq. It is a defective government, in the sense that it does not yet have a defense or interior minister. It is an ineffective government, insofar as the ability to govern directly is at this point limited institutionally, politically and functionally. Ultimately, what exists now is less a government than a political arrangement between major elements of Iraq's three main ethnic groups. And that is what makes this agreement of potentially decisive importance: If it holds, it represents the political foundation of a regime....If it holds. If it holds, the rest is almost easy. If it doesn't hold, the rest is impossible..."

Politics

Imagine Having Universal Healthcare Coverage

Imagine Having Universal Healthcare Coverage



Each American citizen is a fragile human being who is susceptible to illness, disease, and accidental injury. Unlike broken automobiles or washing machines, we are complex psychological and spiritual entities. Navigating through our nation's complicated health care system, we are often made to feel like cogs in an ever-moving wheel that will likely run us over if we stop to ask too many questions. Millions of needy citizens have avoided seeking health care for serious illnesses, most of which could have been prevented with routine check-ups, all because they fear that they couldn't afford to pay. Too many Americans have filed for bankruptcy as a direct result of overwhelming medical bills that could not be paid.

A new federally mandated health care rule called the Deficit Reduction Act has created barriers to health care for children, the elderly and disabled. In the state of Colorado, anyone applying for Medicaid must now provide either a passport or a birth certificate and driver's license or state-issued photo identification card in order to receive health care under Medicaid. Consider the ludicrous notion of a baby needing a photo ID to be treated for a life-threatening infection or an elderly person in a nursing home who suffers from Alzheimer's disease having to produce a drivers' license (when he hasn't been able to drive for years). Imagine a sick person going without medication because she had to pay the phone bill instead. Then think about the caring healthcare providers who would treat the indigent and receive no reimbursement from the federal government for doing so. Our states will be losing millions of dollars in Medicaid reimbursements. How can we call this "progress"?

When he signed the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) last February with each state having the option of enacting its own version, President Bush said it would "tighten loopholes that allowed people to game the system by transferring assets to their children so they can qualify for Medicaid benefits." The "gamers" he spoke of are actually your middle class parents and grandparents who may have resorted to hiding hard-earned assets for which they worked hard all their lives in order to qualify for Medicaid. Today, they may altogether avoid going into nursing home care that they need because of new restrictions that strip them of not only their economic assets, but worse - their hope and dignity.


What a depressing society we are becoming when you think about the fact that all our elderly population can call their own as they go into a nursing home is their prepaid funeral fund. Is that something we look forward to as we get older? Americans respect their elderly relatives too much to see them enter their last days in such an uncaring public environment. We must call for a change in America's healthcare policy. Instead of making life easier for senior citizens, the government will now more closely scrutinize senior citizens' financial affairs and deny Medicaid benefits to anyone with more than $500,000 of equity in a home. (While the Republicans seek to end the estate tax which shelters and rewards the mega-rich.)

There have been few recommended federal healthcare plans that have been all-inclusive in the scope of coverage provided for citizens. When Americans consider a political leader's healthcare plan and they hear that it will not include coverage for every American, the first thing a citizen will worry about is that they will be one of the people who is going to be left behind. Today, nearly 46 million Americans have no healthcare insurance at all because they don’t have a job or they’re one of the working poor whose boss doesn’t help carry the heavy burden of health insurance costs. Young adults have found themselves left behind. Americans between the ages of 19 and 29 are the largest and fastest growing segment of the U.S. population lacking health insurance, according to a report released this week. Their group makes up 40 percent of the 6 million people who've joined the ranks of the uninsured from 2000 to 2004, some by uninformed choice and some by circumstances beyond their control. Either way, we know there is a better plan out there that would include all Americans and simplify their healthcare choices.

Provided by the federal government, a new healthcare plan could help to supplement incomes and result in a better-organized healthcare system, facilitating the delivery of care at excellent quality and lower costs. It would relieve businesses of one of their biggest economic burdens. It would relieve citizens of worry and anxiety about the high costs of unexpected illnesses and accidental injuries.

It's time to ignite a new healthcare reform movement to cover all Americans. The entire system can be reshaped to focus on disease prevention and possibly include coverage for alternative forms of health practices. It is possible to promote clinical excellence, reduce inefficiency, cover all Americans, and pay less than we do today for coverage. A more caring and creative environment with education that includes training for alternative healthcare treatments might interest and encourage more young Americans to go into the healthcare field. Today, U.S. hospitals have 118,000 vacancies for registered nurses. The federal government predicts the accelerating shortfall of nurses in the United States will swell to more than 800,000 by 2020. It shouldn't be that way, and we could find incentives to recruit new nurses and strengthen nursing programs right here in America rather than taking nurses away from third world countries where they are so desperately needed.

Imagine scrapping the current system that is currently based on cold profiteering and reducing a human being to something that is only material. Imagine starting with a federal healthcare plan that reflects the values of generosity, respect, gratitude, and true caring for all Americans within our economy, from infancy to the twilight years. Why should it be so hard to imagine that kind of progress? If we care for our families and fellow Americans, why not ask for a system that sees us as fully human rather than as lifeless units of profit potential? Profit should never triumph over public need. Let's think about healthcare reform and tell our representatives that we support a change.


Politics, Universal Healthcare