Daily Kos: Bush Supporters of the Far Right: Cries from the Lake of Fire
Daily Kos: Bush Supporters of the Far Right: Cries from the Lake of Fire

that's telling 'em.


that's the way - uh huh, uh huh, i like it


as mentioned on the democratic underground,
everybody should read this piece. hope you will


- posted by barbara @ 9/29/2005 10:52:00 PM  0 comments

 
Bill Bennett: "[Y]ou could abort every black ba ... [Media Matters]
Bill Bennett: But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime,
you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you
could abort every black baby in this country, and
your crime rate would go down. That would be an
impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible
thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. [Media Matters]

this is a former secretary of education for
the united states of america saying this. if
he does not lose his job i think i will have
a stroke because the frustration.

it is two thousand five! people we are in the
21st century! we are supposed to be getting
smarter, and evolving spiritually, we are
supposed to know the difference between right
and wrong and that a person cannot and should
not be judged based on skin color.

exclamation points and omigawd what is the world coming to

edit:
i found this dude's webpage and left him a message:

http://mediamatters.org/static/audio/bennett-200509280006.mp3
that is you correct? you should be truly ashamed
of your racism in this day and age.

you should lose your job. don't you realize that
as a broadcasting personality you have real power
to shape people's perceptions? you have abused it
terribly with your "observation" that aborting black
babies would lower crime.

that is a sweeping generality that is totally unfair
to black people in particular and any person with an
ounce of compassion or understanding of the plain fact
that we are all HUMANS on this planet trying to get along.

except those who would rather not. you owe all of your
listeners and every person of african descent in the
world an apology for your statement. the ignorance
of that statement. the incitement to segregation.

i read that you were once secretary of education.
what did you teach? if this is your message you need
to go back to school.

barbara bales
not as eloquent as i might be at 5 pm as opposed to 5 am, but that
really disturbed me so much. we sposed to be making progress not regressing...

oh and check it out...i'm updating the archives and little
by little putting back the pictures that were effectively
lost when my photo server refused, one day. by 2010 i anticipate
that my blog will be clean as a whistle with not one single
placemark in place of a pic. :)

act now to end war and stop racism. another picture from
the Los Angeles demonstration against the war in Iraq on
Saturday 9-24-05
- posted by barbara @ 9/29/2005 04:48:00 AM  0 comments

 
Peace now.

another picture or two from last saturday, the
los angeles march to end the war in iraq.

i totally disagree with the premise that supporting our troops
means rah-rah-ing them as they are forced to foreign
lands to kill and be killed. bring them home, heal their
wounds, keep them living.

in other news, i re-totaled my car today. sigh. mormor's
headed for that ol' junkyard in the sky, and i'm studying
bus schedules.


it was energizing, galvanizing, to march and chant and know
that i am NOT alone, i do NOT exist in a vacuum, i am NOT crazy.

nor am i unpatriotic. i unapologetically cop to the following:
i am a liberal.
i am a humanist.
i am a lover.
i believe in spirit.

the shoes my daughter bekah wore and was pulled out of on
july 19, 2001, when she was killed crossing the street
thirteen days after her 21st birthday. they had been
placed in a grocery bag and handed tenderly to me by the
detective who worked so hard to get her killer charged with the
crime of murder. before we left for the march i untied for the first
time the last bow Bekah ever tied. and decided, these will be
my marching shoes.

on the way home i learned something about those shoes, too.
but for now i can say, they served me well last saturday.
- posted by barbara @ 9/28/2005 11:48:00 PM  0 comments

 
Peace.
Rory [the reluctant demonstrator] and i marched in LA yesterday
in solidarity with those marching in washington. i took 161
pictures total and will as the days go on share the pithiest.
to see the best of them click on the picture below:


was there any mainstream coverage here in LA? thousands of
people showed up and as far as i could see every one of them
opposed this travesty of a war. where has the press gone? we
marched past the LA Times building.


