Good Morning!

Great ideas! And good morning to all.

Christy!

well, besides drinking liberally and bitching liberally…

The gardening liberally: in my area there’s a county organization that has the food bank and other services. They have been doing “the Gleaning Project” where people donate their extras from the garden to the food bank. Some farms have donated a couple of acres for folks to work, others have done community gardens. Church groups and individuals are involved.I know that the Islamic Center in town is one of them.

Now that Mr. Rev. is retiring at the end of this month I’m hoping that he will help organize this effort for our congregation to get involved. It can take all forms from extras from your own home garden to plowing up unused or under used land and putting in crops. Great project for intergenerational summer activity.

How about “Swinging Liberally”, a club for former Democratic governors. :-)

Bringing twolf1 Coffee and Doughnuts Liberally

and right wing preachers—don’t forget them. ouch.

Grand ideas! How about “Visiting Liberally” for checking in on retired folks who are a little frail?

Totally Off-Topic: Our grandson, Daniel, was brought home in an ambulance yesterday. He’s now five months, and four days old and has successfully had heart surgery. Many more trials in his young life, but we are rejoicing in getting him to this point.

that’s really cool. Great idea.

(((grand wee TexasEllen!!)))

May it be much much easier and healthier from here on.

What RevDeb said. I hope he grows healthy and strong.

Our Doug and Luca have spent the last five months in a Ronald McDonald house.
Various groups come in and cook so that meals twice a day are available. This would be a good project for a Cooks Liberally group. They also might go for a “Runs errands liberally”, too.

thinking about the wee grand TexasEllen, how about
Babysitting liberally?

Larry “Tappin’ My Toes For Blow Jobs In Airport Bathrooms” Craig is retiring, did you hear?

Caretakers Liberally, give a break to someone who is primary caretaker.

Great news about your grandson TexasEllen.

AAHHhhhhhhhh, stuff i love talking about…

As a former and perhaps future “communitarian”, i have seen some of these ideas in practice as volunteer “commune” outreach programs. Twin Oaks in VA has a long history of providing adult literacy programs to neighboring communities. East Wind in MO has the largest Library in the county, and offer lending cards.

But the best system i’ve seen in place is Time Banks, which use Time Dollars. As an alternative form of currency and community building, it is unparalleled. Edgar Cahn is a personal hero of mine who wrote a life-changing book called No More Throw-Away People.

their website:
http://www.timebanks.org/

Cheers and good morning to ya!

Good morning Christy. Anything done liberally is a good thing. ;-)

Good morning.

I’m stting here with y’all, drinking coffee liberally.

TexasEllen, Great news & I hope your grandson continues to get better. My son had hernia repair surgery when he was 2 months old, and one of the other babies in the room was exactly his age but had had open heart surgery. It’s quite an ordeal.

Good idea! Sometimes, just getting a few hours to yourself can be sanity making for young parents. Some years ago, I was involved with a group that “babysat” Alzhiemer’s patients who were still at home. This isn’t as much fun as taking care of little ones, but the care-givers are eternally grateful, and supporting them is of real value.

Bear in mind that the ________ liberally groups are about social networking as well as an activity so there have to be opportunities for gatherings.

just sayin’

No, but that’s good news of course. I guess he knows he won’t be re-elected. But it’s weird he could hang on for so long. IOKIYAR.

Great idea, Millineryman - though as someone who did the duty for a parent with dementia, my greatest help were the couple of my mom’s friends who would run the errands, pick up the Rx, do grocery shopping and spend a bit of time talking to my mom so that I could just take a shower(I could not leave them to take care of her alone — that would have been too much).

(((((hugging TexasEllen’s grandson)))))

Love the ideas. I need more liberal friends. Although, I don’t feel as isolated and frustrated as I did in 2003-2006. Remember those days? We were called unpatriotic, America-haters and much worse. It was nearly impossible to find anyone who agreed with you. I think that tide has turned, but those were difficult days. Liberal blogs saved me.

you could babysit a flock of kids to the courthouse while you update your voter registration? :)

Babysitting Liberally could be done as a play group with Liberally members for each family being given the morning/afternoon/evening off. Good for the kids, good for the Liberally members, good for the families served.

btw I admit to dyeing eggs liberally this morning *s*

My cousin is dealing with that right now, and it’s gotten to the point where she had to put her mom in care facility due to her other medical conditions. I can understand the concern about not wanting to leave from what my cousin has told me.

