Facing AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH

Forget the X-Men movie, this one has bigger ramifications: An Inconvenient Truth, which I saw Sunday. It was NOT depressing, though it WAS scary. It was hopeful. The movie stressed education and ACTION to stop global warming. And hearing Al Gore, I could only think how George W. Bush could never be so articulate and how the silver lining of Al Gore "losing" (thanks to the not-so-Supreme Court) is that it gave Al Gore the time to devote to this imperative issue. Please click on the title link and learn more about the movie and what YOU can do, along with "Reduce, Re-use, Recycle".

I notice that the website mentions the Virtual Global March to Stop Global Warming -- please see Sunday's post and Title Link and march with me. My friends aren't into global marching -- YET. I am determined to do a lot more on this issue. TODAY I am calling Congress and the White House Comment line. 202-224-3121 (tollfree - 888-355-3588) and 202-456-1111, respectively. Scientists agree with Al Gore's assessment: Global Warming is upon us -- and is a matter of National Security and INTERnational Security. See the movie. Pledge to see the movie at the website above, repeated here: http://www.climatecrisis.net/.

Thank you for whatever you can do for peace, justice, nonviolence AND the environment -- yes, it is all connected. And we can make a positive difference, you and I marching and acting together, in harmony, for a better world. AMEN!! :-)

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne

To do this weekend

Top of my to-do list is take care of my friend Joan's dogs -- my Goddogs, Munchkin and Barney Bear -- see their pictures in my Furry Friends set on my FlickR page -- linked below and on the side. (Joan's cruising to and around Hawaii, luck her!) I'm therefore running back and forth between her place and mine, because I have my three cats, MacTangelo, Wilbur and Boots to feed and love, too (and clean out the cat box -- ooooh). Yes, there's housework, but instead I started watching A&E's Pride and Prejudice DVD, featuring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle -- gorgeous -- my favorite book (read it five times, maybe 6) and this DVD set is terrific as it is longer than a regular movie and allows time for the nuances and the ambiance. YUM!! And yet I would also like to get into Manhattan to see on its opening weekend, the Al Gore Global Warming movie, An Inconvenient Truth. The above title link refers to the related Virtual March to Stop Global Warming, specifically my Virtual Walker's page, now more ever easy to join, walking with me, behind Bobby Kennedy Jr. As I write this the march has 373,723 marchers, but I am going to urge my 11104 zip code friends (with 34 marchers) and others to join me (again). If you go to my page and sign up I would appreciate it -- but be sure to watch for and reply to the confirming email. (And then ACT, change your light bulbs to the energy-conserving ones and conserve other energy -- gas! And write Congress. And ask your friends to march with YOU and urge them likewise.)

And then there is/was my peace vigil "to-do": Yesterday, I joined Betty Lou Hornick, Sam Oast, and Marianne Goldscheider in our little but persistant weekly (almost) Union Square Saturday Peace Vigil, from about noon to 2 PM at the north end of Union Square Park, NYC, by the Lincoln statue. Had some lovely conversations with Guillaume from south France, Ron Evans from England, and Eddy Corbett, NYC chef. Didn't have my camera with me to memorialize folks but I did get to talk about wasting money on war instead of spending money to help people with these folks and some others whose names I didn't get. When you come to realize that ours is the only country of the the 37 industrialized nations without healthcare and that our kids have to go into serious debt to go to college when most (all?) of these countries have reasonably priced or even FREE college/university education, you have to seriously wonder about the state of our nation. We are told that ours is the best country in the whole world, yet we are in an illegal war which kills people who had nothing to do with 9/11 and had no weapons of mass destruction so that Halliburton with more than 50% of the unbid contracts there can make Bush cronies wealthier while we increase our national debt, and the top 1% of our nation owns more than the bottom 90%. Yes, there is something seriously wrong with this picture. We need healthcare and we need more equitable salaries/wages, including living wages for all working people. I am not talking SAME, I am talking fair. We don't need extremes. And we certainly need peace, justice, nonviolence, AND a healthy planet, and that means stop global warming. Join me in seeing the movie (attendance the first weekend is important in gaining wide release) and in the virtual march.

To the EXXON folk who try to say that global warming is still a debatable issue and not proven, just remind them of the David Brower quotation, "There is no business to be done on a dead planet."

