a sad day for cleveland

from the writing on the wal

In a little more than 24 hours the doors open on the Steelyard Commons Wal-Mart. At 8:36 a.m. on 19 May 2005 citizens who opposed that store came together and turned the lights on at No Cleveland Walmart

Song of the day:

we are disgusting

richest country in the world, and we dont even give one quarter of one cent of our earnings to help with the upkeep of the globe...

from: poverty.com

International Aid ― A Solution
Quick Summary: Almost all of the deaths from hunger and disease that you see on this site can be stopped. The cost to do this is about $195 billion a year, according to the United Nations. Recently, 22 developed countries listed below pledged to work towards each giving 0.7% (a little less than 1%) of their national income in international aid, which would raise the $195 billion. Some countries are slow to meet their pledge.
2006 International Aid Donated (Official Development Assistance)
COUNTRY For each $100 earned in the country, how much is donated in aid Aid as % of income How close the country is to reaching the 0.7% goal
Sweden 103 cents 1.03 Already reached goal
Luxembourg 89 cents 0.89 Already reached goal
Norway 89 cents 0.89 Already reached goal
Netherlands 81 cents 0.81 Already reached goal
Denmark 80 cents 0.80 Already reached goal
Ireland 53 cents 0.53 Scheduled to reach in 2012
United Kingdom 52 cents 0.52 Scheduled to reach in 2013
Belgium 50 cents 0.50 Scheduled to reach in 2010
Austria 48 cents 0.48 Scheduled to reach in 2015
France 47 cents 0.47 Scheduled to reach in 2012
Switzerland 39 cents 0.39 No schedule yet
Finland 39 cents 0.39 Scheduled to reach in 2010
Germany 36 cents 0.36 Scheduled to reach in 2014
Spain 32 cents 0.32 Scheduled to reach in 2012
Canada 30 cents 0.30 No schedule yet
Australia 30 cents 0.30 No schedule yet
New Zealand 27 cents 0.27 No schedule yet
Japan 25 cents 0.25 No schedule yet
Portugal 21 cents 0.21 Scheduled to reach in 2015
Italy 20 cents 0.20 Scheduled to reach in 2015
United States 17 cents 0.17 No schedule yet
Greece 16 cents 0.16 Scheduled to reach in 2015
Source: OECD

...and notice that while greece has given less then us, they have at least voiced a date for meeting their tzedaka commitment...

Song of the day: stay human- michael franti

try these on for size, you bastards

from sweetness and light

Activists send female underwear to Burmese embassies

Martin Hodgson

Friday October 19, 2007

Activists exasperated at the failure of diplomacy to apply pressure on Burma’s military regime are resorting to a new means of protest against the regime’s recent crackdown: sending female underwear to Burmese embassies. ...

visit the site to read more...its pretty interesting

i donated my girliest pair to the cause, red and silky, just to rub it in a little more than necessary
...
hat tip to hess for the heads up

Song of the day: lucy stoners- amy ray

"In every post punk bar there's a dressing room wall
where the rockboy band will make it's mark-
one hundred different pictures of private parts and some girl going down.
And there's that faggot bashing poetry but the boys are just saying
'love me please.'
In every hate filled phrase they just give it away..
boys, you give yourselves away "

(what different attitudes we have culturally, but its all the same....yes?)

great leaders march...

from: have coffee will write

...Great leaders march. Like Ghandi marched from his ashram to the sea to make salt and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. marched from Selma toward Montgomery, Alabama to make History.

If the Dali Lama is truly a great leader he will stop praying and start walking.

I’m not sure where he ought to start from, but he needs to start. And he needs to keep marching until he reaches the border of Burma. And he need to keep walking until he reaches Yangon.

And you know what will happen as he walks?

Two people will join him. Then 20 more will join the march. Then 200, 2,000, 20,000 will march.

And by the time they reach the border there will be too many to stop. And even if every bullet is fired, there won’t be enough to stop the marchers.

to all the brave, tired souls in burma and around the world who keep on keepin on

Song of the day: all the tired horses- bob dylan

waning or perservering: its all about perception

the ap reports that the "hope is waning among protesters" for myanmar protesters while the bbc says that there are "New protests on Rangoon street"....despite three days of crackdowns on pro-democracy protests.", its amazing how perception can vary...or is it?

now if we are the country for freedom, doesnt it seem odd that our news reports certain failure while the british news brings forward the courage of the continued effort? all over right now, we hear and say our government and media are using psychology to get us to buy or believe, and here is just another example

people all over the world are protesting president bush, just like all over the world people are protesting the junta....it is too dangerous for the american people to feel encouraged by these protests, it brings to much rage and too many ideas, too much creativity...remember, it was once the streets of america that were flashed around the world on the evening news, fighting for our civil rights, fighting racism, fighting war.....do you see how they are trying to keep us down? ever hear of the term "mind fuckers"? oh, and i just heard about milton friedman and intend to learn and disseminate information on his ideas...as if we had ever bothered to learn about the past, we might have prevented the current direction of this country

and for anyone who didnt know, the entire bush administration the whole way through these eight years has been filled with the same people who worked with nixon- and i thought we all hated him and his ideas, that cheat, that thief!

Song of the day: the future is a war- Exene Cervenka

more truth from the bbc

Burma and Somalia have been jointly ranked by Transparency International as the world's most corrupt countries.......There is strong correlation between poverty and corruption, said Huguette Labelle, chair of the watchdog.

At the bottom of the table, ahead of Somalia and Burma, were Iraq, Haiti, Uzbekistan and Tonga.....read the rest here

Song of the day:

ms walk

the ms walk is this saturday. i have been a team captain now for two years. many people in my life, when they find out i have a walking team every year, ask me to keep them informed because they would like to walk with me.

ofcourse, none of them do, always too busy...and people also never have money to sponser me.... but my friend tonya is walking with me again this year. my friend robin, who is about 31 weeks pregnant, is also walking with me this year, and her friend emily, whom i have never met, but whom i appreciate for her commitment to this walk is also joining us.

the walk starts at nine am behind tower city amphetheater. my team's name is after enlightenment (tonya said 'thank god were not the basket cases again- last year, all team members were mental health students at case- )and anyone who would like to participate is welcome to come....hope for good weather for me please, last year it was snowing and i was a crabby bitch....

Song of the day: I'm gonna be (500 miles)- crash test dummies