In related news, an LA Times opinion piece touches on the
reason I chose to give my delurker money to a different
organization [specifically Camp Casey in Covington LA]:
money pit
- posted by barbara @ 9/25/2005 07:01:00 AM  0 comments

 
my fish


- posted by barbara @ 9/19/2005 12:42:00 AM  0 comments

 
negative subspace
nico wrote about lost love so beautifully.
- posted by barbara @ 9/18/2005 08:18:00 AM  0 comments

 
AnswerLA
i'm marching a week from today.
- posted by barbara @ 9/17/2005 03:32:00 PM  0 comments

 
Bush takes responsibility

except ... he isn't taking responsibility, he's just blowing
smoke up the collective ass of the people. if he really took
responsibility, he'd admit that he is not up to the job he
holds and step down. but the quotes sound good, humble, blah
blah. just words, just PR. i'll believe him when he apologizes
for every other lie he's told and every life he's cost in
the telling, and when he voluntarily resigns the presidency.
in other words, never.

remember. actions speak louder than words.

- posted by barbara @ 9/14/2005 11:50:00 AM  0 comments

 
The ICC Discussion forum #15715.1
i've copied the following in its entirety because it
came from a delphi board...if i am violating anybody's
copyright against their will, please advise and i will remove it.

i think it is vital that this information be distributed...

Hurricane Katrina - Our Experiences
Sep 6, 2005, 11:59
By Paramedics Larry Bradsahw and Lorrie Beth Slonsky

Note: Bradshaw and Slonsky are paramedics
from California that were attending the EMS
conference in New Orleans. Larry Bradsahw is
the chief shop steward, Paramedic Chapter,
SEIU Local 790; and Lorrie Beth Slonsky is
steward, Paramedic Chapter, SEIU Local 790.

[California] Two days after Hurricane Katrina
struck New Orleans, the Walgreen's store at the
corner of Royal and Iberville streets remained
locked. The dairy display case was clearly visible
through the widows. It was now 48 hours without
electricity, running water, or plumbing. The milk,
yogurt, and cheeses were beginning to spoil in the
90-degree heat. The owners and managers had locked
up the food, water, pampers, and prescriptions and
fled the City. Outside Walgreen's windows, residents
and tourists grew increasingly thirsty and hungry.

The much-promised federal, state and local aid
never materialized and the windows at Walgreen's
gave way to the looters. There was an alternative.
The cops could have broken one small window and
distributed the nuts, fruit juices, and bottle
water in an organized and systematic manner. But
they did not. Instead they spent hours playing
cat and mouse, temporarily chasing away the looters.

We were finally airlifted out of New Orleans two days
ago and arrived home yesterday (Saturday). We have
yet to see any of the TV coverage or look at a newspaper.
We are willing to guess that there were no video images or
front- page pictures of European or affluent white tourists
looting the Walgreen's in the French Quarter.

We also suspect the media will have been inundated
with "hero" images of the National Guard, the troops
and the police struggling to help the "victims" of
the Hurricane. What you will not see, but what we
witnessed, were the real heroes and sheroes of the
hurricane relief effort: the working class of New
Orleans. The maintenance workers who used a forklift
to carry the sick and disabled. The engineers, who
rigged, nurtured and kept the generators running. The
electricians who improvised thick extension cords
stretching over blocks to share the little electricity
we had in order to free cars stuck on rooftop parking lots.
Nurses who took over for mechanical ventilators and spent
many hours on end manually forcing air into the lungs
of unconscious patients to keep them alive. Doormen
who rescued folks stuck in elevators. Refinery workers
who broke into boat yards, "stealing" boats to rescue
their neighbors clinging to their roofs in floodwaters.
Mechanics who helped hot- wire any car that could be
found to ferry people out of the City. And the food
service workers who scoured the commercial kitchens
improvising communal meals for hundreds of those stranded.

Most of these workers had lost their homes, and had
not heard from members of their families, yet they
stayed and provided the only infrastructure for
the 20% of New Orleans that was not under water.

On Day 2, there were approximately 500 of us left
in the hotels in the French Quarter. We were
a mix of foreign tourists, conference attendees
like ourselves, and locals who had checked
into hotels for safety and shelter from Katrina.
Some of us had cell phone contact with family and
friends outside of New Orleans. We were repeatedly
told that all sorts of resources including the
National Guard and scores of buses were pouring
in to the City. The buses and the other resources
must have been invisible because none of us had seen them.