And some of my other to-dos for this long weekend? Well, taking care of pets, cleaning my house, and world peace are quite enough, but I would like to take some more pictures to post to FlickR, update my ignored KateAnne.com site a bit (add books, actions, and a new posting), and it would be nice to finish my Sue Grafton book from the library, S is for Silence, the latest in the Kinsey Milhone series. I have swept off my back porch and it would be lovely to enjoy it. It is a holiday weekend. But it is good to stay or BE in touch with friends and families (so far my daugher Kat and my Aunt Betty Murphy and I have spoken). Yes, as usual, my to-do list overfloweth. And I cannot do it all, but I will do what I can. And I will endeavor to remember to breathe, relax, and be the peace that I seek. Special blessings to anyone who got to the end of this posting, and to all I wish ...

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne

Human Rights & Political Fundraising

Two different yet excellent events were held this past week. The inspiring Reebok Human Rights Awards ceremony at NYU's Skirball Center was on Wednesday, May 17th, and the Spring Fundraiser for Queens Assemblymember Catherine Nolan a/k/a Cathy Nolan at Sunnyside's Dazie's Restaurant was on Thursday, May 18th.

When Dr. Shubh Mathur told me that Chiragh's nominee Khurram Parvez had been selected as one of the winners, I was pleased. Invited to the ceremony, however, I was surprised how inspiring such an event could be. Khurram was honored for being a "courageous voice of peace and human rights in Kashmir". And I was pleased not only to learn more of his story (and meet him at the dinner afterwards) but also to hear the stories of the other award winners, Otto Saki from Zimbabwe, Li Dan of China, and Rachel Lloyd of the USA.

And then there was the fundraiser for Assemblymember Cathy Nolan -- truly one of the, if not THE, best assemblymembers in the New York State Assembly. I got there too late to see gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer but was pleased to hear Matilda Cuomo, wife of former governor Mario Cuomo and Lieutenant governor candidate State Assemblymember David Paterson. I love this picture of Matilda with Cathy and Dazie's owner, Lily Gavin

Dazie's main room was packed! So many were there to support Cathy. Among my favorites, though, were my friends Jimmy Van Bramer and Joan DeCamp, both hard working grass-roots Democratic activists. I got a picture of Jimmy, posted with my Political Pix at www.flickr.com/photos/kateannenyc but I missed a shot of Joan!! Still, I spoke with some great folk, including Nubia Holzherr and Anne Baumann-Weiss and Mannie Wilson, whose pix I did get (see FlickR). (You can tell I am having fun with FlicR, yes?)

I have also posted pictures on FlickR of some of the great folk I met at the Reebok Human Rights Awards ceremony and dinner following. From Holland there was activist Marjan Lucas who knows the Muzaffar Family. What a terrific family! Fatima Muzaffar is so loving -- and her daughter Rubia Muzaffar is so beautiful. Her father Raja Muzaffar was there with his brother Nazoor Muzaffar. I met dentist Dr. Nazir Sofi who will be returning to Kashmir at the end of the month to continue his work. And there were more, including New York City peace and justice activist Adam Carroll who has a great smile, but you wouldn't know it from my photos. And I was so pleased to have a few minutes speaking with honoree Khurram Parvez. Quite a week last week! Very busy and this is late being posted. But I didn't want to not mention these people who have touched my life. I am very grateful to my friend Shubh Mathur for encouraging me to go to what was not a mundane awards ceremony (and getting me into the dinner afterwards :-)

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne

Resisting the Hostile Takeover

The Drum Major Institute hosted David Sirota and some other excellent panelists discussing "Campaign '06: The Year of the Hostile Takeover?" Essentially, it was a conversation about why/how the middle class is disappearing, who is responsible, and what we can do about it. More for my to do list, but resisting corporate takeover of America is part of working for world peace, because we cannot have peace without justice. Together now, "No justice, no peace....No justice, no peace!"

I had purchased David's book Hostile Takeover: How Big Money & Corruption Conquered Our Government -- and How We Take It Back last week when it first came out in the desire not only to read it, but to up the numbers for a book on this important issue. Amazon (Title Link above) yesterday listed it at 267. David was on Rachel Maddow's Air America Radio show this morning and will be on Thom Hartmann next week (he personally told me as I got my book signed). I'm not too far into it, but far enough to realize it is a very readable book and I love the fact that it poses solutions. (What's the Matter with Kansas really lacked in this.) We have to read about it, talk about it, and work on it -- and we have to resist the corporate hold on the Democratic Party, too. Campaign Finance Reform is a major part of it: Clean Money, Clean Elections. And I stressed to David my concern about Net Neutrality. David agreed, this is a big issue and definitely part of it. They will try to take away our tools to fight back -- oh did I use the f word? Well, David did sign my book "Fight the takeover!" I prefer RESIST. And it will take persistance. For more information, read the book, or you can start with the San Francisco Chronicle article about the topic. I have to finish the book, and yes, I want to learn more about the work of co-panelist Elizabeth Warren, articulate author and Harvard law professor -- but first I have to go to work in corporate America. Argh!!

