What Elizabeth Warren Said

"There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there—good for you.

"But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers that the rest of us paid to educate...Part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along."

 

There probably isn't a better short statement of the progressive position.

Talk With Pat Meehan!

Rep. Patrick Meehan, 7th District, will meet with constituents Sunday, October 16, at 1pm at Providence Meeting, 105 North Providence Road, Media.

Meet Eric Schneiderman

He's the New York State Attorney General, and he is investigating the Wall Street crimes that caused the Great Recession [no - it wasn't the school teachers and firemen who caused the trouble].  Supported by Attorney Generals Beau Biden in Delaware and Martha Coakley in Massachusetts, Schneiderman is quietly finding where the bodies are buried.  A good read.

http://www.alternet.org/news/152521

Join Us October 15 at Independence Hall

We are asking all of our friends and allies in the antiwar movement and in
all the various movements for social change to endorse an antiwar rally and
cultural festival in Philly on October 15. We are calling it "Philly
Against War" to state that the people of the city are against all of the
wars, on people of color, women, immigrants, Muslims, workers and oppressed
people here in the US, and against all the wars abroad from Afghanistan to
Libya, from Pakistan to Iraq to Palestine and still others. We demand that
these wars stop and all the money be used to fund human needs right here.

The event is shaping up to be an exciting cultural fair with a strong
participation from various performers. There will be live music (reggae,
samba, Mexican drumming, hip hop), poetry and a variety of speakers on
important subjects. Endorsing groups are encouraged to bring a table and
even a display to highlight the wars at home and abroad. Please RSVP if
your group would like time to make a short statement. PAW is asking
endorsing groups to donate $25 to help defray the costs of publicity and
putting on the rally.

Help us be a part of this exciting event! Please send endorsements, along
with how you would like your organization to be listed and the name of a
speaker (if applicable), to phillyagainstwar@gmail.com

Unions Are Heading For Wall Street

The young people in Freedom Square are no longer alone.  Is this the beginning of our Arab Spring?

http://www.commondreams.org/further/2011/09/29-0

Michael Moore On Wall Street

Michael Moore came to Wall Street and talked to the protesters.  He said that thousands, maybe millions, of Americans were behind them, and their small start reminded him of the Stonewall action that started the gay rights movement.  This is an inspired piece of writing.

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/320-80/7606-occupy-wall-street-michael-moore-in-liberty-plaza

The Occupation of Wall Street - Part II

13 Ways To Look at the Occupation of Wall Street

By Charles M. Young

This Can't Be Happening

http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/node/785

1) I had brunch on Sunday in Chinatown with a friend who works in local television news. He complained that the Occupy Wall Street people had sent over video that they said showed demonstrators getting maced. It didn’t show any such thing, my friend insisted. After brunch I walked over to occupied Zuccotti Park (two blocks north of Wall Street) and told somebody at the Media table that they had to be careful about claiming more for their video than it actually showed. Then I went home and looked at the video, and it clearly showed several young women, who presented no physical threat, getting wrapped up by police in a plastic net and pepper sprayed in the face.

2) My friend’s other complaint about Occupy Wall Street was that they didn’t have a list of demands. Nobody knows what they want, said my friend. It is true that they don’t have a policy statement yet, nothing to spoonfeed the corporate press. But they are trying. On Saturday night, I sat through their General Assembly meeting in the park and heard the report of the One Demand Working Group. Basically, they wanted to demand that other autonomous groups in other cities join them. Most of the General Assembly pointed their hands down and wiggled their fingers, meaning disapproval (in a supportive way). Several people said that you can’t demand solidarity from an autonomous group, you can only encourage it. And everyone seemed to think the language wasn’t “provocative” or “funny,” which meant it had way too much Process jargon and not enough Anglo Saxon monosyllables. It was suggested (not decided) that the One Demand Working Group try another draft and perhaps combine their efforts with the Principles of Solidarity Working Group.