Hi ho, everyone. But this morning, Christy in particular. What an awesome post! A little stroll down memory lane for me re all the things I used to do and don’t do any more. I was a terrible knitter! But what a great idea jogger. Really gonna think about this. Especially the reading idea.

Wee bit off topic: I was at Take Back America and met our Christy face to face. She’s real! You’da been proud of her, too, pups, as she facilitated the panel that included John Conyers. Her own speech was fab. And get this! I overheard Bill Moyers say that he reads her on FDL. Yowza!!

(((TobyWollin)))

it isn’t easy

Great point, also it will help with sharing solutions if the group goes out and does one on one work in the community.

various shades of blue I trust.

During that period, I formed a great deal of respect and affection for Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre.

Or shades of gray, such as tabby, battleship… *g*

ooo, Barbara — give, give..give all the details!! Those of us who were not able to attend WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING!

How so, I’m not familiar with the book.

Ok, ok.

How ’bout “Republicans Are Full of S#@t and Destroying Our Country, Literally”

What’s that? It has to end in ‘liberally’?

My bad; please ignore the above.

Well, for starters, spending four days in D.C. officially launched the new group “Spending Liberally.”

Mr. Rochester, who is both the villain and a little bit of positive figure in the book, tries to marry Jane(who has been the lonely orphan and his illegitimate child’s governness), all the while he has been keeping his demented wife locked upstairs with her own caregiver. His wife on two occasions in the book tries to murder him.

Morning all…

– Cooking Liberally — just your regular old cooking club, monthly get-together with folks who want to talk political activism.

– Golfing Liberally — you won’t find me there (I suck) but there are lots of folks who love it.

– Bowling Liberally — you could have your own team for the local bowling league. Or two.

– Reading Liberally — projects to do readings at local libraries, hospitals or to seniors at nursing homes who are often incredibly grateful for visitors.

How ’bout:

– F*cking liberally–projects taken on ’bout once a month at a local__________ (fill in the blank)

…(apologies…mind’s definitely in the gutter…*G*)…

as she facilitated the panel that included John Conyers. Her own speech was fab. And get this! I overheard Bill Moyers say that he reads her on FDL. Yowza!!

Hi Redd. I knew you would do well.

Is there any available video of your session?

A good way to start is to look at your community and find a niche to fill. Talk to community leaders, clergy, barbers and beauticians to see what they hear as something that is lacking. Or stories they may have heard about issues that have fallen through the cracks.

Interesting dynamic there, I know it’s a classic novel, I never knew anything about the characters or story. Thanks.

I made a fast trip through MO to my parents’ home in southern Illinois. The folks along the Merrimac River SW of St. Louis (and elsewhere in southern MO and IL) are all “sandbagging liberally.”

When the water is rising, there’s no point in sandbagging conservatively.

Here’s another link to river conditions around MO and IL.

This might solve a lot of our problems: voting liberally.

Peterr, what a horrible mess! There will be Cleaning Up Liberally needed

Good Morning on this 47th yr of my birth today. As a mother of 3 beautiful & brilliant teenagers, as a vet, a wife of 25yrs, who took the oath to defend the Constitution against foreign and domestic enemies want a birthday wish, my wish is for all of those basterds exposed, brought to the light of Justice. You all have brought me so much these last few years with an “administration gone wild” I am going to go sailing today on the SF Bay, “my husband is a jewell”. I am greatful for him, my children, family, friends, the earth and you. We all know what needs to be done. Our electives are not moving..this upsets me. I feel time is of the essence. The boys need to be stopped now. What’s a women to do? Sorry for any spelling errors, not my strong suit. Again, thank you and may you all have a beautiful, loving day. You all have brought so much info and insight in these very distrubing times, in my lifetime anyway. Hope, Humanity, kindness and understanding is what I thought America was all about. An Awakening is happening here and around the world. Let’s hope we can stopped them now before it goes any further. Peace, Health, and Love to all of you and yours. Oh, and thanks again…

The meme is cute, but as I don’t do bars / drinking it never appealed to me.

