Cherish - and Work to Protect - Our Rights

"Bill of Rights Day was December 15, a time to reflect on constitutional freedoms. And as we enter the tenth year since 9/11, it's hard to be optimistic about the state of civil liberties and human rights in the United States."

Read the rest of the article at: Truthout

The Dangers Of Externalizing Knowledge

So... Do you *know* things?
Or do you just know where/how to *find* things?
(It's a big difference, dontcha know...)
This could almost have been called "The Dangers of Pocket Calculators," in days gone by...

Read the full story at: TechCrunch

Will The DEA Shut Down Every Major Music Festival in the Country?

"Every major music festival in the country could be shut down by law enforcement whose motive is not to make Americans safer through the protection of their rights, but the profit that police can make by taking property from citizens."
"The seizure of the 352-acre Camp Zoe property in Southeast Missouri has so far garnered substantial attention both in America and internationally. That’s because this is no ordinary seizure; without (so far) being charged with a crime, the property owner, musician Jimmy Tebeau, is having his land taken from him in a process that strips him of his rights under both the US and Missouri constitutions."

Read the rest of the story at: Cannabis Culture Magazine

What Bernie Said, Part I

"The speech delivered by [Senator Bernie] Sanders [I-VT] on Friday ranks among the most important I have ever heard in my life, certainly the single most pertinent expression of fact and outrage that has been delivered in this current climate of "compromise" and collapse. He told more truth in his eight hours than many of us have heard from an elected official in the last ten years, and it would be a disgrace if his eloquence faded into the background without the study and reflection it deserves."
- William Rivers Pitt

Read the rest of what William Rivers Pitt (and Senator Bernie Sanders!) had to say in Part One of this multiple-installment assessment at Truthout.com!

The new hungry: College-educated, middle-class cope with food insecurity

Come Christmas dinner, Rolanda McCarty, a 36-year-old single mother, usually goes all out.
Her table last year featured a rosemary-and-oil rubbed turkey and a sweet ham. She prepared fresh collard greens according to her grandmother's recipe. The dessert -- a rich butter pound cake -- was made from scratch.
But after being laid off from her technical recruiting job in January because of the struggling economy, there will be no fancy holiday feast, no family members pouring into her downsized one-bedroom apartment. She will rely on what she has: canned vegetables and microwavable meals from her community food bank..

Read the rest of the story on how the college-educated middle-class are facing food insecurities and going hungry at CNN.com

US life expectancy continues to plummet, but not because of inadequate health care

Rather than teach people how to eat better, for instance, the health care system waits until people become sick and loads them up with drugs and expensive procedures as the "cure". Drug companies make a lot of money with this approach, but overall health continues to decline as a result.
Read the rest at naturalnews.com...

How Prescient...

“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.” A. Lincoln, 1864

Observations after Massachusetts Senate debacle...

Progressives embrace safety nets of rights, basic health care & sustenance for all humanity. Some call this "Socialism" & are violently opposed to "Redistribution of Wealth." But "Socialization of Costs?" The opponents' story changes. Pollution, Hazardous Consumables, Workplace Injuries or fatalities - Let the public assume these costs! Socialize the costs to the masses & privatize profits for the wealthy. Nice...
(And voters continue to roll over, preferring image over issues...)

America lives up to its promise...

A truly historic occasion - I am thrilled by the results of the election, and proud of my fellow citizens for choosing hope over fear... Our latest "long national nightmare" may soon be over... Congratulations to President-Elect Barack Obama!

(and kudos to Senator McCain for a truly gracious concession speech - probably the finest words he spoke throughout his campaign...)

Shameless Self-Promotion (2-of-2) - Biker Poetry

OK... now that I got in *my* plug for The Rogues, I shall now draw your attention to some high-profile exposure recently received by Jefferson Weeps correspondent (and Biker Poet extraordinaire) RoadPoet-NY... Seems that our very own J. Barrett Wolf (or Bear, as he is known to many of us) managed to get some front page coverage on Boston.com - which is the online extension of the Boston Globe newspaper... Bear gets featured prominently in a story entitled, "The rhythms of the road" which examines the growing popularity and acceptance of Biker Poetry... Why not go and take a look for yourself? The article can be found at: http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/articles/2008/10/21/the_rhythms_of_the_road/ Meanwhile... a hearty congratulations goes out to Bear, along with best wishes for the continued recognition of Biker Poets everywhere!

Shameless Self-Promotion (1-of-2) - The Rogues Acoustic Duo

Howdy all...

Just taking the briefest of moments to draw your attention to the online home of my most recent musical venture... After performing for many years as a solo act and as a member of touring rock bands from New Haven, CT and Hyannis, MA, I am now back on stage and lending my guitar and vocal abilities to an acoustic duo called "The Rogues" based out of the Pioneer Valley in Western Massachusetts. We can be found online at http://www.valleyrogues.com (keeps us differentiated from all the 'other' Rogues out there...) or you can email/IM us at valleyrogues@yahoo.com More details will be coming soon... including news about a full band venture where we will be joined by a bassist and drummer!

Just say "No!" to the Wall St. Bailout Legislation!

Here is a "Call to Action" - compliments of:
http://www.votenobailout.org/

If you go to the site, you can have a form letter delivered to all your legislators, demanding that they balk at the blank check being demanded by Paulson and Bernanke.

You can also customize the letter to your liking, so I have attached my particular customized version for your perusal...


--- Text of Letter ---

Congress has no right to give the White House and its Secretary of the Treasury the power to transfer the people's money to the richest bankers in the country.

Vote No to the Bailout legislation.

The Bailout legislation is being rammed through Congress in a matter of days. This is an illegal power grab by the White House and their richest friends on Wall Street.