3) The Process is how stuff gets worked out when you don’t have leaders, only Facilitators who facilitate group decisions. There are lots of Facilitators, so the police can’t nail anyone as a leader, not that anyone would want a leader anyway.

4) The Ad Hoc Caucus of Non-Male Identified Individuals wanted help writing a letter to Stephen Colbert, who had done a report that focused on a Non-Male Identified Individual who was in a state of disrobe while protesting Wall Street on the sidewalk. The report featured only interviews with Male Identified Individuals commenting on the naked Non-Male Identified Individual. The Ad Hoc Caucus of Non-Male Identified Individuals wanted Colbert to rectify this imbalance. Male Bodied Individuals, who were not wholly Male Identified, were welcome at the meeting of the Ad Hoc Caucus of Non-Male Identified Individuals.

5) I think that the corporate press has a difficult time understanding Occupy Wall Street because, like 99% of Americans, they have no experience with democracy. They spend most of their time enslaved by large totalitarian collectives known as “corporations” and have never once decided anything for themselves as a group of equal workers. Instead they follow orders and write about elections, which are big puppet shows financed and scripted by Wall Street.

6) Most journalists wouldn’t know democracy if it bit them on the ass.

7) In 1991, Charles Bufe wrote a great book called Alcoholics Anonymous: Cult or Cure? (See Sharp Press). Bufe found the 12 Steps unacceptably irrational with their emphasis on God, but he strongly endorsed the 12 Traditions as a model of anarchist organization. After all, AA has been around since 1935, it has millions of dysfunctional members, it very self consciously has no leaders, and it is by far the largest anarchist group in the world. Zuccotti Park is a lot like a big AA meeting for the purpose of sweeping Wall Street into the dustbin of history.

8) Occupy Wall Street is living proof that people can organize around egalitarian principles and do things for themselves, thereby demonstrating in real time that the moguls who cook numbers in the skyscrapers around them are at best useless and at worst lethally dangerous. Just look at the guy from the Sanitation Working Group who zips around on his skateboard sweeping cigarette butts into the dustbin of history. Nobody ordered him to do it, and the sidewalk is remarkably clean.

9) No Woodstock-esque mountain of garbage for this generation.

10) At the southeast corner of Zucotti Park, there’s a four-story red/orange sculpture built with I-beams. It looks like a giant Nazi tank trap on the beach at Normandy. At the northwest corner, there’s a cherry-picker with a bullet-proof cab on top, which takes cops up and down to observe the park. It seems useless, since the park is surrounded by cops who can see everything, anyway. Maybe the cops use the cherry-picker to take naps. They seem pretty bored amidst all their paddy wagons, flashing lights and high tech anti-terrorist doodads. It makes for a vibe just outside the park that is a cross between 1984 and War of the Worlds. Inside the park, rumors abound about when the police might clear the place. So far, Mayor Bloomberg appears to think he can wait them out by making life as uncomfortable as possible (No tents! No structures of any kind! No writing in chalk on the sidewalk!).

11) I met a couple who drove from North Carolina to be part of the protest. I met a “student and seasonal worker” from Oregon who bought a one-way plane ticket to New York. I met a drummer with a Masters degree in urban planning, a lot of debt and no job. I met a topless Non-Male Identified Individual who had wrapped a python around herself. I met a lot of people from the surrounding neighborhood who were bringing food and money and a desire to chat. People from overseas were phoning in orders of pizza for everybody (a neat trick from the occupation in Madison). Everything was transparent except for last names. Last names weren’t cool. You didn’t want informers figuring out who to target for arrest.

12) If you want to make a ruckus and annoy the ruling class, I would suggest you go to Zuccotti Park during the day. If you want some wonderful free entertainment at night, I’d suggest you go at 7 p.m. and catch the General Assembly. Then wander around and talk to people who want to change the world. If you get arrested, call the National Lawyers Guild at 212-679-6018. Write that number on your arm, because the police take all your stuff when they put you jail.