We decided we had to save ourselves. So we pooled
our money and came up with $25,000 to have ten
buses come and take us out of the City. Those
who did not have the requisite $45.00 for a
ticket were subsidized by those who did have
extra money. We waited for 48 hours for the
buses, spending the last 12 hours standing outside,
sharing the limited water, food, and clothes we had.
We created a priority boarding area for the sick, elderly
and newborn babies. We waited late into the night for
the "imminent" arrival of the buses. The buses never arrived.
We later learned that the minute the arrived to the City limits,
they were commandeered by the military.

By day 4, our hotels had run out of fuel and water.
Sanitation was dangerously abysmal. As the desperation
and despair increased, street crime as well as water
levels began to rise. The hotels turned us out and
locked their doors, telling us that the "officials"
told us to report to the convention center to wait
for more buses. As we entered the center of the City,
we finally encountered the National Guard. The Guards
told us we would not be allowed into the Superdome
as the City's primary shelter had descended into
a humanitarian and health hellhole. The guards
further told us that the City's only other shelter,
the Convention Center, was also descending into chaos
and squalor and that the police were not allowing anyone
else in. Quite naturally, we asked, "If we can't go to
the only 2 shelters in the City, what was our alternative?"
The guards told us that that was our problem, and no they
did not have extra water to give to us. This would be
the start of our numerous encounters with callous and
hostile "law enforcement".

We walked to the police command center at Harrah's
on Canal Street and were told the same thing, that
we were on our own, and no they did not have water
to give us. We now numbered several hundred. We
held a mass meeting to decide a course of action.
We agreed to camp outside the police command post.
We would be plainly visible to the media and would
constitute a highly visible embarrassment to the
City officials. The police told us that we could
not stay. Regardless, we began to settle in and set
up camp. In short order, the police commander came
across the street to address our group. He told us
he had a solution: we should walk to the Pontchartrain
Expressway and cross the greater New Orleans Bridge
where the police had buses lined up to take us out of
the City. The crowed cheered and began to move. We
called everyone back and explained to the commander
that there had been lots of misinformation and wrong
information and was he sure that there were buses waiting
for us. The commander turned to the crowd and stated
emphatically, "I swear to you that the buses are there."

We organized ourselves and the 200 of us set off for the
bridge with great excitement and hope. As we marched
pasted the convention center, many locals saw our determined
and optimistic group and asked where we were headed. We told
them about the great news. Families immediately grabbed their
few belongings and quickly our numbers doubled and then
doubled again. Babies in strollers now joined us, people using crutches, elderly clasping walkers and others people in wheelchairs. We
marched the 2-3 miles to the freeway and up the steep
incline to the Bridge. It now began to pour down rain,
but it did not dampen our enthusiasm.

As we approached the bridge, armed Gretna sheriffs formed a
line across the foot of the bridge. Before we were close enough
to speak, they began firing their weapons over our heads.
This sent the crowd fleeing in various directions. As the crowd
scattered and dissipated, a few of us inched forward and managed
to engage some of the sheriffs in conversation. We told them
of our conversation with the police commander and of the
commander's assurances. The sheriffs informed us there were
no buses waiting. The commander had lied to us to get us to move.

We questioned why we couldn't cross the bridge anyway,
especially as there was little traffic on the 6-lane
highway. They responded that the West Bank was not
going to become New Orleans and there would be no
Superdomes in their City. These were code words
for if you are poor and black, you are not crossing
the Mississippi River and you were not getting out of New Orleans.

Our small group retreated back down Highway 90 to seek shelter
from the rain under an overpass. We debated our options and in
the end decided to build an encampment in the middle of the
Ponchartrain Expressway on the center divide, between the
O'Keefe and Tchoupitoulas exits. We reasoned we would be
visible to everyone, we would have some security being on
an elevated freeway and we could wait and watch for the
arrival of the yet to be seen buses.

All day long, we saw other families, individuals and groups
make the same trip up the incline in an attempt to cross
the bridge, only to be turned away. Some chased away
with gunfire, others simply told no, others to be verbally
berated and humiliated. Thousands of New Orleaners were
prevented and prohibited from self-evacuating the City on
foot. Meanwhile, the only two City shelters sank further
into squalor and disrepair. The only way across the bridge
was by vehicle. We saw workers stealing trucks, buses,
moving vans, semi-trucks and any car that could be hotwired.
All were packed with people trying to escape the misery New
Orleans had become.