The Legislation allows the Treasury Department to appoint the same bankers who created the crisis to administer and dictate the use of trillions of our tax dollars.

If this legislation were to pass, it would constitute one of the biggest transfers of public wealth from working families to the private coffers of the ultra-rich in the history of the United States.

(Additionally, the "no judiciary review" clause in the bill is something that has been found unconstitutional time-and-time again, since the days of Marbury vs. Madison back in 1803!)

Congress should help families stay in their homes. Wealthy executives should be forced to disgorge their obscene profits, fees and bonuses that made them ultra-rich while they ran the economy into the ground.

This is nothing more than a publicly-funded bailout for private criminal recklessness, and there MUST be personal accountability on the part of those responsible.

Denver Flashback - Kucinich Rocked the Convention

In what probably *should* have been considered the keynote speech of the 2008 Democratic Convention, Ohio Representative and long-time Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich positively electrified the audience, bringing the crowd to its feet, causing those present to roar so loudly he had to yell into the microphone to be heard, and leaving the delegates cheering through the first part of the next speaker's remarks.

In the most spirited speech of the Tuesday session, now known as the "Wake Up, America!" speech, Kucinich railed against our illegal wars, the pitiful state of our economy and the Republican assaults on the Constitution and the Middle Class.

The text of the speech appears below, but please pay a visit to www.kucinich.us to see the amazing video footage, to sign on to an Impeachment Petition, or just to show some support for America's most courageous public servant.


--- Text of Speech ---

It's Election Day, 2008. We Democrats are giving America a wake up call. Wake up America. In 2001, the oil companies, the war contractors and the neo-con artists seized the economy, and have added four trillion dollars of unproductive spending to the national debt.

We now pay four times more for defense, three times more for gasoline and home heating oil, and twice what we paid for health care. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, their homes, their health care, their pensions. Trillions of dollars for an unnecessary war paid with borrowed money. Tens of billions of dollars in cash and weapons disappeared into thin air, at the cost of the lives of our troops and innocent Iraqis, while all the President’s oilmen are maneuvering to grab Iraq's oil.

Borrowed money to bomb bridges in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. No money to rebuild bridges in America. Money to start a hot war with Iran. Now we have another cold war with Russia while the American economy has become a game of Russian roulette.

If there was an Olympics for misleading, mismanaging and misappropriating this Administration would take the gold. World records for violations of national and international laws. They want another four year term to continue to alienate our allies, spend our children's inheritance and hollow out our economy. We can't afford it, America.

Wake up America, the insurance companies took over health care.

Wake up America, the pharmaceutical companies took over drug pricing.

Wake up America, the speculators took over Wall Street.

Wake up America, they want to take your Social Security.

Wake up America, multinational corporations took over our trade policies, factories are closing, good paying jobs lost.

Wake up, America. We went into Iraq for oil. The oil companies want more. War against Iran will mean $10 a gallon gasoline. The Oil Administration wants to drill more -- into your wallet.

Wake up, America. Weapons contractors want more. An Iran war will cost five to ten trillion dollars.

This Administration can tap our phones. They can't tap our creative spirit. They can open our mail. They can't open economic opportunities. They can track our every move. They lost track of the economy while the cost of food, gasoline, and electricity skyrockets.

They skillfully played our post-911 fears and allowed the few to profit at the expense of the many. Everyday we get the color orange, while the oil companies, the insurance companies, the speculators, the war contractors get the color green.

Wake up America. This is not a call for you to take a new direction from right to left.

This is call for you to go from down to up.

Up with the rights of workers.

Up with wages.

Up with fair trade.

Up with creating millions of good paying jobs rebuilding our bridges, ports and water systems.

Up with creating millions of sustainable energy jobs to lower the cost of energy, lower carbon emissions and protect the environment.

Up with health care for all.

Up with education for all.

Up with home ownership.

Up with guaranteed retirement benefits.

Up with Peace.

Up with Prosperity.

Up with the Democratic Party

Up with Obama - Biden

Wake up, America.

Wake up, America.

Wake up, America.

Obama Tattoos (beautiful, functional, and temporary, of course...)

While my SO and I were waiting to leave the armed madhouse that Denver had become in anticipation of the Democratic National Convention, we were sitting in the lobby of our hotel and struck up a conversation with a lovely couple sitting alongside us.

In the course of our conversation, (which included a delightful digression into the phenomenal qualities of *my* favorite politician - none other than Dennis Kucinich!) we discovered that they were not delegates, but entrepreneurs attempting to place themselves at the right place at the right time in order to give their fledgling business a lift.

We could not help but to admire their thinking and their determination - we also could not help but to admire their wares!! Temporary tattoos... a whole series of them... beautiful artwork designed to help spread the message of presidential candidate Barack Obama. Impressed as I was, I promised to help spread the word here at Jefferson Weeps.

So... to honor my commitment, I hereby beseech our readership to take a moment and head over to http://www.obamatattoos.com/ Here is your chance to show your support for the candidate as well as an opportunity to support one of the small businesses that embody the "American Dream." I think that you will be very pleased with what you find there!

Tales from the road - Denver and Amtrak and DHS...

Ever have one of those times where so much happened that it takes a while to process and/or recover? The ten day period from August 16th to August 26th was just such a time for me...

My SO and I decided that in the interest of avoiding hassles with TSA officials (due to my feelings that the whole airport security process is completely bogus and merely another way to push citizens around...) and avoiding extra-ridiculous (and heavily-armed) security in the Denver airport on our trip home (due to the arrival of the Democratic National Convention) *and* some misguided notion of the "romance of the rails" we recalled from old black & white movies, we would take Amtrak trains from Springfield, MA to Denver, CO and back.

Silly us...

(more to come...)