13) On Sunday night I saw a terrific band (Megafaun) at Mercury Lounge and walked down Broadway for my second trip of the day to Zuccotti Park. Nice warm night. No rain. A few hundred people in little groups around the park. Very little noise in the Wall Street area at that time, just the hum of intense conversation. If you want to talk about something that matters, this is probably the best place in America.

“I hitchhiked here from Maine,” said Troy Thibodeau (last name used by permission) under the giant Nazi tank trap sculpture. He was 47 years old, had long hair, shapeless jeans and dried paint on his sneakers. It was about 2 a.m. “If the police think we’ll go home just because they’re making things difficult, then the police don’t know how difficult things are at home. I’m eating better here, with all the donations and stuff. Back in 2008, I was so depressed that I wanted to kill myself. The only thing that stopped me was I couldn’t figure out how to do it without hurting my family. You don’t want to leave people with that thought about you.

“I was a handyman in Ft. Lauderdale for 24 years. All the work dried up in 2008 when the economy collapsed, and somebody stole my drum kit. I used to play in a band, Spontaneous Combustion, and be out all night, then get up after an hour’s sleep and dig post holes all day. Didn’t think anything about it, until it all just ended. Finally, I called my brother and said, ‘I got nothing. I’m on the street.’ He let me move into his attic in Maine, and he let me use a computer, for the first time ever. Oh man, I went down every rabbit hole doing research on that computer, learned the truth about the scumbags who work in these office buildings. Now I spend every nickel I got on making DVDs and printing flyers, trying to get the word out. In a couple days, I’m going back to Maine for the Harvest Festival. Then I’ll go to Washington on October 6 for that demonstration, or come back here. If you’re depressed, protesting is the best possible thing to do. This is how I’m going to spend the rest of my life. The only way I could be happier right now is if I was getting a blow job.”

Charles Young writes for Rolling Stone.

For the original essay, go to: http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/node/785

Where's The Money?

The Government Accountability Office said Friday that the Defense Department has no idea where billions of dollars have gone.  Leon Panetta says we shouldn't cut defense spending, but can't say why.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/23/gao-pentagon-cant-follow-_n_978453.html

China - US Rivalry And The Future

Here is a review of a new book about China's growing role in the world and its growing rivalry with the United States.  The reviewer's main objection to the book is its conclusion, in which Friedberg calls for new weapons to counter China's military threat.  A very strange call.  Some people who object to cutting US military spending point to China's new aircraft carrier.  Our economic situation suggests that the way to hobble China is to encourage it to throw away its wealth on arms as we have done.  Bring on the aircraft carriers!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/books/review/a-contest-for-supremacy-by-aaron-l-friedberg-book-review.html?_r=1&ref=books

How Many Military Bases? - Germany

The picture is of Ansbach, where we have seven bases.  In the list of US bases in Germany below, thirteen are scheduled to be closed because they were intended to stop a Soviet invasion and are not considered essential since the end of the Cold War (22 years ago?). 

Artillery Kaserne, Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Askren Manors Housing Area, Schweinfurt

Bamberg Local Training Area, Bamberg

Barton Barracks, Ansbach

Benjamin Franklin Village, Mannheim (Scheduled to close December 2012)

Bismarck Kaserne, Ansbach

Bleidorn Housing Area, Ansbach

Campbell Barracks, Heidelberg (Scheduled to close 2015)

Coleman Barracks, Mannheim (Scheduled to close 2015)

Conn Barracks, Schweinfurt

Dagger Complex, Darmstadt Training Center Griesheim

Funari Barracks, Mannheim (Scheduled to close December 2012)

Germersheim Army Depot, Germersheim

Grafenwöhr Training Area, Grafenwöhr/Vilseck

Hammonds Barracks, Mannheim

Heidelberg Army Airfield, Heidelberg

Hohenfels Training Area/Joint Multinational Readiness Center, Hohenfels (Upper Palatinate)

