FIFA - John Oliver

Relief, John will not have to ingest what goes for food at Mac Donalds 
to wash that down with "disgusting" Budweiser,
since Seppli, the "Swiss Demon" stepped down after all.


John's take on FIFA in June of 2014:


Nobody says it better then John Oliver.

Still there are very pissed of Swiss
that will have their say too:
FIFA - MAFIA - GANG HEI!

No Shortage



No shortage of old cars


and new (looking) bikes


especially Harleys
in Santa Fe.




This turquoise
Harley
my Neighbor's
won
2 prices
in 2013!









Cowgirl
our local Santa Fe hang out
is always a good place to spot shiny, spick and span polished bikes.


My personal preference, if ever I dared to ride a real bike
might likely be this kind of funky Harley.


Love the saddlebag.


Bernie Sanders - The Man


Bernie Sanders announced, barely, that he did decide to run for the US presidential elections and within days I was down at our county clerk's office to affiliate myself back with the Democrats, so I too can have a vote in the upcoming primaries. Not fair that third party voters pay for primaries with their taxes, but are given no ballots! I want to vote for Bernie. Shocking since I am a woman not far from Hilary Clinton's age, yet I have not a moment of hesitation as to whom I would vote for. Yes, the idea of a woman in power, a woman for US President, would surely break one hell of a glass ceiling. But Bernie is my man, he speaks and he acts and he votes in ways that make my heart glad.


I feel relief that finally one lawmaker gets it (except on the Israel/Palestine conflict, I must admit.) So here is Bernie talking to Alan with more to come, no doubt, because here we have another man worth listening to and worth spreading his outrage, which really should be our outrage that we all ought to feel and express, if we are not asleep, but pay attention.


I am certain we can come up with a 12th step and then some.

Chicken Fucker Law Makers


Chicken Fucker Law Makers
allow big corporations to drive farmers below poverty line!

Next month 51 law makers will have another chance to vote 
for a farmer's simple right to speak out without fear of retaliation.
Let us, the people, hold those Chicken Fucker Law Makers accountable!

I have become an unabashed fan of John Oliver's brand of comedy.
I will continue to post videos of his shows
because we all need to hear and to share
the devastating, outrageous, ridiculous facts
he presents us with, made palatable only
with his unfailing sense of quirky humor.

Hillary

No doubt in my mind that there is nobody with more experience, with more expertise and with more capabilities to fit the job description of president for the current two-party system of the United States. Yet this choice stinks and does not offer us the choice of a progressive agenda so badly needed.


via Google Image

Hillary represents the 1%. She has not driven a car by herself in more then 20 years. She is on the boards of Walmart and Monsanto from whom she accepts exorbitant speaking fees. The Clinton campaign aims to raise $2.5 billion, obscene! Yet we live in a Koch-dominated area. Hawkish, I assume is Hillary's attempt to prove her manliness, her capability of staying strong on national security where she has advocated for war time and again.

"So, while I understand that Hillary Clinton isn't everyone's cup of tea, I can promise you this much - she's a hell of a lot better then any Republican alternative. So to all of you liberals who loathe her and feel that voting for her would be "selling out," do you really want a Republican president potentially replacing four Supreme Court Justices?" Allen Clifton, forwardprogressives.com

I agree with Clifton, it is too late in the game for a third party candidate to come in and make an entry and have an impact. Elizabeth Warren is not running and Bernie Sanders is not electable. Both should be left best to serve in their roles as senators.

The lesser of two evils is a term I object to on grounds that it reinforces religious symbolism I do not adhere to and do not approve of and wish we would no longer use. It is not just a figure of speech, but an outdated and inappropriate expression that reinforces christian fairytales of heaven and hell - and evil. There is a world that separates Hillary from her Republican nominees, even though both parties are under corporate, for profit control and dominance. It will be the greatest task for the American people to liberate themselves from the current corporate strong hold. One presidential election will not be enough.

Lots I do not know about this woman. "During her second year in law school, Hillary Clinton volunteered at Yale's Child Study Center, learning about new research on early childhood brain development, as well as New Haven Hospital, where she took on class of child abuse and the city Legal Services, providing free legal service to the poor. Upon graduation from law school, she served as a staff attorney for the Children's Defense Fund in Cambridge, Massachusetts." - npr.org

"Well as someone close to me once said, "I'm probably the most famous person you don't really know," Clinton told NBC in 2007


via Google Image

Now is the time for women to speak out loud and clear about what we value, what we envision, what we support and what we will not stand for! This is no time for silence, for standing on the side lines, for disengagement. This could be the time for women especially to be heard and to make an impact. Woman could and should demand from the Democratic party to grow some balls and change from the party of meek to the party of the people, the party that knows how to take bold steps. Let's demand from us and from Hillary to be bold and reach for those big ideas that will serve the people rather then the profits of big corporations!

Ladybugs - Likely Copulating


Focused on pretty blossoms, I missed the sex!
Camera captures it all, even the less then lady-like activities.