Our little encampment began to blossom. Someone stole a water
delivery truck and brought it up to us. Let's hear it for looting!
A mile or so down the freeway, an army truck lost a couple
of pallets of C-rations on a tight turn. We ferried the food
back to our camp in shopping carts. Now secure with the two
necessities, food and water; cooperation, community, and
creativity flowered. We organized a clean up and hung
garbage bags from the rebar poles. We made beds from wood
pallets and cardboard. We designated a storm drain as
the bathroom and the kids built an elaborate enclosure
for privacy out of plastic, broken umbrellas, and other
scraps. We even organized a food recycling system where
individuals could swap out parts of C-rations
(applesauce for babies and candies for kids!).

This was a process we saw repeatedly in the aftermath
of Katrina. When individuals had to fight to find food
or water, it meant looking out for yourself only. You
had to do whatever it took to find water for your kids
or food for your parents. When these basic needs were met,
people began to look out for each other, working together
and constructing a community.

If the relief organizations had saturated the City with
food and water in the first 2 or 3 days, the desperation,
the frustration and the ugliness would not have set in.

Flush with the necessities, we offered food and water
to passing families and individuals. Many decided to stay
and join us. Our encampment grew to 80 or 90 people.

From a woman with a battery-powered radio we learned
that the media was talking about us. Up in full view
on the freeway, every relief and news organizations saw
us on their way into the City. Officials were being asked
what they were going to do about all those families
living up on the freeway? The officials responded they
were going to take care of us. Some of us got a sinking
feeling. "Taking care of us" had an ominous tone to it.

Unfortunately, our sinking feeling (along with the sinking
City) was correct. Just as dusk set in, a Gretna Sheriff
showed up, jumped out of his patrol vehicle, aimed his
gun at our faces, screaming, "Get off the fucking freeway".
A helicopter arrived and used the wind from its blades to
blow away our flimsy structures. As we retreated, the
sheriff loaded up his truck with our food and water.

Once again, at gunpoint, we were forced off the freeway.
All the law enforcement agencies appeared threatened when
we congregated or congealed into groups of 20 or more. In
every congregation of "victims" they saw "mob" or "riot".
We felt safety in numbers. Our "we must stay together" was
impossible because the agencies would force us into small atomized groups.

In the pandemonium of having our camp raided and destroyed,
we scattered once again. Reduced to a small group of 8 people,
in the dark, we sought refuge in an abandoned school bus,
under the freeway on Cilo Street. We were hiding from
possible criminal elements but equally and definitely, we
were hiding from the police and sheriffs with their martial law,
curfew and shoot-to-kill policies.

The next days, our group of 8 walked most of the day, made
contact with New Orleans Fire Department and were eventually
airlifted out by an urban search and rescue team. We were
dropped off near the airport and managed to catch a ride
with the National Guard. The two young guardsmen apologized
for the limited response of the Louisiana guards. They explained
that a large section of their unit was in Iraq and that meant
they were shorthanded and were unable to complete all the
tasks they were assigned.

We arrived at the airport on the day a massive airlift
had begun. The airport had become another Superdome. We
8 were caught in a press of humanity as flights were
delayed for several hours while George Bush landed briefly
at the airport for a photo op. After being evacuated on
a coast guard cargo plane, we arrived in San Antonio, Texas.

There the humiliation and dehumanization of the official
relief effort continued. We were placed on buses and
driven to a large field where we were forced to sit for hours
and hours. Some of the buses did not have air- conditioners.
In the dark, hundreds of us were forced to share two
filthy overflowing porta-potties. Those who managed
to make it out with any possessions (often a few belongings
in tattered plastic bags) we were subjected to two
different dog-sniffing searches.

Most of us had not eaten all day because our C-rations
had been confiscated at the airport because the rations
set off the metal detectors. Yet, no food had been provided
to the men, women, children, elderly, disabled as they
sat for hours waiting to be "medically screened" to
make sure we were not carrying any communicable diseases.

This official treatment was in sharp contrast to the warm,
heart-felt reception given to us by the ordinary Texans.
We saw one airline worker give her shoes to someone who
was barefoot. Strangers on the street offered us money and
toiletries with words of welcome. Throughout, the official
relief effort was callous, inept, and racist.

There was more suffering than need be. Lives were lost
that did not need to be lost.