Husterhoeh Kaserne, Pirmasens

Kaiserslautern Military Community

Katterbach Kaserne, Ansbach

Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart

Kilbourne Kaserne, Schwetzingen (Scheduled to close 2015)

Kleber Kaserne, Kaiserslautern Military Community

Lampertheim Training Area, Lampertheim (Scheduled to close 2015)

Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl

Ledward Barracks, Schweinfurt

Mark Twain Village, Heidelberg (Scheduled to close 2015)

McCully Barracks, Wackernheim

Miesau Army Depot, Miesau

Nachrichten Kaserne, Heidelberg (Scheduled to close 2015)

Oberdachstetten Storage Area, Ansbach

Panzer Kaserne, Stuttgart

Patch Barracks, Stuttgart

Pulaski Barracks, Kaiserslautern

Patrick Henry Village, Heidelberg (Scheduled to close late 2014)

Patton Barracks, Heidelberg (Scheduled to close 2015)

Rhein Ordnance Barracks, Kaiserslautern

Robinson Barracks, Stuttgart

Rose Barracks, Vilseck

Rottershausen Storage Area, Schweinfurt

Sembach Kaserne, Kaiserslautern

Shipton Kaserne, Ansbach

Smith Barracks, Baumholder

Spinelli Barracks, Mannheim (Scheduled to close 2015)

Storck Barracks, Illesheim

Stuttgart Army Airfield, Stuttgart

Sullivan Barracks, Mannheim (Scheduled to close 2014)

Tompkins Barracks, Schwetzingen (Scheduled to close 2015)

Wiesbaden Army Airfield, Wiesbaden

Storage Station, Mainz-Kastel

Warner Barracks, Bamberg

USAG Wiesbaden Military Training Area, Mainz Gonsenheim/Mombach

USAG Wiesbaden Training Area, Mainz Finthen

USAG Wiesbaden Radar Station, Mainz Finthen

Urlas Housing and Shopping Complex, Ansbach (converted from Urlas Training Area in 2010-2011)

Yorktown Housing Complex, Schweinfurt

Anderson Barracks, Dexheim (will reopen)

Smart Security At Princeton 11/13

CFPA will sponsor an interfaith service for peace and a conference on smart security on Sunday, November 13.  Click the link for details.

http://www.peacecoalition.org/component/content/article/39-cfpa/233-conferenceandinterfaithservice.html

A Letter About Referendum and Recall

Walter Ebmeyer's Letter to the Editor, Philadelphia Inquirer, September 20, 2011.

In this morning's "PointCounterpoint," Senator Pileggi supports his electoral scheme by saying "it's a commonsense way to achieve what should be the objective of everyone interested in democracy: strengthening the role of individual voters." I wonder if the Senator would extend that noble sentiment to instituting the referendum and recall in Pennsylvania so individual voters could bypass the often clogged legislature.

Protesters in Wall Street

Go to http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/node/785 to read "13 Ways to Look at the Occupation of Wall Street."

Click here to see it for yourself and, from time to time, to see a live streaming.

http://www.truth-out.org/live-stream-protesters-occupy-wall-street/1316354502

A Ride To The End Of The Main Line

After their program of music and an Afghanistan slide show on September 17, members of A Ride To The End joined members of their audience at Central Baptist Church, Wayne, PA. The blue wrist bands are reminiscent of the Afghnanistan sky and remind us of our solidarity with the peace-loving people of that unhappy land.

“A RIDE TILL THE END” IN PHILLY AREA THIS WEEK

Three-tour Afghan veteran Jacob George and two cyclist supporters rode into Philadelphia last Friday, September 16, for a week of music and presentations about their project, “A Ride Till The End” (ARTTE), half-way through their tour from New York City to Washington, DC, during the month commemorating the anniversaries of 9/11 and the start of the War in Afghanistan.  They began their ride at Ground Zero on the Monday after 9/11 and will arrive in DC on October 7, the anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan.  The significance of their name is that they plan to continue their rides until the wars end.

