OPEN LTR TO HILLARY SUPPORTING SON

As a veteran observer and participant in the ’60s, Bernie’s activist style is transparent to me. I have no problem with stridency. Watched people being washed down the stairs of the SF courthouse with fire hoses, among other things. We should talk sometime. Noticed as a citizen involvement type that sedate, law-abiding, mainstream people generally react badly to loud, passionate, earnest voices and clenched fists. Lots of misunderstandings possible. American politics has always been loud, bombastic, pretty much corrupted – look at Boss Tweed. We are in another phase of the on-going clash between have and have-not, only we have sectionalized it even more. Inclusion is a hard and often seemingly impossible condition. “Be civil,” “be polite.” That didn’t work in the French Revolution either, as I recall. Bernie’s point, IMO is:

“The Democratic Party has a choice. It can open its doors and welcome into the party people who are prepared to fight for real economic and social change – people who are willing to take on Wall Street, corporate greed and a fossil fuel industry which is destroying this planet. Or the party can choose to maintain its status quo structure, remain dependent on big-money campaign contributions and be a party with limited participation and limited energy.”

Believe Hillary will lose the general to Trump – not a contest of skills and abilities – celebrity contest – he knows how to play it, she is drab as mud. In this consumer-based inconsequential reality show, Trump trumps. We need Bernie. He will have many trustworthy and far-sighted helpers. We need to change and the time is now. If we stay the same, or struggle to do so (always ridiculous – shoveling shit against on-coming tide stuff) we will go down. IMO, Bernie can beat Trump. He sees the vulnerabilities and has excited the base. It can happen. Still plan on going to the convention with Bernie. Lincoln won the narrowest of margins in 1860 – that may be the light at the end of this impending civil war tunnel too.

When all said and done though, in the general election: VOTE BLUE.

BECK’S CROCODILE TEARS

VIDEO: GLENN BECK’S SECRET FOR CRYING ON CUE: Vicks VapoRub Under the Eyes by Adele Stan, AlterNet

A leaked video of a Glenn Beck photo shoot shows the FOX News host having a substance applied under his eyes, which then begin to stream for the camera. It’s one of those great mysteries: How does Glenn Beck, propagandist and D-list actor, get himself to cry on cue? A rogue video making the rounds of the Internet offers an answer: an eye-watering substance applied under the eyes, which Ron Brynaert at The Raw Story suggests to be Vicks VapoRub.

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/143045/video%3A_glenn_beck%27s_secret_for_crying_on_cue%3A_vicks_vaporub_under_the_eyes

The Ann Arbor Chronicle (Michigan)

How to Sustain a Local Economy: From PB&J to Regional Currencies by Mary Morgan

When the Chronicle entered the lower level meeting room of the downtown Ann Arbor library, the first things we noticed were three large trays of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cut into bite-sized wedges.  As public forums go, this was an offbeat gnoshing choice.  It turned out that the sandwiches – and apples, soft drinks, potato chips and other food – were all sourced from Michigan, in keeping with the theme of Wednesday night’s event. The panel discussion focused on the state’s economic crisis, and how the community can respond to it.  Buying local products is one example.  Starting a local currency is another possibility – the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority is funding a study to look into that. Generating  electricity locally is also an opportunity – Mayor John Hieftje told the group that he didn’t think the dam at Argo Pond would be removed, in part because it might be used for hydropower in the future.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/10/01-6

Reuters

Water Worries Threaten US Push for Natural Gas by Jon Hurdle

PAVILLION, Wyoming – Louis Meeks, a burly 59-year-old alfalfa farmer, fills a metal trough with water from his well and watches an oily sheen form on the surface which gives off a faint odor of paint.  He points to small bubbles that appear in the water, and a thin ring of foam around the edge.  Meeks is convinced that energy companies drilling for natural gas in this central Wyoming farming community have poisoned his water and ruined his health.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/10/01-8

Marijuana in America: More Mainstream Than Ever, More Arrests Than Ever By Tony Newman, AlterNet.

Marijuana’s coming-out party is kicking into high gear across America — but way to many people still are getting cuffed for it. Need more evidence that marijuana has gone mainstream in America? This morning on the Today show, Matt Lauer chatted up a piece on so-called stiletto stoners — educated, professional women with killer careers and enviable social lives who favor marijuana as their intoxicant of choice and are increasingly comfortable admitting it. http://www.alternet.org/rights/143005/marijuana_in_america%3A_more_mainstream_than_ever%2C_more_arrests_than_ever

Senator Sanders and Michael Moore Talk Capitalism

By Robert Greenwald.

 In this week’s show, director Michael Moore asks Sen. Sanders “what is wrong with American capitalism these days?” Senator Bernie Sanders makes a poignant appearance in Michael Moore’s latest film, Capitalism: A Love Story, highlighting, as he does in this episode, precisely the deficiencies of the current political and economic climate and the way the American public is getting screwed in the process. Senator Sanders consistently defends the American middle class from the greed and abuse of the insurance companies, the bank lobby, the drug companies and Wall Street who have taken control of the decision-making within our government and our institutions.

http://www.alternet.org/politics/143040