Lunching liberally?

Cafe liberally?

I can see how the drinking thing works because a bar is a easy place to find and hang out at and someone is making some cash there so they support it.

Happy birthday, Timewatcher. Sounds like you have a great family & have planned a wonderful day.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Timewatcher

Good Morning Christy and Firedogs,

but Christy, you say . . .I don’t know any/many libruls in my area, it’s still pretty red, somewhat apathetic, whatever

start with the local Democratic Party

or a down ticket candidate’s campaign hq

is your community currently organizing against something ? folks here are fighting against a landfill and a power tower array, lots of potential there

and these are older lists, but here are some regional blogs which usually lead to more local blogs

dfh’s by state

lefty blogs

I want to Thank You All Very much, you all have brought me so much…

happy Birthday and many more.

Enjoy the sail and what a perfect way to “fee” the lovely earth we live on.

Fair winds and following seas and always a clean wake!

Cleaning up after a flood has got to be worse than almost any other disaster. Tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes all tear stuff up and toss it around, but floods seep into every little nook and cranny of everything as they do so.

And floods are slow. Folks have seen these floodwaters rising for the last four days, they’ll watch them crest over the weekend, and they’ll watch them drop during next week. Finally they’ll see their mud-covered communities emerge from the waters, inch by inch.

The cleanup will be a summer-long event. Unless, of course, this happens again with another big rain event before the summer is over.

(((TexasEllen))) if it is any comfort to ya, the strapping 17 year old now snufflin’ away in the next room started life at home as an ambulance baby

Happy Birthday Timewatcher

I never was one to celebrate my own birthday as being born into an unjust word is rationally not something to be celebrated, because all you do is struggle to make it a better place against so many forces who are ruining things.

And no being an old timer, birthdays only remind me how few I have left. hahahaha The suffering and frustration will be coming to an end.

Happy Birthday! Come back and talk to us!

I need to go through my notes and write about the TBA Conference. It’s an awesome experience. If you could drive and stay with friends and not attend the gala dinner, it would be closer to affordable. I will have to save up bunches o’loose change to be able to go again.

This year the gala dealie honored Norman Lear for his lifetime of progressive activism and generosity. An amazing and articulate man.

In 2004, the honoree was Eliot Spitzer. He gave a brilliant and riveting speech. Dynamo. So sad, so sad.

None of the almost-ready-for-prime-time-presidential candidates made it. Rumors kept floating that Obama might come, and the excitement around that was palpable. Among the roughly 2,000 people in attendance, there was a strong bias toward Obama. Sensed that from many of the speakers as well.

Speakers included (((Christy))), (((Jane))), John Conyers, David Sirota, Naomi Klein, Barbara Ehrenreich and Bill Gates Sr. (doing a session together, which was a very tense pairing!), Jesse Jackson (who seems to have donned the elder statesman mantle and was powerfully subdued), Robert Greenwald, Donna Edwards, Majora Carter (google her — she’s phenomenal), Van Jones (powerful presence), Cenk Uygur, Eric Boehlert (Media Matters), Michael Hirsh (somewhat defensive senior editor at Newsweek), Jack Layton (Canada’s New Democratic Party), Matt Stoller, David Cole, John Podesta and so many more that I can’t remember at the moment.

During Jane’s panel, Robert Greenwald was told that the dude videoing the session from the back of the room was from Faux Gnus. He did an absolutely brilliant job of excoriating O’Reilly and Fox and had all of us (roughly 100 at this session) turn around and wave to the camera. Opportunistic parasites abound.

Great liberal ideas. Democracy and citizenship are not spectator sports. Involvement is the key to civic responsibility. The powers that be would rather have the public doped up with meaningless diversions, reality tv, spectator sports, booze and pharmaceuticals. Keep them stoned on unreality and uninvolved.

What a great summary.

Perhaps you can write up a more lengthy report highlighting what you think TBA can accomplish and how it will do that.

Imagine if those people mentioned were the talking heads in the MSM instead of the idiots we are subjected to? What different country we might have.

Barbara,

Were there any far left people represented as panelists or was it mostly “libruls”?

another way to meet fellow travelers

Viewing Liberally - attend a premiere

for anyone who watched Moyers last night - here’s the website for the film, and where it’s playing

Body of War

Congrats on Mr. Rev’s retirement in the near future.