The focus of the ARTTE presentations is to use cycling, music, and poetry to “show what war does to people,” according to George, who left the Army with honorable discharge at the rank of Sergeant in 2004.  Previously a successful student and employee at the University of Arkansas, George founded ARTTE in 2009 when his younger brother was about to be deployed to Afghanistan, and since then he and a growing cadre of supporters have covered 6000 miles, mostly in Southern states, The NYC to DC tour is their first in Northeastern States.

ARTTE is looking for donations of used touring bikes to be available for supporters to use, especially Afghan vets who join portions of their ride.  “30,000 vets will be returning from Afghanistan in the next few years, and they will need a way to heal,” says George.  He believes that riding together and telling their personal stories is the best way for vets to make sense of their war experiences and to become activists against ongoing wars.  In the future, ARTTE hopes to donate the bikes to Afghan youth.

ARTTE will also accept financial donations, tax-free if channeled through Peace Action Education Fund (PAEF), 40 Witherspoon Street, Princeton NJ 08542 (memo ARTTE).  All funds will be used to purchase bikes or parts.

ARTTE will present several times in the Philly area this week, culminating with a pot luck supper and presentation at the Peace Center of Delaware County on Friday evening, September 23, 6 PM, located at Springfield Meetinghouse, 1001 Old Sproul Road in Springfield.  See www.delcopeacecenter.org for details.

To learn more about ARTTE, see www.operationawareness.org .  To follow their tour, read their blog at peacefromthebike.blogspot.com.

Martin Luther King In Memphis

The third documentary in the "Work, Wages, and Labor" series is "At the River I Stand," about the sanitation workers that Martin Luther King went to help in Memphis when he was killed.  Jane Dugdale will show the film and lead a discussion at 7:30pm on Friday, October 14, at Central Baptist Church in Wayne.

Where The Money Is

The story is that a reporter asked the celebrated bank bobber, Willie Sutton, why he robbed banks.  "Because," said Willie, "that's where the money is."  We wish that sort of clarity of thought were endemic in the halls of Congress.  This year more than half the discretionary budget will go to the military.  Just a small part of that would keep open that firehouse and school and library your community is losing.  The New Priorities Network, with which this blog is allied, believes it's time to drastically change that.  We hope you agree and will share your thoughts with your Congressman  (202-224-3121) and your local editor.  Do it for Willie.

How Many Military Bases? - Italy

Nobody really knows how many overseas military bases the United States operates.  It's probably somewhere between 800 and 1,000.  Some, like RAF bases in the UK, are really operated by the USAF. Here is a list of bases just in Italy.  The question:  why?

http://militarybases.com/overseas/italy/

Cutting Overseas Troops And Bases?

The new Assistant Secretary of Defense tells Senator Levin that the possibility of reducing troop levels and bases overseas is "on the table."  As the modern Major-General said to the police in Pirates of Penzance, "You say you go but you don't go!"

http://www.military.com/news/article/official-overseas-troop-reductions-on-the-table.html#.TnJ7WksnTTI.facebook

Air Force Neutrality On Religion

Two months after Truth-Out ran an article about the fundamentalist Christian character of the Air Force,  the Chief of Staff has ordered total neutrality on religion and has apologized to individuals hurt by the former policy (or lack thereof).  This is good news that should cheer us all.  But of course Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) is unhappy.  Read on.

http://www.truth-out.org/aftermath-jesus-loves-nukes-scandal/1316010154

Common Sense and Facts On School Reform

If you want to read an important article on public school reform by a knowledgeable educator (NYU professor, Columbia PhD, Williams and Amherst honorary degrees) you should click on the link and read what Diane Ravitch has to say.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/sep/29/school-reform-failing-grade/

A Sword To Cut Military Spending?