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne

David Sirota

From Saturday, Peace

Betty Lou, Michael, Sam, Marianne
Yesterday, I joined Betty Lou Hornick, Michael Levinson, Sam Oast and Marianne Goldscheider at the Saturday noon Peace Vigil at Union Square. It was a gorgeous day, made brighter by a delightful talk with University of Georgia student Farah Momin who sounds like she's on purpose to better the world. Certainly, her smile and enthusiasm brightened my day and I choose to memorialize it here, together with a photo of the vigilers. More peace photos (including some faves from the 04/29/06 peace march) should be viewable directly (I hope) through the title link, or check out the Peace Activism set at my FlickR page.

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne

Farah

Cindy Sheehan: Mission Accomplished Day

Cindy Sheehan, relaxing post-march with Air America Radio goddess Randi Rhodes
Please read Cindy Sheehan's comments from May 1st and the third Anniversary of "Mission Accomplished Day". It is packed with facts and ends with a succulent comment/advice and a King quotation:

It is time to fire the warniks, whose bloodlust cannot be sated, and hire people who will finally use their wisdom, integrity, and non-violence to solve problems, and who won't create imaginary problems out of smoke and mirrors. We need a Congress that will hold George accountable, not one that is complicit in the war crimes.

Martin Luther King Jr. said: "We must live together as brothers, or perish together as fools." God protect us from the fools that we elected to protect us!

Hit the title link for the rest of this gem and while you are at Truthout, also check out their article on the march and their excellent short video on how "The War Affects Us All". [Goodness, there is a Krugman article there, too -- which reminds, the NY Times dissed the peace march, put a small picture and small article on page 3 of the Metro section -- what liberal media??] Pay particular attention to Michael McPhearson, Executive Director for Veterans for Peace as well as to dear Cindy Sheehan of Gold Star Families for Peace. (Wish I would have asked her if I could give her a peace hug. I mentioned my site but didn't want to invade her space, but I could have/should have asked. Another time, God willing, if it is still needed. Hugs are healing.)

Now I have to go write an article on Synchronicity, Peace and Revival at Kate Anne for Peace, Justice, and Nonviolence. Check for that later, too, please.

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne

Lassiter Space: Pics and memories from the March for Peace Justice and Democracy in New York

Lassiter Space: Pics and memories from the March for Peace Justice and Democracy in New York

Peacemakers and Peacehuggers -- You'll want to check out Jay's blog for some more pictures (with good comments) and follow his lead and go leaping from site to site. I will let you know if I find some other good ones.

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne

Marching and Praying for Peace, Justice, and Democracy

With Cindy Sheehan, post march

Great weekend for peace, justice and democracy -- and some photos are posted on FlickR (click title link). More will be posted later as time and space allow, following work in Corporate America. I so wanted to take today off but a returning boss and the possibility of jury duty all this week have me paying my corporate dues so I can pay my rent and donate to peace causes, like Clergy and Laity Concerned about Iraq. They hosted a wonderful pre-march vigil, albeit late, but we are on kairos time, aren't we? Then they hosted an evening interfaith revival, which was quite wonderful and spirit-building: magical, mystical, peaceful, at the beautiful Middle Collegiate Church at Second Avenue and 7th Street. A great way to end a great day.

United for Peace and Justice estimated 350,000 marching for Peace, Justice and Democracy this Saturday -- and it was massive, with wonderful energy. We walked from north of Union Square down to Foley Square and the weather cooperated beautifully. I met artist Vicki Boatright from Canton, Ohio, en route and then was happily surprised to see her later at the evening revival where she read this terrific statement which I hope to be posting. But I couldn't find NYFOR friend Sam Oast, lost amidst the Quakers, though Howard Pflanzer and I were pleased to find each other. And Colleen Primrose found each other and she introduced me to Cindy Sheehan who introduced me to Randi Rhodes. (And yes, Randi did publicize the march on her Air America Radio show, I can happily report -- but where was Rachel Maddow?) Colleen also introduced me to former diplomat Ann Wright who resigned in protest and was with Cindy down at Camp Casey outside the Bush family "ranch" last August.

And I heard wonderful poetry at the Interfaith Revival of Repentance, Resistance and Renewal -- from Kathy Engel and Drew Dellinger. I finally got to see, speak to, and pray with Rabbi Arthur Waskow of Philadelphia's Shalom Center. And so much more, but I gotta get to work. More thoughts and feelings later. And please keep checking out FlickR for more pictures. Blessings, and let us be the peace we seek.

Peace hugs,
Kate Anne

CALC-I Revival speakers