So somebody at Fox changes some web sites.  Yeah - it's important.  Time Warner using the USPS to cut their costs while driving costs up for small mags like the Nation....  much bigger deal.  

Just ran across this at TPM and thought it was important to call attention to. It seems that Time Warner is trying to cut it's cost and drive up all the small players costs at the same time.  Ah, I love the smell of megacorporate power in the morning...

The short and sweet of it is that Time Warner has proposed and postal regulators have accepted a proposal which is actually reducing postage costs for mega-mags like Time and Newsweek while dramatically raising them for small independent publishers.  

Continued below the fold

Welcome.

This is primarily a place of rest and renewal. Sabbath is a reminder of the need for balance between rest, work, and play.  A rest stop along the busy highways and byways of our lives.

Today I have a question of sorts. I've been trying to figure out where I'm at and how to address some things - and I feel utterly inadequate to the task, but here's an attempt.

Describe what you see.

The drawing - taken from this fascinating site - is pretty simple... 

unless you try to make sense of it.

   

Join me after the percieved "fold" or real "jump" :-)

Last week I wrote about "THEM!" and what happens to us when we divide instead of constructively disagree.

Our divisions on the blogs are far less consequential, but I think they stem from the same sort of hardness of heart that leads to lynchings, torture, and war. If we are to really live in peace, we have to find ways to overcome that. We have to be the change we want to see in the world..

How often do we set out to counter some namecalling ass only to drop to the same level ourselves?  A precious few of us have managed to overcome that tendency - and on this day 27 years ago, one of them was assassinated. 

Archbishop Oscar Alfonso Romero in a great study in forgiveness, change, struggle, trust, and conviction.  On this anniversary, I honor his living spirit.  Please join me after the jump.

Welcome.  This is #84 in a weekly series posted on Street Prophets and My Left Wing, usually on Saturday afternoons.  Normally it's more of a place for reflection. Today I had more words, and given the topic, find it appropriate to crosspost to dKos.

An Irish Benediction this day:

May those who love us, love us,

and those who don't love us, may You turn their hearts.

And if You cannot turn their hearts,

turn their ankles, so they may be known by their limping!

And perhaps a counterpoint…

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Welcome. Sabbath Time is a regular weekly series that started almost a year ago on MyLeftWing and is now also a feature on Street Prophets each week - usually on Saturdays. The goal of the series is to remind us to find balance in our lives between work, play, and rest.  We cannot pour from an empty cup.

I'm crossposting to some of my other haunts this week as I think the Tree of Life project this entry centers on might be helpful to those who aren't regular MLW or SP visitors.  Welcome to Sabbath Time.
---------
Been a terrible week of news. 

I sometimes think humanity is imploding. 

It's so easy to look at the boiling hatreds of the mideast....

or under an urban bridge that's tonight's shelter to a homeless family

or any of a hundred other tragedies

and despair.

and yet....

Evening

this is a late and unofficial sub for PastorDan's normal weekly prayer* diary

As most know - he's off officiating Jen's sister's wedding (and probably partaking of too much Wisconsin cheese goodness) and it appears no alternate Brothers and Sisters plans were made. I apologize it's not in the normal format, but please enjoy the space as you normally would.

I wish us all grace, peace, clarity, passion, and justice.

Namaste

*meditate, hold in good thought

This is the latest entry in my regular feature at MyLeftWing.  Usually posted on Saturdays, it is usually focused on reminding us to find balance in our work, activism, play, and rest.  To keep our blade sharp and recognize that we cannot pour from an empty cup.  We have to recharge.

Today the focus is on the Post piece - so I thought it appropriate to crosspost.

Read a sign at a business I worked for.  It said:

If you want results different from those you now have - you have to do something different.

Several of the folks at the "spinoff"  dKos site Street Prophets have come up with a project to help generate funds for Democratic candidates in the Fall 06 elections (as well as building community and having some fun at yKos.)

It is an album" quilt"featuring "White House Steps" blocks surrounding a hand-pieced donkey block, four corner blocks embroidered with Street Prophets cookies, and sixty-two signature blocks, including the signatures of famous progressives, dKos and Street Prophets familiar names, and the makers of the quilt. This quilt will be raffled off at YearlyKos and funds generated donated.

The project leaders are looking for a volunteer to help with some legal aspects - The main, broad brush areas of concern are:

How best do we handle the money coming in (as what kind of non profit or PAC).

And how do we distribute it to the candidate(s).

More specifics are here

Advice and questions are welcome below the fold.

Crossposted from MyLeftWing

Over on MLW, the focus of the day has been a diary about "changing the equation". A commenter asks "how"

Here's one way. Work the Refs!  


Don't let them get away with Making. Shit. Up.

Media Matters catches David Brooks doing just that - by claiming that Clinton (and Reagan) were "in the twenties" in approval rating.

That is patently false!   That is demonstrably false! And we should let Brooks, the Newshour, and PBS know we know.  Constant pressure on media is one of the ways the right wing extremist gained the disproportionate power they have - we have to stop letting them get away with this crap.  My letter and some links below.

originally posted on MyLeftWing Crossposted to BooTrib
Remember Zell Miller's RNC speech about Kerry...
"This is the man who wants to be the Commander in Chief of our U.S. Armed Forces?
U.S. forces armed with what? Spitballs?"





That was a mighty big applause line for Zell. As were all of Bush and Cheney's references to honor and dignity in 2000.

I think I'm going to be sick. Again.