A group called "Second To None" plans to march up capitol hill today to protest any cuts in military spending. ["Second to none" may refer to the US Navy, which is as large as all the other fleets of the world combined].  A militarist lobbyist says that the Super Committee's instructions on military spending constitute a "sword of Damocles" hanging over the Pentagon.  The militarists' knowledge of the classics is no better than their grasp of economics.  Cicero mentioned Damocles in his Disputations, a callow youth who yearned to be king, only to learn that people in power live with an allegorical sword hanging over their head.  The 1812 painting by Richard Westfall depicts Damocles in approximately the spot where the military-industrical complex finds itself.

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/664734/despite_hefty_propaganda_campaign%2C_maintaining_the_war_industry_actually_costs_america_jobs/#paragraph2

America As Bully

Jane Dugdale's Letter to the Editor published by the Philadelphia Inquirer, September 11, 2011.

I called my mother, almost 90, when I came home from work on Sept. 11, 2001.

“I know how you must have felt when Pearl Harbor was hit,” I said.

“No, it isn’t the same,” she said. “This is what happens when the U.S. continually bullies the rest of the world. That’s why this happened today.”
Wow. This from the widow of a decorated Navy officer who fought in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of World War II. My mother’s words echo through the decade since 9/11 as I watch our nation extend its military influence around the world with a thousand bases in dozens of countries and initiate one preemptive war after another. If she were still here, I’d like to ask her, is this what she meant by being “bullies”?

Jane Swift Dugdale, Bryn Mawr

Defense Dollars Where?

You thought your defense dollars were going to Lockheed Martin and people like that.  Here's an article about the so-called civilian corporations raking in Pentagon spending.  Have some soup!

http://www.alternet.org/world/152295

A Visit With Congressman Gerlach

We are trying to arrange a small meeting (8 or so) of PA-06 constituents with their Congressman at his Exton office during the last week of September when Congress is in recess.  If you live in CD-06 and want the be informed of the meeting date and time, please e-mail walterebmeyer@comcast.net.

Bikes Not Bombs September 17

"The Ride Till The End," a rolling bicycle rally on its way to Washington, will stop off on the Main Line Saturday, September 17 at the Radnor Democrats' picnic and at the Central Baptist coffee house.  Read more at the link.
*Fri., Sept. 23, 6p.m. – ‘Bikes Not Bombs’ Bicycle Tour Potluck Supper & Program @Peace Center of Delaware County, 1001 Old Sproul Rd., Springfield, PA. Sponsored by the Brandywine Peace Community.
More on the Potluck Supper/Program at the Peace Center of Delaware County and directions, see www.delcopeacecenter.org
http://peacecoalition.org/component/content/article/40-chapters/271-radnorbikesnotbombs.html

Where Has This Obama Been?

Our favorite part of last night's Presidential address to Congress.  It seemed like we hadn't heard from this fellow since 2008.

We all remember Abraham Lincoln as the leader who saved our Union. But in the middle of a Civil War, he was also a leader who looked to the future—a Republican president who mobilized government to build the transcontinental railroad; launch the National Academy of Sciences; and set up the first land grant colleges. And leaders of both parties have followed the example he set.
Ask yourselves—where would we be right now if the people who sat here before us decided not to build our highways and our bridges; our dams and our airports? What would this country be like if we had chosen not to spend money on public high schools, or research universities, or community colleges? Millions of returning heroes, including my grandfather, had the opportunity to go to school because of the GI Bill. Where would we be if they hadn’t had that chance?
How many jobs would it have cost us if past Congresses decided not to support the basic research that led to the Internet and the computer chip? What kind of country would this be if this Chamber had voted down Social Security or Medicare just because it violated some rigid idea about what government could or could not do? How many Americans would have suffered as a result?
No single individual built America on their own. We built it together. We have been, and always will be, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all; a nation with responsibilities to ourselves and with responsibilities to one another. Members of Congress, it is time for us to meet our responsibilities.