Sep 6, 2005, 11:59
By Paramedics Larry Bradsahw and Lorrie Beth Slonsky

also check out: reporters
told "no photos, no stories"
isn't that a violation of one of the bill of rights?
correct me if i am wrong...taken with the decision by FEMA to
outsource Katrina body count to firm implicated in body-dumping, the decision to bar the press from reporting on the recovery seems extremely sinister to me.

supposedly now Bush is
taking responsibility for the "blunders" that occurred following
katrina. that story i know is bullshit. if this president really took
responsibility for the ongoing genocide in the gulf states he would
step down.

since that is not going to happen, i say let's bring him down.
where is the movement to impeach? where do i go to enlist in
the movement to rid my country of this homicidal parasite? the
administration entirely? heaven knows cheney must go too.

just rambling. just a ramble and a wish and a rant and a rave
and i'm pissed and i'm grieved and i'm shocked over and over and
over but no longer surprised one little bit by just how low they
will go. i can't see that far below i can hardly imagine it.

i'm a liberal. i'm a humanist. i don't believe in a cognizant god.
i'm an american, but i'm a humanist. i do believe in love. i believe
that people are not supposed to kill people! how
do i not be pissed when this is my country tis of thee? where is
the by the people for the people of the people? what happened
to checks and balances, free press, freedom of speech?

i'm distraught, and now i have to go have fun. yeah, it's tuesday,
and i have league. i will shoot pool, and i will smile and laugh, and
smoke and wonder.

peace. amen
- posted by barbara @ 9/13/2005 07:33:00 PM  0 comments

 
9-11-05
[rough draft ahead - i promise it was better
at the cemetery. but the grass was wet, so i waited
until i got home to put it down]
September 11, 2005

I didn’t cry at your grave today.
A drop of rain fell out of the clouds
And found its way to my cheek somehow,
But I didn’t cry.

I didn’t cry at your grave today.
I wondered if that was good, bad, or
Indifferent. I bought you flowers
Including one white rose.

I forgot the words to the poem today –
When I stalled I said, “I forgot the words,
“But I didn’t forget you,” I said,
“I will never forget you.”

I said, “I love you,” and “I will
“Always, always, always.”
I made a bowl out of my palm
To let the dog have a drink.

Some water splashed up onto my cheek.
I didn’t cry at your grave today.
I wiped off your headstone and then I
Remembered the rest of the poem.

a tricolored heron at the pond at the cemetery this morning


a graveyard is just a field to a chihuahua

when i was a child and the sun streamed through the clouds like this,
i thought it meant the angels were out. i thought gawd was hunched
up in heaven with a little black book putting checkmarks and stars by
my name.

a moment of silence for the victims of the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001. amen
- posted by barbara @ 9/11/2005 09:53:00 AM  0 comments

 
Release Vacant Military Bases for Hurricane Katrina Victims Petition

Cindy Sheehan last night
Support Veterans
For Peace Relief Effort in Covington, LA | Crawford Peace House
it took until yesterday to get paid. a little scary...but
anyhow i did, and just in time too, because yesterday MFSO sent me
an email telling me about the event at the
agape spiritual center last night.

i'm running out of time. another event today,
at Leimert Park, and that's after grief group.

but first, quickly, why i chose not to give to the red cross.
from an email sent to me by michele,
my angel and benefactor,who lost everything last year in florida's
hurricanes:
but fukk thee red cross, they wouldn't even give
me a tarp. in this afermath, they have driven by,
makeshift homesslashtents and such and haven't
stropped or stopped with enough to feed 15 people.
i sincerely believe most of those donations go
back into the government's pockets. From what I hear,
the red cross gives less than
Mercy Core does to the project.
- posted by barbara @ 9/10/2005 08:30:00 AM  0 comments

 
the onion.com
biting satire. an example of a headline:
Bush Tearfully Addresses Nation After Watching Field Of Dreams
i had to laugh. like his bushlexia. makes me laugh. but the man
is the president of the united states. we will never see this
... this ... ummm ... person, cry. he does not have emotions
that deep. fool that i am, i actually held out some hope that
after touring the affected areas of the gulf he would be a
changed man.

i mean that is how much of a fool i am. i'm getting over it.


Dems Assail White House on Katrina Effort:
At a news conference, Pelosi, D-Calif., said Bush's choice
for head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency had
"absolutely no credentials."