Just an FYI for everyone…RevDeb you made me think of it with your post…

Most municipalities who are faced with empty and abandoned lots have incredible expense in keep those lots clean and keeping the grass cut. Often, for free or next to nothing (like a $1 lease), municipalities will allow local groups to garden those lots , as long as the gardeners keep them clean and maintained — usually with a “pretty lookable” garden to the street side and or residence side(s) of the lot.

Groups can plant these lots with produce and donate to a local food pantry. Additionally, it is a great opportunity to involve a youth group in the area, like Big Brothers/Big Sisters or Boy and Girls Clubs of American. The best resource for community gardening in the world is the Association of Community Gardeners:

http://www.communitygarden.org/

Enjoy their resources.

They are headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

I am currently taking a class by their organization on community gardening.

Anyway, planting lots in municipal possession is a win-win. The city saves money and can put tax dollars towards something other than lawn cutting and trash removal from these lots. Local pantries of shelters get fresh produce. Some kids get an intergenerational experience of hard work and giving to others…the community gardeners get some food too…

That film will be a shocker. It should be required viewing in all high schools.

I love knitting blogs but dare not visit too often because I can get lost for hours following one link to another. It’s endless. What I noticed is how many knitting bloggers lean liberal which makes it even more interesting for me.

You just reminded me, you can host a screening at your house from a great selection of films from Brave New Films.

I had a screening for Irag for Sale, and it was a interesting evening. I should do it again.

I have always been amazed at the amount of street trash in some areas and the absence of same in others.

Why are some people such slobs with their wrappers, bags, coffee cups, drink bottles, cigarette packs, butts, and so forth and others seem to respect the environment / the commons space we all live in?

How much of the mess is attributable to not have places to put all this street trash? And how much is simply the fact that people are slobs? It horrible and annoying. Why are we so destructive of the environment on all levels?

In the summer, there were some interesting outdoor screenings in NYC on the walls of buildings… some adjacent to empty lots, others adjacent to large roof tops.

What a fun idea for a summer evening. Who needs a theater when you have a wall and a projector!

Taking the dogs out for their morning walk in the backyard, I saw my first robin of the year! Bad news - there are areas with over 1′ of snow on the ground. Hope the early birds can find berries.

Interesting question. Fair to say, there weren’t many barely-left-of-center folks present. And where there was anything even close to moderate, there was always someone in Q&A pulling hard to the left. Norman Lear pondered out loud about the disappearance of “liberal” in favor of “progressive.” A number of union-affiliated speakers. People who are in the trenches doing the hard work (Majora Carter and Van Jones for starters). So theorists and do-ers. Wealthy elites and just-plain-folks. Blue and white collars. White, brown, black skins.

Can I go OT? The new talking point irt the Passport breach is that all that the worker could see were things like SS# of the candidates, nothing that could lead to dirty tricks. And they keep repeating this line. Is this ringing true with anyone? All that security to protect SS#s? I know identity theft is a problem but millions of people have access to that info. I personally have access to the SS#s of around 1000 people. No screen pops up warning me ‘not to go further without good reason’. That’s a bullshit description of what’s in that file. And I’ve heard it 3 times already.
And, who the hell would risk their job to look at someones SS#? Where’s the curiousity factor in that? They wanted to see how many 6’s were in the number? If they wanted to steal someone’s identity, I don’t think they’d pick Barack or Hillary.

I’ve been to screening like those before, they are a lot of fun.

Why are we so destructive of the environment on all levels?
Maybe because so many of us fail to see our connectedness with anything outside of our own little bodies/egos?
We fail to see the continuing consequences of our thoughts and actions.
I think that is why we love to join Liberal Groups. The act of joining a Group forces us to be a part of something bigger. Focuses us on the communal and not just the individual.
Also, why FDL has such great appeal.
Sorry, I guess I didn’t hit the reply button. This is in response to SanderO at 71.
Hi Sander! and morning everyone else. :)

Re: Knitting Liberally. Next month in Hyde Park, NY there will be a community project knit-in in honor of Eleanor Roosevelt. Remember the pictures of her knitting at the U.N. ? Never an idle moment.