Our Valentine - Our Pretty Kitty



7 years ago this Pretty Kitty was our Valentine's surprise. In search of a new home he ended up with a neighbor allergic to cats. A sudden invasion of mice had made me rather amenable to offering temporary refuge to such a pretty kitty, especially with a snow storm in the forecast (that never materialized.) He earned his life long keep with us having dispersed those mice in 3 days only. They all fled over to a neighbor I was told later. Thankfully I had to never encounter evidence of any carnage, relief as I am terrified of mice, dead or alive. This had been a first and an only time any were ever in my home. We did discover the owner and agreed for us to give the cat a temporary home. When the time came our Pretty Kitty made it plenty clear that he was going nowhere. He had chosen, no doubt, my pups a s his companions, as his pack!



Saemi the cat was lusting after Sumo the little dog.


Sumo would have none of it.

Much thicker skinned Isabella knew
a bit of tail has not yet hurt anyone.


Our 'Mucho-Macho-Lover-Boy' is very independent, comes and goes as he pleases, is responsive when he wants to be and leaves me free of guilt, knowing he has a good, largely self-directed life with plenty of stimulation and choices and without too much dependence on his human.


Happy Valentine's Day from all of us!
May this day bring you many blessings,
much love, light and especially laughter.

Funny Valentine

Happy New Year!


We live in a meritocratic society, where accomplishments are constantly being measured externally, 
where forms are always read from the outside, 
where comfort and lifestyle are often mistaken for success, or even happiness. 
Don’t be fooled.  

WAR IS ASININE!



Veteran of 30 years just shown me the rock he used to contemplate suicide on.


 8,000 vets kill themselves every year in the US.

Those are the ones we know of.

I HATE WAR!


GAZA Celebrates Peace - Denny Cormier


This is a night for joy and happiness.

Nader and I took to the streets of Al Jundi, and it was a night when thousands and thousands came to celebrate. The mood was infectious - for a few hours, the war was left behind, and the future looked brighter.

There were joyful prayers from every mosque in the city... the prayers filled Gaza and were the first reactions to the cease fire... and then came celebratory firing of rifles in the area - cries of Allahu Akbar.

Children filled the street - released from a too long confinement.

Parents and others followed close behind.

Banners were hung at Al Meena. Firecrackers were all around us.

Cars and trucks passed by in parade almost immediately - filled with young men who waved banners, shouted slogans announcing the end of war - holding hands up in the sign of peace.

I was immediately overwhelmed.... tonight was a night for joy but I also wept from the pure joy of seeing my Palestinian friends at this special moment in this journey to Gaza.

I will remember this night forever.

The people of Gaza have suffered horribly during these last 50 days. So many have died and been seriously injured. We have witnessed the photographs of so many martyred and injured children. Many villages have been destroyed altogether.... thousands and thousands of homes and mosques and buildings now lie in rubble. Many residential towers lie in ruin.... with another joining them in Gaza City last night.

Some might wonder how Gaza could celebrate in the face of such great loss and destruction...

But there is much that we have yet to learn about this people of the resistance.

Gaza celebrated its survival, its resistance, its relief, its innate love of life tonight - its strong belief in a merciful and loving Allah - and took a few hours to celebrate the end to this war, and the hope of a new beginning.

And I swear to you - I truly believe that even those who lost their lives and are now in Jannah also joined this celebration.

But this is just a beginning, my dear friends.... the celebration of the evening is fading - and now the real works begins.

The final ceasefire agreement is still filled with question marks and unresolved issues - years of reconstruction lie ahead - the dead are still being buried - the injured may have months of recovery and rehabilitation before them - the infrastructure has been destroyed - raw sewage still pours into the sea. More then 50% of the working population is unemployed (and that number will rise in the coming days).... many people have become homeless (hundreds of thousands of them).... and many of them have no place to go - no home to return to..... thousands and thousands are without food and water (or are food insecure)....

As one astute observer in Gaza wrote tonight - We have won the war but there is still no electricity and water tonight... the city is mostly dark, my dear friends.

There is reason for celebration in Gaza tonight because nearly 50 days and nights of bombing were a horrific experience for many who thought that they might die at any moment... that their children would meet the same fate.

Children will look to the sky for many weeks to come and run to their mother or friends hoping to find protection.

The drones are still in the sky over Gaza tonight.

Gaza is still an open air prison.

More than at any other time - the good people of Gaza need our support.

They need protests in the street until their freedoms are won.

They need us to learn more about their heritage and their future.

They will need us to dig deep in the coming days.

They will need us to continue the work of boycotting Israeli goods and investments in Israeli corporations (and those corporations that have supported years of apartheid in the West Bank and years of siege and blockade in Gaza).

There is still much to be done.

The bombs and destruction have ended for the moment - but please remember that little has changed yet - and it will not change at all without our support.

Israel is still the Occupier. The blockade and siege remain in place except for a piece of paper and promises.

One of the world's largest armies is ready to attack again at any moment.