She related that she had urged Bush at the White House on
Tuesday to fire Michael Brown.

"He said 'Why would I do that?'" Pelosi said.

"'I said because of all that went wrong, of all
that didn't go right last week.' And he said 'What didn't go right?'"

and if you ever wonder what rock this president slithered
out from under, listen to what his mother had to say about
the people living in the astrodome: sound bite of
barbara bush saying let them eat cake

big thanks to Maru
who always shares the news. hope your father will be well soon.
- posted by barbara @ 9/09/2005 05:41:00 AM  0 comments

 
Democratic Underground
But I, for one, am not buying the stupidity-cum-amnesia theory.
These people are too smart. These are the folks who managed to
smear a decorated war hero while convincing American voters
that a bumbling draft-dodger was the obvious choice for
commander-in-chief. They're the folks that came up with
a never-ending list of reasons-du-jour for going into
Iraq. These are the professional Rapunzels who, given
a minute's notice, can spin even the filthiest straw into gold.

in other news, payday kinda hasn't happened yet. :(
cash flow ... eek. but when it does, and it will tomorrow
i am assured, the money will be given. however, it will not
go to the red cross. i'm looking into where it will go and will
post that information as well my reasons for the decision asap.
right now - 3:25 pm pst 9-8-05 - i gotta get to work and earn
that money i ain't getting just yet...
- posted by barbara @ 9/08/2005 07:28:00 AM  0 comments

 
A Failure of Leadership - New York Times
Neither the death of the chief justice nor the frantic
efforts of panicked White House political advisers can
conceal the magnitude of the president's failure of
leadership last week. The catastrophe in New Orleans
billowed up like the howling winds of hell and was
carried live and in color on television screens across
the U.S. and around the world.
keep talking, mainstream media...it's our only hope ...
our only hope. you've been in his pocket for way too
long - stand up for your profession and speak
for those who cannot speak for themselves.
impeach bush. bring him up on charges for
the war and the genocide in the gulf states.
get our country back. i want my country back.
in this article, bob herbert goes on to say,
Mr. Bush's performance last week will
rank as one of the worst ever by a president
during a dire national emergency.

and to think that he'd already earned the
"worst ever" rating. years ago.

i hope you'll read this editorial. it actually touches
on the truth about this tragedy and about this
travesty of a president.

peace. amen
- posted by barbara @ 9/06/2005 06:23:00 PM  0 comments

 
New Hampshire Gazette I Letters I The 23rd Qualm
The 23rd Qualm

To the Editor:

Bush is my shepherd; I dwell in want.
He maketh logs to be cut down in national forests.
He leadeth trucks into the still wilderness.
He restoreth my fears.
He leadeth me in the paths of international disgrace for his ego’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of pollution and war,
I will find no exit, for thou art in office.
Thy tax cuts for the rich and thy media control, they discomfort me.
Thou preparest an agenda of deception in the presence of thy religion.
Thou anointest my head with foreign oil.
My health insurance runneth out.
Surely megalomania and false patriotism shall follow me all the days of thy term,
And my jobless child shall dwell in my basement forever.

Bob Vincent
Rye, NH

i hope this attributes to the original writer of this - in my opinion - brilliant rewrite of that poem we hear at funerals.


happy labor day america from me, rory, and rory's reflection on
our labor day walk...

let your elected officials
know that roberts should not be confirmed to the supreme court
- posted by barbara @ 9/05/2005 06:36:00 PM  0 comments

 
ActForChange : Act Now
let them know. bush needs to be gone for so many reasons.

Bread and Roses:
Both the best and worst angels of human behavior
have been on display during the first few days of the
catastrophe…from New Orleans and Mississippi and Alabama…
people rise to their glory or choose less noble roads and
actions depending on their own personal spirits, demons,
desperations, needs, and impulses. I have no right to sit
in judgment of any of them…I’m not there…so I won’t.

this comment really resonates with me. who among us knows
how we would react to such a catastrophe?
- posted by barbara @ 9/05/2005 05:11:00 PM  0 comments

 
delurker: 10 comments


I got a grand total of 10 comments from the time of my first
announcement, which means the red cross will be getting $10
come Wednesday [payday].