Silverleaf sponsors a semi-monthly Crafting Liberally event here in NYC

Christy,

When I was a kid, my Mom was a regional organizer of a charity that made toys for children in burn units in Children’s Hospital’s around the nation. The toys had to be made of special fabrics and filler, approved by the doctors of Children’s Hospitals around the country. I loved sitting in on her weekly group and putting fill into each toy, being a part of making the toy come to life. As a child, I thought it was so neat I was giving comfort to another child.

Evidently, studies showed that the children in burn units healed faster because they had something to touch and make them smile especially when human touch was not possible because of the health threat of infection or damage to healing or grafts.

Thanks. Another interesting idea, SanderO. I was focused primarily on the separate sessions (multiple plenaries and many, many breakout sessions), but you raise a good point re summarizing the impact of the event as a whole. Well, more than the event. The Campaign for America’s Future (which sponsors the TBA event) is a powerful force in the struggle to right this wobbly nation. Check them out here:

http://www.ourfuture.org/

Over and over again at the conference, I heard animated discussions about the intention to form coalitions, coordinate the battle against the right, consider economies of scale so we don’t have little pockets of protest and activism operating in vacuums.

BTW, Majora Carter and Van Jones received the Paul Wellstone Citizen Leadership award, making this Minnesotan mighty proud and once again nostalgic for the loss of Wellstone.

Over and over again at the conference, I heard animated discussions about the intention to form coalitions, coordinate the battle against the right, consider economies of scale so we don’t have little pockets of protest and activism operating in vacuums.

Yes, talking to myself. Just realized that intentional movement toward coalitions and communities brings this full circle to Christy’s post. There is power and support in community. Paul Wellstone and Saul Alinsky: organize, organize, organize.

That’s what I was trying to say.
Think you said it better. Thanks.
I love these positive Saturday Morning threads.
We all need positive vibes.

This is a description of our fallen soldiers:

“One in six were too young to buy a beer. About two dozen were old enough for an AARP card. Eleven died on Thanksgiving Day, 11 on Christmas, and at least five on their birthdays. One percent were named Smith.

Looks like Bush can have his romantic experience after all.
Send Bush to Iraq Liberally?
Doesn’t work.

If you haven’t seen it, Pat Buchanan turns his racist white underbelly up in the air for all to see.

Witness the dying gasps of t-GShe old confederate mindset.

Truly despicable.

“Black America should be grateful”.

-G

Bucahan’s link.

-G

I have always been amazed at the amount of street trash in some areas and the absence of same in others.

I could write quite a bit on this. But I do no want to overtake the thread. To answer your question is a complicated one. Years in the trenches of housing projects has shown that community beautification and community gardening can bring change and “set right” attitudes about the responsibility to the world around you. Beautification and sustainable gardening create hope, and healthy attitudes (like self-esteem), basic to the foundation of caring for oneself and for the environment. So, I do not spend too much time on the question(s) but more time on the systemic issues by building hope and healthy attitudes within communities where the trash and the neglect tend to build. For those of us who have been given the gift to care and to have resources to keep “it beautiful”, enjoy working towards change through community gardening.

If one has never “seen beautiful and clean”, has never been taught “how” to care then it does not happen. Those of us who have been taught “stewardship of the environment” have the opportunity to pass that gift on…Another “knowledge is power” dynamic…

Why I notice as well, as many “trashers” may have new shiny cars and their own personal appearance is sharp and neat, but they have no trouble opening their car window and tossing “rubbish” out onto the street.

When I walk my dogs I usually try to pick up a bit of rubbish and the droppings of other dogs not disposed of by slobs. I often think that the trashers simply think that picking up is a job that some people do for a living. Frankly I never understood the head space.

You are so correct.
If all one knows is hunger, it’s difficult for them to imagine anything else.

I suspect that the reason why the left can’t change the direction of this nation and hold onto power, is because their paradigm is antithetical to the consolidation of power.

The left paradigms only can flourish in true democracies. And we don’t have anything close to that. We live in hierarchical structures and power is concentrated at the top and that means the left notions will only come forth from enlightened benevolent “leaders” in a top down anti democratic manner.

Until we have a true democracy, the left will always be dis empowered.