Thanks to Allah, I am alive - thanks to Allah, the nights are quieter - thanks to Allah, there is "temporary" peace in this land of beautiful people.

Thanks to Allah for your prayers and support and for your sacrifices, dear friends.

Gaza is still under attack.

And it will be for years to come unless we continue our work.

We must continue this work.

I love you, dear friends.

Denny Cormier, Gaza, August 26, 2014, 

Denny on facebook, flickr, and twitter.

GAZA





I need to express my horror and absolute condemnation of those that believe that there can be any justification for resorting to industrial strength violence, war or genocide as may be the case here. People using deadly weapons on people is WRONG. The civilized, humane means of resolving conflicts are negotiations.


 Peace Is Possible
The human race got this far, not by waging war, but by cooperation.


My photos here were taken from a July 23. 2014 rally held in Santa Fe, New Mexico in protest of the unanimous support of Israel (to the detriment of the Gazan civilians) and resolution 498 co-sponsored by Senator Martin Heinrich and not objected to by Senator Tom Udall. The letter below was delivered to both Senators amidst the usual singing and chanting, even while it slightly rained.


"Each year, the United States gives Israel about $3.1 billion in military assistance, a commitment that stems from the 1978 Camp David accord that led to peace between Israel and Egypt. Those billions are roughly divided into two funding streams. About $800 million underwrites Israeli manufacturing of weaponry and military products. The rest finances what is essentially a gift card that the Israeli military uses to procure arms and military equipment from US military contractors. It can be safely assumed, says a US expert on aid to Israel, that all units of the Israel Defense Forces benefit from US assistance—and this obviously includes those units fighting in Gaza. So to a certain degree, the destruction in Gaza does have a made-in-the-USA stamp." - Mother Jones

My Mom, a WW II veteran used to iterate in unbecoming cynicism I thought, but have come, not to accept, but slowly understand: 
 War Is Profitable!


US taxpayers are in the absurd place of partly paying for the Israeli military action in Gaza and funding the cleanup. No doubt the US profits from war, New Mexico's National and Sandia labs are our major players, invested still too much in defense and too little in green technology. Place people and their lives above profit and greed. Sign the Amnesty International Petition for the US to stop arming Israel: "All states (particularly key suppliers, for example USA for Israel) must suspend all transfers of weapons, munitions and other military equipment and technology to all sides until there is no longer a substantial risk that such items will be used for serious violations of international humanitarian law or serious human rights abuses. The suspension should include all indirect exports via other countries, the transfer of military components and technologies and any brokering, financial or logistical activities that would facilitate such transfers."


Inflammatory rethoric, signs and chants I personally do not deem very helpful,
but standing up and speaking out for what we believe is of the essence. 
If we don't, we simply are complicit.


"All of us,who consider ourselves friends of Israel, must call on the Israeli government to use its wisdom to change course and to stop this escalation, to demonstrate a level of compassion born of moral clarity, not only for the benefit of innocent Palestinians, but to protect Israel from the destruction of its own reputation which would deprive it of world solidarity necessary for its own survival." - Dennis Kucinich

Some pointers:

Hamas dropped call for the destruction of Israel in 2006! It is imperative for Hamas to update their outrageous preamble of their founding document: "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it." The state of Israel needs absolute acceptance. Once clearly stated Israel will no longer have the excuse of self defense in their attacks, which currently looks a lot more like genocide (most certainly expressed in comments in the Jerusalem Post: "Barak Tom Salakoff - Wipe Hamas off the map.)

The right to defend ought to be a last resort only. Israel has by far not exhausted it's options to respond to the Gazan rebellion, understandable when we hear of their horrific conditions they have to endure.

Surprise, Gaza seems to have great oil potential of which some corporations seem well aware of!

I was shocked to learn only the other day that the denial of the holocaust was not just a hair raising notion coming from the prior Iranian president, but a position still held by many, including factions that make up Hamas. With todays technologies such absurd notions ought to be able to be corrected with relative ease. Hold town hall meetings where such nonsense is challenged by real people with real feelings and experiences, rather then through more propaganda. Candid, civilized conversations can be part of the solution.

Follow Denny Cormier's live report from Gaza and find him on facebook, twitter and flickr. Denny is a Santa Fean I seen last this spring, right before he left for Gaza where now he found his home and where he chose to stay even as the war started.


Proportionality applies with numbers like 1000 Gazan fatalities - 40 Israeli soldiers. 
1 Gazan child by the hour! The average age of Gazans is 17!
We mourn for every life lost regardless of nationality, race, color or faith. 
War is a barbaric, outdated mode of inflicting suffering through generations yet to come.


Finally, an oppressed people will rebel, they will undermine, literally, unfair boundaries and no doubt will seek to liberate themselves. End Israel's control over Gaza, it's borders, waters, space and goods,
End The Occupation!


New Gallup Poll: 42% of Americans say Israel's actions in Gaza are justified; 39% say unjustified.