I want to thank the people who made up this fundraiser. That is
10 dollars they would not have received otherwise.

bless the refugees, keep them well
and guide them to the places
where they will be united with their loved ones and give them
strength and the means to rebuild their lives. amen
- posted by barbara @ 9/04/2005 08:53:00 AM  0 comments

 
more fantasy


in this dream i have a big house with one or two spare
bedrooms, plenty of money, and a minivan. i fill up a
couple ice chests with food and drink, and rory and
i hit the road.

on the way we make a sign that says, california?
anyone want to come to california?

in houston we go to where the buses are dropping off refugees,
and we pick up a family and bring them back here. we clothe
them feed them give them a place to lay their weary heads.

then we get on the internet and post to all the message boards
to let their loved ones know they're well and safe. we check for
the names of those they miss, and post their names as well.

we call the red cross and arrange for permanent or semi-permanent
housing. maybe they'll choose to go back home someday, maybe
they'll flourish in the land of the earthquake. but they are safe,
they are well, they have survived and now they can begin to live.

that's one fantasy. i find these daydreams alleviate my sense of
helplessness, which is so real. i am so helpless. so far away,
problems of my own, etc., etc., etc. i imagine my fantasies as
prayers [amen] that go out to the refugees as they suffer waiting far
too long, some dying as they wait until the administration gets
its ducks all in a row so they can reap as much political gain
from this tragedy as possible.

then i hope, and fervently, that they won't. that the people
will see their bullshit for what it is. undeniably the people in
LA MS and AL have suffered more than they should have already. and
just as thousands of people keep dying in Iraq for bush and his
henchmen, now we are sacrificing people right here at home.

from Salon.com:
When even the extraordinarily conservative Washington
Times is wondering what happened to "the president we saw
standing atop the ruin of the World Trade Center, rallying
a dazed country to action," you know that George W. Bush has
got trouble on his hands.

The president made his way back from vacation Wednesday,
and Friday he traveled along the Gulf Coast to check in
on hurricane damage and relief efforts. We said Friday
morning that he probably couldn't expect a hero's welcome.
What we didn't anticipate was just how tone-deaf he'd be in
making the rounds.

as katrina struck, bush vacationed
the reality was he was campaigning. people were drowning, homeless,
nothing left, and he was campaigning. everything the mofo does is a
campaign, except when he's on vacation, since of course, it's important for him to go on with his life.
kinda makes me wonder why he took the office of president
of the united states. the bastard. those bastards.


- posted by barbara @ 9/03/2005 02:40:00 PM  0 comments

 
Occasionally Glamourous Results Of A Misused Youth: Won't You Help?
comments sil vous plait
por favor
please
today

it's for a good cause...not katrina, but her victims.


- posted by barbara @ 9/03/2005 08:47:00 AM  0 comments

 
Andy for President!
i accidentally posted this to the takingthebrimblog yesterday...apologies
- posted by barbara @ 9/02/2005 06:54:00 AM  0 comments

 
what they are saying
The counting of the casualties shall continue,
and the number of same shall rise. There are the
lost who have yet to be found, and there are those
who may yet succumb, deprived as they are of food
and clean water and surrounded by contamination.

i just look, and cry...overwhelming.

today on the way to work, hearing about the shortcomings
of the responding agencies in place, about their apparent
inability to effect any meaningful relief to people dispossessed
and endangered in such incomprehensibly large numbers, i had
what seemed at the time to be a good idea.

sponsors. who might be out that way who could get up lists,
of families, to match with those of us more fortunate and out
of harm's way, to help those people get to dry land, a potable
supply of water, and in a position to rebuild their lives?

what do you think? right now even throwing money at the red cross seems
nearly useless...as if i had any.

bekah still plays songs for me. yesterday was a flood day
[in the psychological sense of the word, no pun intended] -
i spent the better part of the morning crying. driving through santa monica, along came ooh child, and i imagined floating into the
superdome at new orleans and leading the people in song...

imagined the people feeling better, feeling hopeful.

ooh, child things are gonna get easier
ooh, child things are gonna get brighter...

someday...when the world is much brighter

i just wish. wish there was a way to make this better
right this minute. amen that's my prayer

late edit:

de lurker
check out a way bloggers can help. and come comment on my
blog come saturday, please? i'll muster up a buck for every
comment i get and i will give it to the red cross for katrina's victims.
- posted by barbara @ 9/01/2005 09:22:00 AM  0 comments