Super Committee Today!

Super Committee Meets For First Time Today

As Super Committee meets today, TPM's Brian Beutler asks if Republicans will accept facts from CBO about cause of deficit: "...it will also pose the panel with its first and most basic test: whether its six Democrats and six Republicans can accept a single history of the country's large public debt as a starting point for reining it in ... it argues strongly for policies that ultimately reverse the revenue losses from Bush tax cuts, and then a debate over the best ways to make health care costs sustainable..."

Lobbyist converge on Super Committee. Politico: "The Defense and State departments — and their allies in Congress and on K Street — are warning that steep cuts could endanger national security. Powerful players in the health sector are calculating that they face less exposure if the supercommittee fails and automatic cuts to Medicare — limited to about 2 percent by the new debt-limit law — are imposed. Even Washington’s cottage industry of 'good government' groups are leaning on lawmakers to conduct the kind of public deliberations that some insiders think would make it impossible for the supercommittee to make a deal."

Super Committee members suggest tax reform will be handled under regular committees. The Hill: "...budget analysts are increasingly calling on the supercommittee to implement a two-step process for tax reform — perhaps accelerating the process and setting parameters themselves before placing a deadline for Finance and Ways and Means to hash out the details."

Another Super Committee hire increases chances of a deal, suggests W. Post's Ezra Klein: "...the lead Republican staffer knows taxes and the lead Democratic staffer knows entitlements. It’s a sign that the two sides are at least thinking about the relevant compromises they’re going to need to make if the committee is going to succeed."

Solidarity!

Main Line Peace Action members cheering on the 2011 Labor Day Parade in Philadelphia.  From left: Roger Balson, Walter Ebmeyer, Jane Dugdale, Sonia Kling.  The parade was an hour long and estimated to be 10,000 marchers who all saw our signs.

Why Are We Using Drones?

This article will answer some of your questions about drones and the CIA.  If you are outraged by what you read, join an anti-drone Death March on Saturday, October 1, from 12-1pm at Market and 12th Streets in Philadelphia.  Wear black.

http://ipsnews.net/print.asp?idnews=104993

What Next With Tar Sands And The Pipeline?

Bill McKibben is not giving up and neither should we.  Barack Obama in 2008 said we should end our dependence on oil, and our children would mark this as the moment when the oceans stopped rising.  We must hold him to his word.  Read McKibben's message today and see what actions you can take.

http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=4ecf937f1c30865330b84727e&id=144f1a9f37&e=2ab842097b

Labor Day Music!

We went to the Philadelphia Labor Day parade this morning and waved and cheered at an hour-long procession of workers, children, and dogs.  It was wonderful, and it reminded us of Pete Seeger.

Tax Wall Street

John Nichols in The Nation joins the growing call for a transaction tax on Wall Street trading to pay for a new robust jobs program across the nation.  The National Nurses Union, Progressive Democrats of America, Angela Merkel, and Nicholas Sarkozy are for it.  Read on!

http://www.thenation.com/blog/163059/how-will-we-pay-obamas-new-jobs-push-answer-tax-wall-street

Music On The Blog!

"War Is Not The Answer",

sung here by Veterans For Peace, Acton, Massachusetts.  One only wishes all the singers weren't so grey.

"Even The Rain" At Brandywine Peace

At the Peace Center of Delaware County (1001 Old Sproul Road, Springfield), Friday, October 7, 7pm.  "Even The Rain," with Gael Garcia Bernal.  Big Screen!  Free!

John Grant On Bullshit

Our friend John Grant has given us his views on malaise, American exceptionalism, and bullshit just in time for the traditional political season.  As a veteran this week of town meetings with both Pat Meehan (PA-06) and Pat Toomey (R-PA), your blogger tends to agree with John.

http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/node/750