Reminds of a line from a Keb Mo song:
Everyone likes the party, but no one wants to clean.
Any other Keb Mo fans out there?

eggs are boiled. and thanks for the idea RevDeb, I will do shades of blue this year (your idea intrigues MM, many possibilities with a tjanting and a close eye on dye time but shades of gray for next year)

Klynn! keep going on, it’s a wonderful idea and adaptable in any community. And an idea with a very real bounty — and what are the downsides if you have a committed crew at the center?

Demi,

In this day and age of teevee even the poorest urban dweller sees what a clean environment is like. Tossing trash into the street is a very conscious gesture and is made regardless of hunger.

I have no idea who Keb Mo is and if they are a pop group, I most likely will never listen to them. hahaha

EPA had a campaign back in the 70’s during it’s birthing years called “Pick up after each other!”

EPA even ran great commercials on TV pretty much depicting the scene you just described…Someone of influence, who should “know better but just does not care” type of scene.

When I am in your shoes, outside poverty, and see disregard, I say something to the individual and point out that what they just did is a crime. Then I wave my cell phone…

EPA should bring the campaign back…a retro so to speak…

Elliott:

And an idea with a very real bounty — and what are the downsides if you have a committed crew at the center?

I don’t think I referenced a problem with the “center”. Goodness, if one is not willing to work with a committed group “in the center” on something as simple and beneficial as community gardening and beautification then this country is really in trouble. We all need to get our hands dirty in the soil, dig in and plant hope. ALL.

The common environment is an interesting problem for the “city”.

We all recognize for need for energy efficiency and the need to capture alternate energy.

Yet the policy of the NYC department of buildings is very much anti these strategies especially as it pertains to all the roof top real estate. How odd is that?

With the ability to cover the flat roofs with solar collectors and wind generators, these are mostly out lawed because of “landmarks” and other aesthetic considerations. If you can see it and it doesn’t look “pretty” it’s pretty much a non starter.

Greg,
Comments are closed to Buchanan’s op piece. I can’t imagine why.

Good Morning everyone….. going to get a cuppa ….. anyone want a refill… fresh ground French Roast made in a French press…

Keb Mo is a person…(Kevin Moore), folksy blues artist. During Katrina, he worked with Harry Shearer to get stuff donated directly to victims, not through the big agencies which took forever to get stuff to them.
And, teevee is not reality. It’s not educational. Seeing something good on tv doesn’t inspire people to go out and be/do. That’s just my take on it.
My comment about hunger was supposed to be metaphorical.

I don’t think I referenced a problem with the “center”.

oh, you didn’t. Sorry didn’t mean to imply that.

It came from me thinking the only way it wouldn’t work is if there weren’t a core group there to hold it together through every patch.

In Europe I notice shop keepers are more vigilant about maintaining the commons in front of their establishment.

Here in the states people seem to assume that cleaning is for the city or the government to do.

We don’t seem to accept the notion of our responsibility to the commons as much as they do in other parts of the word.

NYC will change their tune because, NYC will fall behind other cities. Those flat roofs in other cities are in the process of getting solar. The savings on the environment and $$ resources will be amazing.

The market will push it…The economy will pushit…have hope and keep fighting.

Tere are also new solar technologies coming in the next year which will allow for solar with little to no affect on a buildings appearance. So within a year, their argument will be moot.

The meme about “bling” was spread through the media. The media stood up hip hop sensibility. People ARE learning things from / via the media.

Hip hop started in the Bronx and spread around the world. How would you account for that?

that would be
“rough patch”

I am pressing for this, but NYC is so slow to adapt and there are so many rich people who could care less and are concerned about pretty which they feel adds to the value of their property.

Real estate is extremely powerful in nyc.

I am sure the comments section would look like a Klan rally.

Time for some letters to MSNBC and Keith O.

-G

What an asshole Buchanan is. As usual, he’s missing the whole point on why black Americans are pissed off and where their anger is coming from. To say (***Rush Limbaugh did the same thing recently on his show) that it’s really the whites who have suffered is pure bullshit.

***he told the story of how at one job in his life he was hated and ridiculed and how outstanding white men at this place were replaced with women. Oh please! *playing the world’s smallest violin* Spit.