Here is a Cleveland Plain Dealer Headline from today:


The US Army is short of its workhorse-calibre ammunition, the .50-cal.

Holden, at First Draft - had an entry based on this and I think he nailed it - his excerpts and comments below.

Spitballs, huh Zell?  Support Our Troops!!!!!  Fucking Yellow Ribbon ain't doin' much good.... Hypocritical Bastards....  Holden's excerpts below the fold.

Wanted to encourage you check out this diary that is falling fast

here's a key part

Stan "Tookie" Williams' execution on California's Death Row has been set for one minute past midnight on December 13, according to Prof. Phil Gasper's article on CounterPunch today.  There is a shocking rush to kill the one person who has been most effective in curbing gang violence and membership.  This haste make no sense -- at this point, only extraordinary public pressure is going to put a brake on it .

Tookie Williams' story is one of extraordinary redemption.  A co-founder of the Crips, he was framed and imprisoned for murder.  In prison, he completely turned his spirit around.  From prison, he has deterred many, many people from gang life and saved countless lives.  His acts have earned Tookie Nobel Peace Prize nominations and other distiguished awards.
(snip) Tookie's death is going to send a very, very bad message.

Please click through for much more and PLEASE RECOMMEND Sara R's diary :

I find it truly ironic that as the "no god" shitstorm fired up here - I was writing a diary for Street Prophets that centered around poetry from the Beat Generation - and an anniversary of a landmark poetry reading that I was alerted to by in an email from Sojourners .

I'm crossposting this now as something of a response to much of the discussion here today.  Way too much heat and not enough light from those on all sides who think their view is the only correct view.

I'll lead with the conclusion - some links to poems and other resources I hope you'll enjoy -  are under the fold

In addition to "Howl" - the poem "America" speaks to me today. I don't agree with or identify with everything [Ginsberg] writes - that's not the point - rather I appreciate his passion, commitment, and the ability he had to convey his deepest experiences in a way that I can get some glimpse of what he found true, as well as what he found abhorrent. He communicates and gives me the opportunity to listen.

We're not all poets - but when we can communicate, and listen - we can find common ground to work together for the common good.

Namaste

Crossposted from MyLeftWing where Sabbath Time is a regular weekly series.  Given the stresses of this past week,  I'm hoping my friends on other sites will find the approach helpful.

I'm tired,
tired of playing the game,
ain't it a crying shame?
I'm so tired,
God dammit I'm tired!

- Lili Von Shtupp (Madeline Kahn, in Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles)

 DeLay indicted, Frist investigated, Robert's confirmed, Miller cuts a deal, Obama posts on dKos and reactions abound.  One thing is clear to me -  around the leftie blogosphere - we're tired.

As I said - this is a regular series over on MyLeftWing.  Follow me after the jump if you're interested the idea.

Take a deep breath, hear music that is restful to you, put on some tea or cocoa, pull up a comfortable chair and enjoy the company of friends. This is a place to feed the wolf of peace, to  sharpen your blade - and refill your cup.

As you may know - Karl Rove was recently assigned to head up the White House disaster response.  As Hurricane Rita bears down on the TX Coast - rest assured that Rove is en route....

Have to jump to find out where Rove's headed...  and read a letter from Senator Lautenberg about it


your head will explode.

originally posted on MyLeftWing

Winter, 1917.  

At the gates of the White House, Alice Paul stood silently with a small group of members of the National Women's Party. They held signs that asked:  "Mr. President, how long must women wait for liberty?"

Their efforts were ignored.  Then on April 6, 1917, the United States entered World War I.

The suffragists' signs became more pointed. They taunted Wilson, accusing him of being a hypocrite. How could he send American men to die in a war for democracy when he denied voting rights to women at home? The suffragists became an embarrassment to President Wilson.

As the women's vigil went on, the police stood by as spectators began to assault the picketers, both verbally and physically.

Note - this diary is largely adapted from two sources, cited at the end.

Please read on...

This diary is an email I received today from Progressive Democrats of America .  PDA formed largely from groups who came together around the Kucinich and Dean campaigns and has launched a number of initiatives - including a key role in Ohio. I encourage you to let Kerry / Edwards know what your thoughts are via the link in the extended text.

Dear Friends,
 We have learned that the Kerry/Edwards campaign is preparing to withdraw from the Ohio recount case, which is pending in federal court. This move comes as Federal Judge Carr in Toledo prepares to hold a status conference on August 30 on this case, along with two other pending voting rights cases.

(more, including letter from Conyers, after the jump)
crossposted to BT and MLW - recommendations appreciated to help get the word out.

Help me.
I've been Arrested for my beliefs!

I've been convicted of caring about others and wanting to help fund research into cures for the 9 forms of Muscular Dystrophy.  

For this I've been sentence to do hard time in a local Ameristar/KAKE TV MD Telethon Lockup to raise funds for "Jerry's Kids"

I must raise at least $600 in bail or I'll be locked up on August 17th.  If you can help, please click through, if you need more info, read on...

I am not a wine drinker and I don't know a great deal about this - but respect and support the group - thought I'd pass it along.

PurpleOcean is a public membership organization of the SEIU
The sent this release in support of a campaign by the United Farm Workers.

Lately, Gallo Wines is worried about too much publicity. And more specifically, they're worried about the Internet. Why? Because they're doing something wrong.

more of the release from Purple Ocean after the jump.  If you know more about this, please add info in the comments. Thanks.